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{{Undisclosed paid|date=September 2022}}
{{Short description|British-American scientist (born 1959)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox scientist
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Stephen Wolfram
| name = Stephen Wolfram
| image = Stephen Wolfram PR.jpg
| image = Stephen Wolfram PR (cropped).jpg
| imagesize = 140 px
| image_size =
| caption = Wolfram in 2008
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1959|8|29}}
| birth_name =
| birth_place = [[London]], England, [[UK]]
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1959|8|29}}
| death_date =
| birth_place = London, England
| death_place =
| residence =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = [[United Kingdom|British]]
| nationality = British, American
| field = [[Mathematics]], [[Physics]], [[Computing]]
| fields = {{startplainlist|class=nowrap}}
| work_institution = [[Wolfram Research]]
* [[Mathematics]]<ref>{{Cite book | last1 = Wolfram | first1 = S. | chapter = Computer algebra | doi = 10.1145/2465506.2465930 | title = Proceedings of the 38th international symposium on International symposium on symbolic and algebraic computation – ISSAC '13 | pages = 7–8 | year = 2013 | isbn = 9781450320597 | s2cid = 37099593 }}</ref>
| alma_mater = [[Oxford University]], [[Caltech]]
* [[Physics]]
| doctoral_advisor =
* [[Computing]]
| doctoral_students =
* [[Cellular automaton|Cellular automata]]
| known_for = Creator of [[Mathematica]] and [[Wolfram Alpha]]<br />Author of ''[[A New Kind of Science]]''
{{endplainlist}}
| author_abbreviation_bot =
| alma_mater = {{startplainlist|class=nowrap}}
| author_abbreviation_zoo =
* [[St. John's College, Oxford]]<br>(no degree)
| prizes = [[MacArthur Fellowship]]
* [[California Institute of Technology]]<br>(PhD)
| religion =
{{endplainlist}}
| footnotes = }}
| thesis_title = Some Topics in Theoretical High-Energy&nbsp;Physics
'''Stephen Wolfram''' (born 29 August 1959) is a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[scientist]]<ref>http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=Stephen+Wolfram</ref> and the chief designer of the [[Mathematica]] software application and the [[Wolfram Alpha]] computational knowledge engine.
| thesis_url = https://thesis.library.caltech.edu/2597/
| thesis_year = 1980
| doctoral_advisor = [[Richard D. Field]]<ref>{{Cite thesis|url=https://thesis.library.caltech.edu/2597/|title=Some topics in theoretical high-energy physics|website=Caltech Library|year=1980|publisher=California Institute of Technology|language=en|access-date=2018-05-08|type=phd|last1=Wolfram|first1=Stephen}}</ref>
| known_for = {{startplainlist|class=nowrap}}
* [[Mathematica]]
* [[Wolfram Alpha]]
* ''[[A New Kind of Science]]''<ref name="bio"/>
* [[Wolfram Language]]
{{endplainlist}}
| influences =
| website = {{startplainlist|class=nowrap}}
* {{URL|http://www.stephenwolfram.com}}
* {{URL|twitter.com/stephen_wolfram}}
{{endplainlist}}
| footnotes =
| work_institution = {{startplainlist|class=nowrap}}
* [[Wolfram Research]]
* [[Thinking Machines Corporation]]<ref name="scopus">{{Scopus|id=16493873100}}</ref>
* [[California Institute of Technology]]
* [[Institute for Advanced Study]]
* {{longitem|[[University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign|University of Illinois at Urbana–<br/>Champaign]]}}
{{endplainlist}}
| education = [[Dragon School]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2016/04/my-life-in-technology-as-told-at-the-computer-history-museum/|title=My Life in Technology—As Told at the Computer History Museum—Stephen Wolfram Writings|date=19 April 2016|website=writings.stephenwolfram.com}}</ref><br/>[[Eton College]]
| prizes = [[MacArthur Fellows Program|MacArthur Fellowship]] (1981)
}}


'''Stephen Wolfram''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ʊ|l|f|r|əm}} {{respell|WUUL|frəm}}; born 29 August 1959) is a British-American<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stephenwolfram.com/bio-facts/|title=Biographical Facts for Stephen Wolfram|website=www.stephenwolfram.com|language=en|access-date=2017-03-02|archive-date=4 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204091810/http://www.stephenwolfram.com/bio-facts/|url-status=dead}}</ref> computer scientist, physicist, and businessman. He is known for his work in [[computer algebra]], and [[theoretical physics]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Stephen Wolfram |url=http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=Stephen+Wolfram |publisher=Wolfram Alpha |access-date=15 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=New Scientist |title=Stephen Wolfram: 'I am an information pack rat' |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427381.100-stephen-wolfram-im-an-information-pack-rat.html |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413033506/https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427381-100-stephen-wolfram-im-an-information-pack-rat/ |archive-date=13 April 2016 |access-date=23 September 2024}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 2012, he was named a fellow of the [[American Mathematical Society]].<ref>[http://www.ams.org/profession/fellows-list List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society], retrieved 1 September 2013.</ref>
== Biography ==
Stephen Wolfram's parents were [[Jewish]] refugees who emigrated from [[Westphalia]], Germany, to England in 1933.<ref name=jew>{{
Cite web
|url=http://www.juedischeliteraturwestfalen.de/index.php?valex=101&vArticle=1&author_id=00000308&id=1
|title=Jüdische Schriftsteller in Westfalen: Hogarth Wolfram
|postscript=<!--None-->
}}</ref><ref name=bio>{{Cite journal
|url=http://www.nndb.com/people/325/000022259/
|title=Stephen Wolfram
|year=2002
|month=May
|author=Giles, J
|volume=417
|issue=6886
|pages=216–8
|issn=0028-0836
|pmid=12015565
|doi=10.1038/417216a
|journal=Nature
|postscript=<!--None-->
}}</ref> Wolfram's father Hugo was a textile manufacturer and novelist (''Into a Neutral Country''), and his mother Sybil was a professor of [[philosophy]] at the [[University of Oxford]].{{r|levy1006}} He has a younger brother, [[Conrad Wolfram|Conrad]].<ref name="nndb">{{cite web|url=http://www.nndb.com/people/325/000022259/|title=Stephen Wolfram|publisher=nndb.com|accessdate=2009-05-11}}</ref>


