Producing Transformative Knowledge on the Cutting Edge: The Hidden Role of Software Documentation in Massive Scientific Cyberinfrastructures

Scientific discovery has always been a collaborative process, but science has arguably become even more collaborative as computing has played a more and more central role in the scientific process. This paper argues that with the increasingly crucial role of software in scientific discovery, the contours of collaboration can be expanded to account for the technical communicators who create software documentation necessary for cutting edge science. The paper makes that argument through an analysis of the $500+ million Aurora supercomputer, which is only the third computer in the world to break the exascale barrier. Aurora required the development of new software because of the novelty of exascale supercomputing and the complex assemblage of components required to build a machine powerful enough to break that barrier. The paper adopts the concept of Conway's Law to analyze the role of Aurora's software documentation as a crucial component of cutting-edge science at the exascale. The analysis is an early step in a larger project to examine and unearth the crucial role of software documentation for novel scientific discovery.