Comprehensive analytical modeling and simulation of cyber-physical systems is an integral part of the process that brings novel designs and products to life. But the effort needed to go from analytical models to running simulation code can impede or derail this process. Our thesisis that this process is amenable to automation, and that automating it will accelerate the pace of innovation. This paper reviews some basic concepts that we found interesting or thought-provoking, and articulates some questions that may help prove or disprove this thesis. While based on ideas drawn from different disciplines, we observe that all these questions pertain in a profound way to how we can reason and compute with real numbers.