As a businessman, he is the founder and CEO of the software company [[Wolfram Research]] where he works as chief designer of [[Mathematica]] and the [[Wolfram Alpha]] answer engine.
Wolfram was educated at [[Eton College|Eton]], where he amazed and frustrated instructors by his brilliance and refusal to be taught, instead doing other students' math homework for money.<ref name="levy1006">{{cite news | url=http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.06/wolfram_pr.html | title=The Man Who Cracked The Code to Everything ... | accessdate=March 20, 2011 | author=Levy, Steven | date=10.06 | publisher=Wired}}</ref> Wolfram published an article on [[particle physics]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slac.stanford.edu/spires/find/hep/www?j=AUJPA,28,479|title=Hadronic Electrons?}} The SPIRES date of April 1975 refers to the date the preprint was received, not the date of journal publication.</ref> but claimed to be bored and left Eton prematurely in 1976.{{r|arndt20020517}} He entered [[St John's College, Oxford]] at age 17, but again found lectures "awful";{{r|levy1006}} working independently, Wolfram published a widely cited paper on heavy [[quark]] production at age 18<ref name=bio/> and nine other papers,{{r|levy1006}} before leaving in 1978 without graduating.{{r|arndt20020517}} He received a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in particle physics from the [[California Institute of Technology]] at age 20,<ref>Thesis listing: [http://www.slac.stanford.edu/spires/find/hep/www?fa=Wolfram,+Stephen+and+k+thesis Some Topics In Theoretical High-Energy Physics]</ref> joined the faculty there, and received one of the first [[MacArthur Fellows Program|MacArthur awards]] in 1981, at age 21.<ref name="arndt20020517">{{cite news | url=http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2002/tc20020516_7010.htm | title=Stephen Wolfram's Simple Science | accessdate=March 20, 2011 | author=Arndt, Michael | date=2002-05-17 | publisher=BusinessWeek}}</ref>
<!---- ["Knowledge-based programming" now redirects to [[Knowledge-based systems]]:] Editorial note: I suggest starting a new article on knowledge-based programming ---->


==Early life==
Wolfram's work with Geoffrey Fox on the theory of the [[Quantum chromodynamics|strong interaction]] is still used today in experimental particle physics.<ref>See [http://www.slac.stanford.edu/spires/find/hep/www?j=NUPHA,B168,285 A Model for Parton Showers in QCD] and [http://www.slac.stanford.edu/spires/find/hep/www?j=PRLTA,41,1581 Observables for the Analysis of Event Shapes in e+ e- Annihilation and Other Processes]</ref> He founded the journal ''[[Complex Systems (journal)|Complex Systems]]'' in 1987. Wolfram is married to a mathematician and has four children.<ref>{{cite episode|transcripturl=http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2009/05/29/2584139.htm|title=Stephen Wolfram|series=[[Sunday Profile]]|network=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|airdate=2009-05-31}}</ref>
===Family===
Stephen Wolfram was born in London in 1959 to [[Hugo Wolfram|Hugo]] and [[Sybil Wolfram|Sybil]] Wolfram, both [[German Jewish]] refugees to the United Kingdom.<ref>''The Universal Mind: The Evolution of Machine Intelligence and Human Psychology'', Xiphias Press, 1 Sep 2016, Michael Peragine</ref> His maternal grandmother was British [[psychoanalyst]] [[Kate Friedlander]].


Wolfram's father, [[Hugo Wolfram]], was a textile manufacturer and served as managing director of the Lurex Company—makers of the fabric [[Lurex]].<ref name="Telling a good yarn by Jenny Lunnon">[http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/business/profiles/931620.Telling_a_good_yarn/ Telling a good yarn by Jenny Lunnon], Oxford Times, Thursday 21 September 2006.</ref> Wolfram's mother, [[Sybil Wolfram]], was a Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy at [[Lady Margaret Hall]] at [[University of Oxford]] from 1964 to 1993.<ref>[http://www.psychoanalytikerinnen.de/greatbritain_biographies.html#Friedlaender Kate Friedländer née Frankl (1902–1949)], Psychoanalytikerinnen. Biografisches Lexikon.</ref>
== Work ==
===Symbolic Manipulation Program===
{{Main|Symbolic Manipulation Program}}
Wolfram led the development of the [[computer algebra system]] SMP (''[[Symbolic Manipulation Program]]'') in the Caltech physics department during 1979–1981. A dispute with the administration over the [[intellectual property]] rights regarding SMP—patents, copyright, and faculty involvement in commercial ventures—eventually caused him to resign from Caltech.<ref>Kolata, Gina. "Caltech Torn by Dispute Over Software," ''Science'', 27 May 1983 (Vol. 220, No. 4600) issue, pp. 932-934.</ref> SMP was further developed and marketed commercially by Inference Corp. of Los Angeles during 1983–1988.


Stephen Wolfram is married to a mathematician. They have four children together.<ref>{{cite episode|url=http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2009/05/29/2584139.htm|title=Stephen Wolfram|series=Sunday Profile|network=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|airdate=2009-05-31}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.stephenwolfram.com/scrapbook/biofacts/ | title=The Life and Times of Stephen Wolfram: Biographical Facts | access-date=3 May 2023 }}</ref>
===Cellular automata===


