Computational studies on fuel cell-related issues are increasingly common.
These studies range from engineering level models of fuel cell systems and
stacks to molecular level, electronic structure calculations on the behavior
of membranes and catalysts, and everything in between. This volume
explores this range. It is appropriate to ask what, if anything, does this
work tell us that we cannot deduce intuitively? Does the emperor have any
clothes? In answering this question resolutely in the affirmative, I will also
take the liberty to comment a bit on what makes the effort worthwhile to
both the perpetrator(s) of the computational study (hereafter I will use the
blanket terms modeler and model for both engineering and chemical physics
contexts) and to the rest of the world. The requirements of utility are
different in the two spheres. As with any activity, there is a range of quality
of work within the modeling community.