===Education===
In 1983, Wolfram left for the School of Natural Sciences of the [[Institute for Advanced Study]], where he studied [[cellular automaton|cellular automata]], mainly with computer simulations. He produced a series of papers systematically investigating the class of [[elementary cellular automaton|elementary cellular automata]], conceiving the [[Wolfram code]], a naming system for one-dimensional cellular automata, and a [[cellular automaton#Wolfram_classes|classification scheme]] for the complexity of their behavior. He conjectured that the [[Rule 110]] cellular automaton may be [[Turing complete]]. In the middle 1980s Wolfram worked on simulations of physical processes (such as [[turbulence|turbulent fluid flow]]) with cellular automata on the [[Connection Machine]] alongside [[Richard Feynman]].<ref name="DH">{{cite web|url=http://www.kurzweilai.net/articles/art0504.html?printable=1|title=Richard Feynman and The Connection Machine|author=W. Daniel Hillis|publisher=Physics Today|date=1989-02|accessdate=3 November 2006}}</ref>
Wolfram was educated at [[Eton College]], but left prematurely in 1976.<ref>[http://blog.stephenwolfram.com/2014/06/a-speech-for-high-school-graduates/ A Speech for (High-School) Graduates] by Stephen Wolfram (a commencement speech for Stanford Online High School), StephenWolfram.com, 9 June 2014: "You know, as it happens, I myself never officially graduated from high school, and this is actually the first high school graduation I've ever been to."</ref> As a young child, Wolfram had difficulties learning arithmetic.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/24/us/physicist-awarded-genius-prize-finds-reality-in-invisible-world.html PHYSICIST AWARDED 'GENIUS' PRIZE FINDS REALITY IN INVISIBLE WORLD], by GLADWIN HILL, ''New York Times'', 24 May 1981: "''When I first went to school, they thought I was behind'', he says, ''because I didn't want to read the silly books they gave us. And I never was able to do arithmetic.'' It was when he got into higher mathematics, such as calculus, he says, that he realized there was an invisible world that he wanted to explore."</ref> He entered [[St. John's College, Oxford]], at age 17 and left in 1978<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=bbN-6aDFrrAC&q=murray+gelman+STephen+wolfram&pg=PA151 Complexity: A Guided Tour]'' by Melanie Mitchell, 2009, p. 151: "In the early 1980s, Stephen Wolfram, a physicist working at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, became fascinated by cellular automata and the patterns they make. Wolfram is one of those legendary child prodigies people like to tell stories about. Born in London in 1959, Wolfram published his first physics paper at 15. Two years later, in the summer after his first year at Oxford, . . . Wolfram wrote a paper in the field of "quantum chromodynamics" that attracted the attention of Nobel-Prize-winning physicist Murray Gell-Mann, who invited Wolfram to join his group at Caltech…"</ref> without graduating{{r|arndt20020517}}<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jun/29/stephen-wolfram-textbook-never-interested-me-wolframalpha Stephen Wolfram: 'The textbook has never interested me': The British child genius who abandoned physics to devote himself to coding and the cosmos], by Zoë Corbyn, The Guardian, Saturday 28 June 2014: "He entered Oxford University at 17 without A-levels and left around a year later without graduating. He was bored and he had been invited to cross the pond by the prestigious California Institute of Technology (Caltech) to do a PhD. "I had written a bunch of papers and so was pretty well known by that time,"" ...</ref> to attend the [[California Institute of Technology]] the following year, where he received a PhD<ref name="mathgene">{{MathGenealogy|id=114676}}</ref> in particle physics in 1980.<ref name="wolframphd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Stephen|last=Wolfram |title=Some Topics in Theoretical High-Energy Physics |publisher=California Institute of Technology |date=1980 |url=https://thesis.library.caltech.edu/2597}}</ref> Wolfram's [[thesis|thesis committee]] was composed of [[Richard Feynman]], [[Peter Goldreich]], [[Frank J. Sciulli]] and [[Steven Frautschi]], and chaired by [[Richard D. Field]].<ref name="wolframphd"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StephenWolframCalTechThesisApplication.pdf|title=English: StephenWolframCalTechThesisApplication|date=7 November 1974|via=Wikimedia Commons}}</ref>

==Early career==
Wolfram, at the age of 15, began research in applied [[quantum field theory]] and [[particle physics]] and published scientific papers in [[peer-reviewed]] [[scientific journal]]s; by the time he had earned his undergraduate degree, he had published ten such papers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Somers |first=James |date=2018-04-05 |title=The Scientific Paper Is Obsolete |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/04/the-scientific-paper-is-obsolete/556676/ |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423050834/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/04/the-scientific-paper-is-obsolete/556676/ |archive-date=23 April 2018 |access-date=2024-09-23 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Following his PhD, Wolfram joined the faculty at Caltech and became the youngest recipient<ref>{{Cite news |title=FOUNDATION TO SUPPORT 21 AS 'GENIUSES' FOR 5 YEARS |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1981/05/19/142193.html?pageNumber=1 |access-date=2023-03-26}}</ref> of a [[MacArthur Fellows Program|MacArthur Fellowship]] in 1981, at age 21.<ref name="arndt20020517">{{cite magazine |url =https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2002-05-26/simple-science |title=Stephen Wolfram's Simple Science |access-date=January 1, 2022 |last=Arndt |first=Michael |date=May 17, 2002 |magazine=[[BusinessWeek]]}}</ref>

==Later career==

=== Complex systems and cellular automata ===
In 1983, Wolfram left for the School of Natural Sciences of the [[Institute for Advanced Study]] in Princeton. By that time, he was no longer interested in particle physics. Instead, he began pursuing investigations into [[cellular automaton|cellular automata]],{{cn|date=January 2023}} mainly with computer simulations. He produced a series of papers investigating the class of [[elementary cellular automaton|elementary cellular automata]], conceiving the [[Wolfram code]], a naming system for one-dimensional cellular automata, and a [[cellular automaton#Classification|classification scheme]] for the complexity of their behaviour.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Regis |first1=Edward |title=Who got Einstein's office? Eccentricity and Genius at the Institute for Advanced Study |date=1987 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |location=Reading, Mass |isbn=0201120658 |page=5 |url=https://archive.org/details/whogoteinsteinso0000regi}}</ref> He conjectured that the [[Rule 110]] cellular automaton might be [[Turing complete]], which a research assistant to Wolfram, [[Matthew Cook]], later proved correct.<ref name="proof">{{Cite journal|url = http://www.complex-systems.com/abstracts/v15_i01_a01.html|title = Universality in Elementary Cellular Automata|last = Cook|first = Matthew|date = 2004|journal = Complex Systems|access-date = 24 June 2015|volume = 15|issue = 1| pages=1–40 | doi=10.25088/ComplexSystems.15.1.1 |issn = 0891-2513}}</ref> Wolfram sued Cook and temporarily blocked publication of the work on Rule 110 for allegedly violating a [[non-disclosure agreement]] until Wolfram could publish the work in his controversial book ''[[A New Kind of Science]]''.<ref name="bio">{{Cite journal |last1=Giles |first1=J. |year=2002 |title=Stephen Wolfram: What kind of science is this? |journal=Nature |volume=417 |issue=6886 |pages=216–218 |bibcode=2002Natur.417..216G |doi=10.1038/417216a |pmid=12015565 |s2cid=10636328}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Martínez |first1=Genaro J. |last2=Seck-Tuoh-Mora |first2=Juan C. |last3=Chapa-Vergara |first3=Sergio V. |last4=Lemaitre |first4=Christian |date=2020-03-03 |title=Brief notes and history of computing in Mexico during 50 years |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17445760.2019.1608990 |journal=International Journal of Parallel, Emergent and Distributed Systems |language=en |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=185–192 |doi=10.1080/17445760.2019.1608990 |issn=1744-5760|arxiv=1905.07527 }}</ref> Wolfram's cellular-automata work came to be cited in more than 10,000 papers.<ref name="Levy">{{Cite web |last=Levy |first=Steven |date=1 June 2002 |title=The Man Who Cracked The Code to Everything... |url=https://www.wired.com/2002/06/wolfram/ |access-date=22 November 2018 |website=Wired.com}}</ref>

In the mid-1980s, Wolfram worked on simulations of physical processes (such as [[turbulence|turbulent fluid flow]]) with cellular automata on the [[Connection Machine]] alongside [[Richard Feynman]]<ref name="DH">{{cite web|url=http://www.kurzweilai.net/articles/art0504.html?printable=1|title=Richard Feynman and The Connection Machine|author=W. Daniel Hillis|publisher=Physics Today|date=February 1989|access-date=3 November 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090728072503/http://www.kurzweilai.net/articles/art0504.html?printable=1|archive-date=28 July 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and helped initiate the field of [[complex systems]].{{cn|date=January 2023}} In 1984, he was a participant in the Founding Workshops of the [[Santa Fe Institute]], along with Nobel laureates [[Murray Gell-Mann]], [[Manfred Eigen]], and [[Philip Warren Anderson]], and future laureate [[Frank Wilczek]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1216/c98def031faa344d66dead45117d0b188491.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811230248/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1216/c98def031faa344d66dead45117d0b188491.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2018-08-11|title=Emerging Syntheses in Science: Proceedings of the Founding Workshops of the Santa Fe Institute|last=Pines|first=David|editor1-first=David|editor1-last=Pines|publisher=Addison-Wesley|year=2018|isbn=9780429492594|location=Menlo Park, California|pages=183–190|doi=10.1201/9780429492594|s2cid=142670544}}</ref> In 1986, he founded the Center for Complex Systems Research (CCSR) at the [[University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign]].<ref name="wired.com">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.06/wolfram_pr.html|title=The Man Who Cracked The Code to Everything|access-date=7 April 2012 | magazine=Wired}}</ref> In 1987, he founded the journal ''[[Complex Systems (journal)|Complex Systems]]''.<ref name="wired.com"/>

=== Symbolic Manipulation Program ===

{{Main|Symbolic Manipulation Program}}
Wolfram led the development of the [[computer algebra system]] SMP (''[[Symbolic Manipulation Program]]'') in the Caltech physics department during 1979–1981. A dispute with the administration over the intellectual property rights regarding SMP—patents, copyright, and faculty involvement in commercial ventures—eventually led him to resign from Caltech.<ref name="torn">{{Cite journal | last1 = Kolata | first1 = G. | title = Caltech Torn by Dispute over Software | doi = 10.1126/science.220.4600.932 | journal = Science | volume = 220 | issue = 4600 | pages = 932–934 | year = 1983 | pmid = 17816011|bibcode = 1983Sci...220..932K }}</ref> SMP was further developed and marketed commercially by Inference Corp. of Los Angeles during 1983–1988.


=== Mathematica ===
=== Mathematica ===
{{Main|Mathematica}}
{{Main|Mathematica}}
In 1986 Wolfram left the Institute for Advanced Study for the [[University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]] where he founded their Center for Complex Systems Research and started to develop the computer algebra system Mathematica, which was first released in 1988, when he left academia. In 1987 he co-founded a company called [[Wolfram Research]] which continues to develop and market the program.<ref name=bio />
In 1986, Wolfram left the [[Institute for Advanced Study]] for the [[University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign]], where he had founded their Center for Complex Systems Research, and started to develop the computer algebra system [[Wolfram Mathematica|Mathematica]], which was first released on 23 June 1988, when he left academia. In 1987, he founded [[Wolfram Research]], which continues to develop and market the program.<ref name=bio />


=== ''A New Kind of Science'' ===
=== ''A New Kind of Science'' ===
{{Main|A New Kind of Science}}
{{Main|A New Kind of Science}}


From 1992 to 2002, he worked on his controversial book ''[[A New Kind of Science]]'', which presents an empirical study of very simple computational systems. Additionally, it argues that for fundamental reasons these types of systems, rather than traditional mathematics, are needed to model and understand complexity in nature. Wolfram's conclusion is that the universe is digital in its nature, and runs on fundamental laws which can be described as simple programs. He predicts a realization of this within the scientific communities will have a major and revolutionary influence on physics, chemistry and biology and the majority of the scientific areas in general, which is the reason for the book's title.
From 1992 to 2002, Wolfram worked on his controversial book ''[[A New Kind of Science]]'',<ref name="bio"/><ref name="newkind">{{Cite book|isbn = 1579550088|title = A New Kind of Science|last1 = Wolfram|first1 = Stephen|year = 2002| publisher=Wolfram Media }}</ref> which presents an empirical study of simple computational systems. Additionally, it argues that for fundamental reasons these types of systems, rather than traditional mathematics, are needed to model and understand complexity in nature. Wolfram's conclusion is that the universe is discrete in its nature, and runs on fundamental laws which can be described as simple programs. He predicts that a realization of this within scientific communities will have a revolutionary influence on physics, chemistry, biology, and a majority of scientific areas in general, hence the book's title. The book was met with skepticism and criticism that Wolfram took credit for the work of others and made conclusions without evidence to support them.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stephen Wolfram, A New Kind of Science |url=http://bactra.org/reviews/wolfram/ |access-date=2022-10-17 |website=bactra.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Giles |first=Jim |date=2002-05-01 |title=What kind of science is this? |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/417216a |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=417 |issue=6886 |pages=216–218 |doi=10.1038/417216a |pmid=12015565 |bibcode=2002Natur.417..216G |s2cid=10636328 |issn=1476-4687}}</ref>


=== Wolfram Alpha computational knowledge engine ===
Since the release of the book in 2002, Wolfram has split his time between developing Mathematica and encouraging people to get involved with the subject matter of ''A New Kind of Science'' by giving talks, holding conferences, and starting a summer school devoted to the topic.<ref name="ted">TED (2010) ''Stephen Wolfram: Scientist, inventor.'' [Online] http://www.ted.com/speakers/stephen_wolfram.html (accessed 19 January 2010).</ref>

=== Computational knowledge engine ===
{{Main|Wolfram Alpha}}
{{Main|Wolfram Alpha}}


In March 2009, Wolfram announced Wolfram Alpha, an [[answer engine]]. WolframAlpha later launched in May 2009,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.wolfram.com/2009/03/05/wolframalpha-is-coming/ |title=Wolfram&#124;Alpha Is Coming! |last=Wolfram |first=Stephen |date=5 March 2009 |work=Wolfram blog|access-date=9 March 2009}}</ref> and a paid-for version with extra features launched in February 2012 that was met with criticism for its high price that was later dropped from $50.00 to $2.00.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Sorrel |first=Charlie |title=Wolfram Alpha for iPhone Drops from $50 to $2 |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2010/04/wolfram-alpha-for-iphone-drops-from-50-to-2/ |access-date=2022-10-17 |issn=1059-1028}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2012/02/08/announcing-wolframalpha-pro | work=Wolfram{{!}}Alpha blog|title=Announcing Wolfram{{!}}Alpha Pro|access-date=7 April 2012}}</ref> The engine is based on [[natural language processing]] and a large library of rules-based algorithms. The [[application programming interface]] allows other applications to extend and enhance Wolfram Alpha.<ref>
In March 2009, Wolfram announced Wolfram|Alpha, an [[answer engine]] with a new approach to [[knowledge extraction]] and an easy-to-use interface, launched on May 16, 2009.<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://blog.wolfram.com/2009/03/05/wolframalpha-is-coming/ |title=Wolfram&#124;Alpha Is Coming! |last=Wolfram |first=Stephen |date=2009-03-05 |work=Wolfram blog|accessdate=2009-03-09}}
{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/mar/09/search-engine-google |title=British search engine 'could rival Google' |last=Johnson |first=Bobbie |date=9 March 2009 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=9 March 2009}}</ref> <!---- Wolfram presented a talk at the [[TED (conference)|TED]] conference in 2010,
<ref>{{Cite journal|first=Steven|last=Levy|publisher=WIRED|title=TED 2010: How to Ace a TED Talk|url=https://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/02/ted-2010-how-to-ace-a-ted-talk/|date=12 February 2010}}</ref>
</ref><ref>
<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Stephen Wolfram: Computing a theory of everything|publisher=TED|url=http://www.ted.com/talks/stephen_wolfram_computing_a_theory_of_everything.html|date=February 2010}}</ref> and he was named Speaker of the Event for his 2012 talk at [[SXSW]].
{{cite web |url=http://www.wolframalpha.com/ |title=Wolfram&#124;Alpha |accessdate=2009-03-09}}</ref> The engine is based on [[natural language processing]], a large library of algorithms and answers queries using the approach described in ''A New Kind of Science''. The [[application programming interface]] (API) allows other applications to extend and enhance Alpha.<ref>
<ref>{{Cite web|title=SXSW Award Winners 2012|url=http://sxsw.com/interactive/awards/winners|access-date=16 May 2012}}</ref> ---->
{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/09/search-engine-google |title=British search engine 'could rival Google' |last=Johnson |first=Bobbie |date=2009-03-09 |work=[[The Guardian]] |accessdate=2009-03-09}}</ref>

=== Touchpress ===
{{Main|Touchpress}}

In 2010, Wolfram co-founded [[Touchpress]] along with [[Theodore Gray]], Max Whitby, and John Cromie. The company specialised in creating in-depth premium apps and games covering a wide range of educational subjects designed for children, parents, students, and educators. Since the launch, Touchpress has published more than 100 apps.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/newsreleases/2011/march/popular-science-columnist-earns-prestigious-american-chemical-society-award.html|title=Popular Science columnist earns prestigious American Chemical Society award|website=American Chemical Society|language=en|access-date=2018-12-25}}</ref> The company is no longer active.

=== Wolfram Language ===
{{Main|Wolfram Language}}

In March 2014, at the annual [[South by Southwest]] (SXSW) event, Wolfram officially announced the [[Wolfram Language]] as a new general [[multi-paradigm programming language]],<ref>[http://reference.wolfram.com/language/ Wolfram Language reference page Retrieved on 14 May 2014]</ref> though it was previously available through Mathematica and not an entirely new programming language. The documentation for the language was pre-released in October 2013 to coincide with the bundling of [[Mathematica]] and the Wolfram Language on every [[Raspberry Pi]] computer with some controversy because of the proprietary nature of the Wolfram Language.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Shankland|first=Stephen|title=Premium Mathematica software free on budget Raspberry Pi|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/premium-mathematica-software-free-on-budget-raspberry-pi/|access-date=2021-03-18|website=CNET|language=en}}</ref> While the Wolfram Language has existed for over 30 years as the primary programming language used in [[Mathematica]], it was not officially named until 2014, and is not widely used.<ref>[http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/bitwise/2014/03/stephen_wolfram_s_new_programming_language_can_he_make_the_world_computable.html Slate's article Stephen Wolfram's New Programming Language: He Can Make The World Computable, 6 March 2014. Retrieved on 14 May 2014.]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=TIOBE Index |url=https://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index/ |access-date=2022-10-17 |website=TIOBE |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Wolfram Physics Project ===
[[File:Wolfram Physics Spatial Hypergraph.png|thumb|A spatial [[hypergraph]]]]
In April 2020, Wolfram announced the "Wolfram Physics Project" as an effort to reduce and explain all the laws of physics within a paradigm of a [[hypergraph]] that is transformed by minimal [[abstract rewriting system|rewriting rules]] that obey the [[Church–Rosser theorem|Church-Rosser property]].<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Stephen Wolfram Invites You to Solve Physics|language=en|magazine=Wired|url=https://www.wired.com/story/stephen-wolfram-invites-you-to-solve-physics/|access-date=2020-04-15|issn=1059-1028}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-04-14|title=Stephen Wolfram's hypergraph project aims for a fundamental theory of physics|url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/stephen-wolfram-hypergraph-project-fundamental-theory-physics|access-date=2020-04-23|website=Science News|language=en-US}}</ref> The effort is a continuation of the ideas he originally described in ''A New Kind of Science.'' Wolfram claims that "From an extremely simple model, we're able to reproduce special relativity, general relativity and the core results of quantum mechanics."

Physicists are generally unimpressed with Wolfram's claim, and state that Wolfram's results are non-quantitative and arbitrary.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Becker|first1=Adam|date=6 May 2020|title=Physicists Criticize Stephen Wolfram's 'Theory of Everything'|language=en|work=Scientific American|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/physicists-criticize-stephen-wolframs-theory-of-everything/|access-date=10 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=2020|title=The Trouble With Stephen Wolfram's New 'Fundamental Theory of Physics'|language=en-us|work=Gizmodo|url=https://gizmodo.com/the-trouble-with-stephen-wolfram-s-new-fundamental-theo-1842985419|access-date=23 April 2020}}</ref> This sentiment is not universal, however. Theoretical physicist [[Sabine Hossenfelder]], while initially skeptical of the project, remarked, "When I look at this today, I honestly think that this research program is going very well, and I think it's about time that physicists pay a little more attention to it."<ref>{{cite AV media |first=Sabine |last=Hossenfelder |date=23 October 2024 |title=This Theory of Everything Could Actually Work: Wolfram's Hypergraphs |trans-title= |type=Video |language=en |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yzdjziS-bo |access-date=24 October 2024 |time=10:04 |publisher=YouTube}}</ref>

==Personal interests and activities==
Wolfram has a log of personal analytics, including emails received and sent, keystrokes made, meetings and events attended, recordings of phone calls, and even physical movement dating back to the 1980s. In the preface of ''A New Kind of Science'', he noted that he recorded over 100 million keystrokes and 100 mouse miles. He has stated "[personal analytics] can give us a whole new dimension to experiencing our lives."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2012/03/opinion-wolfram-life-analytics/|title=The Personal Analytics of My Life|magazine=Wired|last1=Stephen|first1=Wolfram|access-date=18 Oct 2016}}</ref>

Stephen Wolfram was involved as a scientific consultant for the 2016 film ''[[Arrival (film)|Arrival]]''. He and his son Christopher Wolfram wrote some of the code featured on-screen, such as the code in graphics depicting an analysis of the alien logograms, for which they used the [[Wolfram Language]].<ref>[https://www.wired.com/2016/11/arrivals-designers-crafted-mesmerizing-alien-alphabet/ How Arrival's Designers Crafted a Mesmerizing Language], Margaret Rhodes, Wired, 16 November 2016.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/14/dissecting-the-alien-language-in-arrival/|title=Dissecting the alien language in 'Arrival'|website=Engadget|date=15 November 2016 |access-date=2016-11-16}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
*''Metamathematics: Foundations & Physicalization'', (2022), Wolfram Media, Inc, ASIN:B0BPN7SHN3
*''Combinators: A Centennial View'' (2021)
*'' A Project to Find the Fundamental Theory of Physics'' (2020), Publisher: Wolfram Media, {{ISBN|978-1-57955-035-6}}
*''Adventures of a Computational Explorer'' (2019)
*''Idea Makers: Personal Perspectives on the Lives & Ideas of Some Notable People'' (2016)<ref>{{cite web |last1=Siegfried |first1=Tom |title='Idea Makers' tackles scientific thinkers' big ideas and personal lives Human side of science emphasized in new book |url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/idea-makers-tackles-scientific-thinkers-big-ideas-and-personal-lives |website=Science News |date=13 August 2016 |publisher=Society for Science & the Public |access-date=11 October 2022 |language=English}}</ref>
*''Elementary Introduction to the Wolfram Language'' (2015)<ref>[http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/12/14/stephen-wolfram-seeks-to-democratize-his-software/?_r=0 Stephen Wolfram Aims to Democratize His Software] by Steve Lohr, ''[[The New York Times]]'', 14 December 2015.</ref>
*{{Cite book |last=Wolfram |first=Stephen|title-link=A New Kind of Science |title=A new kind of science |date=2002 |publisher=[[Wolfram Media]] |isbn=1-57955-008-8 |location=Champaign, IL |oclc=47831356}}
*''The Mathematica Book'' (multiple editions)
*''Cellular Automata and Complexity: Collected Papers'' (1994)
*''Theory and Applications of Cellular Automata'' (1986)


== References ==
== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{wikicommons}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons}}
*{{Official website|http://www.stephenwolfram.com/}}
*{{official website|http://www.stephenwolfram.com/}}
*[http://blog.wolfram.com Wolfram Research blog to which Stephen Wolfram contributes]
*[http://www.wolframfoundation.org/ Wolfram Foundation]
*{{TED|speakers/stephen_wolfram.html}}
*{{MathGenealogy|id=114676}}
*{{C-SPAN|stephenwolfram}}
*{{IMDb name|3358184|Stephen Wolfram}}
*{{Charlie Rose view|2184}}
* {{TED speaker}}
*{{Worldcat id|lccn-n83-166910}}
* {{Charlie Rose view|1054}}
*TWiT - [http://www.twit.tv/tri7 Triangulation 7: Stephen Wolfram] (Audio podcast)
* {{OL author}}
* [https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/46902 Interview of Stephen Wolfram by David Zierler on March 18 and April 17, 2021, Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics, College Park, MD USA, www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/46902]
{{Wolfram Research}}
{{Authority control}}


<!--
THESE LINKS SHOULD BE USED AS REFERENCES IF NECESSARY, NOT AS EXTERNAL LINKS
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TIOH80Qg7Q Stephen Wolfram discusses Wolfram|Alpha: Computational Knowledge Engine] at the [[Berkman Center]] on April 28, 2009
*[http://www.hplusmagazine.com/articles/ai/wolframalpha-searching-truth Wolfram|Alpha: Searching for Truth] HPlus magazine, [[Rudy Rucker]], April 6, 2009
*[http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/8986 Video (and audio) interview/discussion with Stephen Wolfram] by [[George Johnson (writer)|George Johnson]] on [[Bloggingheads.tv]], February 23, 2008
*[http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/10/13/stephen-wolfram-tech-future07-cx_1015wolfram.html Stephen Wolfram On The Future] [[Forbes (magazine)|Forbes]], [[David M. Ewalt]], October 15, 2007
*[http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail202.html IT Conversations: Stephen Wolfram - A New Kind of Science] February 13, 2003
*[http://www.forbes.com/asap/2000/1127/162.html God, Stephen Wolfram, and Everything Else] [[Forbes (magazine)|Forbes]], Michael S. Malone, November 27, 2000
*[http://www.stephenwolfram.com/interviews/97-techreview/ A Study in Complexity] [[Technology Review]], Robert Lee Hotz, October 1997
*[http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F50911FE3E5C0C778EDDAC0894D9484D81 Physicist Awarded 'Genius' Prize Finds Reality in Invisible World] by Gladwin Hill, The New York Times, May 24, 1981 (subscription req.)
*[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5011797335427959751&q=wolfram Video of Wolfram speaking at UCSD H.Paul Rockwood Memorial Lecture]
*[http://necsi.org/events/iccs/video/iccs2002sunday/9-wolframclip.html Video of Stephen Wolfram speaking at the International Conference on Complex Systems, hosted by the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI)]
*[http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2010/01/05/stephen-wolfram-talks-bing-partnership-software-strategy-and-the-future-of-knowledge-computing/ Stephen Wolfram Talks Bing Partnership, Software Strategy, and the Future of Knowledge Computing]
-->

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[[zh:史蒂芬·沃爾夫勒姆]]

Latest revision as of 08:50, 15 December 2024

Stephen Wolfram
Wolfram in 2008
Born (1959-08-29) 29 August 1959 (age 65)
London, England
NationalityBritish, American
EducationDragon School[5]
Eton College
Alma mater
Known for
AwardsMacArthur Fellowship (1981)
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
ThesisSome Topics in Theoretical High-Energy Physics (1980)
Doctoral advisorRichard D. Field[3]
Website

Stephen Wolfram (/ˈwʊlfrəm/ WUUL-frəm; born 29 August 1959) is a British-American[6] computer scientist, physicist, and businessman. He is known for his work in computer algebra, and theoretical physics.[7][8] In 2012, he was named a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.[9]

As a businessman, he is the founder and CEO of the software company Wolfram Research where he works as chief designer of Mathematica and the Wolfram Alpha answer engine.

Early life

[edit]

Family

[edit]

Stephen Wolfram was born in London in 1959 to Hugo and Sybil Wolfram, both German Jewish refugees to the United Kingdom.[10] His maternal grandmother was British psychoanalyst Kate Friedlander.

Wolfram's father, Hugo Wolfram, was a textile manufacturer and served as managing director of the Lurex Company—makers of the fabric Lurex.[11] Wolfram's mother, Sybil Wolfram, was a Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy at Lady Margaret Hall at University of Oxford from 1964 to 1993.[12]

Stephen Wolfram is married to a mathematician. They have four children together.[13][14]

Education

[edit]

Wolfram was educated at Eton College, but left prematurely in 1976.[15] As a young child, Wolfram had difficulties learning arithmetic.[16] He entered St. John's College, Oxford, at age 17 and left in 1978[17] without graduating[18][19] to attend the California Institute of Technology the following year, where he received a PhD[20] in particle physics in 1980.[21] Wolfram's thesis committee was composed of Richard Feynman, Peter Goldreich, Frank J. Sciulli and Steven Frautschi, and chaired by Richard D. Field.[21][22]

Early career

[edit]

Wolfram, at the age of 15, began research in applied quantum field theory and particle physics and published scientific papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals; by the time he had earned his undergraduate degree, he had published ten such papers.[23] Following his PhD, Wolfram joined the faculty at Caltech and became the youngest recipient[24] of a MacArthur Fellowship in 1981, at age 21.[18]

Later career

[edit]

Complex systems and cellular automata

[edit]

In 1983, Wolfram left for the School of Natural Sciences of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. By that time, he was no longer interested in particle physics. Instead, he began pursuing investigations into cellular automata,[citation needed] mainly with computer simulations. He produced a series of papers investigating the class of elementary cellular automata, conceiving the Wolfram code, a naming system for one-dimensional cellular automata, and a classification scheme for the complexity of their behaviour.[25] He conjectured that the Rule 110 cellular automaton might be Turing complete, which a research assistant to Wolfram, Matthew Cook, later proved correct.[26] Wolfram sued Cook and temporarily blocked publication of the work on Rule 110 for allegedly violating a non-disclosure agreement until Wolfram could publish the work in his controversial book A New Kind of Science.[4][27] Wolfram's cellular-automata work came to be cited in more than 10,000 papers.[28]

In the mid-1980s, Wolfram worked on simulations of physical processes (such as turbulent fluid flow) with cellular automata on the Connection Machine alongside Richard Feynman[29] and helped initiate the field of complex systems.[citation needed] In 1984, he was a participant in the Founding Workshops of the Santa Fe Institute, along with Nobel laureates Murray Gell-Mann, Manfred Eigen, and Philip Warren Anderson, and future laureate Frank Wilczek.[30] In 1986, he founded the Center for Complex Systems Research (CCSR) at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.[31] In 1987, he founded the journal Complex Systems.[31]

Symbolic Manipulation Program

[edit]
Main article: Symbolic Manipulation Program

Wolfram led the development of the computer algebra system SMP (Symbolic Manipulation Program) in the Caltech physics department during 1979–1981. A dispute with the administration over the intellectual property rights regarding SMP—patents, copyright, and faculty involvement in commercial ventures—eventually led him to resign from Caltech.[32] SMP was further developed and marketed commercially by Inference Corp. of Los Angeles during 1983–1988.

Mathematica

[edit]
Main article: Mathematica

In 1986, Wolfram left the Institute for Advanced Study for the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where he had founded their Center for Complex Systems Research, and started to develop the computer algebra system Mathematica, which was first released on 23 June 1988, when he left academia. In 1987, he founded Wolfram Research, which continues to develop and market the program.[4]

A New Kind of Science

[edit]
Main article: A New Kind of Science

From 1992 to 2002, Wolfram worked on his controversial book A New Kind of Science,[4][33] which presents an empirical study of simple computational systems. Additionally, it argues that for fundamental reasons these types of systems, rather than traditional mathematics, are needed to model and understand complexity in nature. Wolfram's conclusion is that the universe is discrete in its nature, and runs on fundamental laws which can be described as simple programs. He predicts that a realization of this within scientific communities will have a revolutionary influence on physics, chemistry, biology, and a majority of scientific areas in general, hence the book's title. The book was met with skepticism and criticism that Wolfram took credit for the work of others and made conclusions without evidence to support them.[34][35]

Wolfram Alpha computational knowledge engine

[edit]
Main article: Wolfram Alpha

In March 2009, Wolfram announced Wolfram Alpha, an answer engine. WolframAlpha later launched in May 2009,[36] and a paid-for version with extra features launched in February 2012 that was met with criticism for its high price that was later dropped from $50.00 to $2.00.[37][38] The engine is based on natural language processing and a large library of rules-based algorithms. The application programming interface allows other applications to extend and enhance Wolfram Alpha.[39]

Touchpress

[edit]
Main article: Touchpress

In 2010, Wolfram co-founded Touchpress along with Theodore Gray, Max Whitby, and John Cromie. The company specialised in creating in-depth premium apps and games covering a wide range of educational subjects designed for children, parents, students, and educators. Since the launch, Touchpress has published more than 100 apps.[40] The company is no longer active.

Wolfram Language

[edit]
Main article: Wolfram Language

In March 2014, at the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) event, Wolfram officially announced the Wolfram Language as a new general multi-paradigm programming language,[41] though it was previously available through Mathematica and not an entirely new programming language. The documentation for the language was pre-released in October 2013 to coincide with the bundling of Mathematica and the Wolfram Language on every Raspberry Pi computer with some controversy because of the proprietary nature of the Wolfram Language.[42] While the Wolfram Language has existed for over 30 years as the primary programming language used in Mathematica, it was not officially named until 2014, and is not widely used.[43][44]

Wolfram Physics Project

[edit]
A spatial hypergraph

In April 2020, Wolfram announced the "Wolfram Physics Project" as an effort to reduce and explain all the laws of physics within a paradigm of a hypergraph that is transformed by minimal rewriting rules that obey the Church-Rosser property.[45][46] The effort is a continuation of the ideas he originally described in A New Kind of Science. Wolfram claims that "From an extremely simple model, we're able to reproduce special relativity, general relativity and the core results of quantum mechanics."

Physicists are generally unimpressed with Wolfram's claim, and state that Wolfram's results are non-quantitative and arbitrary.[47][48] This sentiment is not universal, however. Theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder, while initially skeptical of the project, remarked, "When I look at this today, I honestly think that this research program is going very well, and I think it's about time that physicists pay a little more attention to it."[49]

Personal interests and activities

[edit]

Wolfram has a log of personal analytics, including emails received and sent, keystrokes made, meetings and events attended, recordings of phone calls, and even physical movement dating back to the 1980s. In the preface of A New Kind of Science, he noted that he recorded over 100 million keystrokes and 100 mouse miles. He has stated "[personal analytics] can give us a whole new dimension to experiencing our lives."[50]

Stephen Wolfram was involved as a scientific consultant for the 2016 film Arrival. He and his son Christopher Wolfram wrote some of the code featured on-screen, such as the code in graphics depicting an analysis of the alien logograms, for which they used the Wolfram Language.[51][52]

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Metamathematics: Foundations & Physicalization, (2022), Wolfram Media, Inc, ASIN:B0BPN7SHN3
  • Combinators: A Centennial View (2021)
  • A Project to Find the Fundamental Theory of Physics (2020), Publisher: Wolfram Media, ISBN 978-1-57955-035-6
  • Adventures of a Computational Explorer (2019)
  • Idea Makers: Personal Perspectives on the Lives & Ideas of Some Notable People (2016)[53]
  • Elementary Introduction to the Wolfram Language (2015)[54]
  • Wolfram, Stephen (2002). A new kind of science. Champaign, IL: Wolfram Media. ISBN 1-57955-008-8. OCLC 47831356.
  • The Mathematica Book (multiple editions)
  • Cellular Automata and Complexity: Collected Papers (1994)
  • Theory and Applications of Cellular Automata (1986)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Wolfram, S. (2013). "Computer algebra". Proceedings of the 38th international symposium on International symposium on symbolic and algebraic computation – ISSAC '13. pp. 7–8. doi:10.1145/2465506.2465930. ISBN 9781450320597. S2CID 37099593.
  2. ^ Stephen Wolfram's publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  3. ^ Wolfram, Stephen (1980). Some topics in theoretical high-energy physics. Caltech Library (phd). California Institute of Technology. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d Giles, J. (2002). "Stephen Wolfram: What kind of science is this?". Nature. 417 (6886): 216–218. Bibcode:2002Natur.417..216G. doi:10.1038/417216a. PMID 12015565. S2CID 10636328.
  5. ^ "My Life in Technology—As Told at the Computer History Museum—Stephen Wolfram Writings". writings.stephenwolfram.com. 19 April 2016.
  6. ^ "Biographical Facts for Stephen Wolfram". www.stephenwolfram.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  7. ^ "Stephen Wolfram". Wolfram Alpha. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  8. ^ "Stephen Wolfram: 'I am an information pack rat'". New Scientist. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  9. ^ List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society, retrieved 1 September 2013.
  10. ^ The Universal Mind: The Evolution of Machine Intelligence and Human Psychology, Xiphias Press, 1 Sep 2016, Michael Peragine
  11. ^ Telling a good yarn by Jenny Lunnon, Oxford Times, Thursday 21 September 2006.
  12. ^ Kate Friedländer née Frankl (1902–1949), Psychoanalytikerinnen. Biografisches Lexikon.
  13. ^ "Stephen Wolfram". Sunday Profile. 31 May 2009. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  14. ^ "The Life and Times of Stephen Wolfram: Biographical Facts". Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  15. ^ A Speech for (High-School) Graduates by Stephen Wolfram (a commencement speech for Stanford Online High School), StephenWolfram.com, 9 June 2014: "You know, as it happens, I myself never officially graduated from high school, and this is actually the first high school graduation I've ever been to."
  16. ^ PHYSICIST AWARDED 'GENIUS' PRIZE FINDS REALITY IN INVISIBLE WORLD, by GLADWIN HILL, New York Times, 24 May 1981: "When I first went to school, they thought I was behind, he says, because I didn't want to read the silly books they gave us. And I never was able to do arithmetic. It was when he got into higher mathematics, such as calculus, he says, that he realized there was an invisible world that he wanted to explore."
  17. ^ Complexity: A Guided Tour by Melanie Mitchell, 2009, p. 151: "In the early 1980s, Stephen Wolfram, a physicist working at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, became fascinated by cellular automata and the patterns they make. Wolfram is one of those legendary child prodigies people like to tell stories about. Born in London in 1959, Wolfram published his first physics paper at 15. Two years later, in the summer after his first year at Oxford, . . . Wolfram wrote a paper in the field of "quantum chromodynamics" that attracted the attention of Nobel-Prize-winning physicist Murray Gell-Mann, who invited Wolfram to join his group at Caltech…"
  18. ^ a b Arndt, Michael (17 May 2002). "Stephen Wolfram's Simple Science". BusinessWeek. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  19. ^ Stephen Wolfram: 'The textbook has never interested me': The British child genius who abandoned physics to devote himself to coding and the cosmos, by Zoë Corbyn, The Guardian, Saturday 28 June 2014: "He entered Oxford University at 17 without A-levels and left around a year later without graduating. He was bored and he had been invited to cross the pond by the prestigious California Institute of Technology (Caltech) to do a PhD. "I had written a bunch of papers and so was pretty well known by that time,"" ...
  20. ^ Stephen Wolfram at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  21. ^ a b Wolfram, Stephen (1980). Some Topics in Theoretical High-Energy Physics (PhD thesis). California Institute of Technology.
  22. ^ "English: StephenWolframCalTechThesisApplication" (PDF). 7 November 1974 – via Wikimedia Commons.
  23. ^ Somers, James (5 April 2018). "The Scientific Paper Is Obsolete". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 23 April 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  24. ^ "FOUNDATION TO SUPPORT 21 AS 'GENIUSES' FOR 5 YEARS". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  25. ^ Regis, Edward (1987). Who got Einstein's office? Eccentricity and Genius at the Institute for Advanced Study. Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley. p. 5. ISBN 0201120658.
  26. ^ Cook, Matthew (2004). "Universality in Elementary Cellular Automata". Complex Systems. 15 (1): 1–40. doi:10.25088/ComplexSystems.15.1.1. ISSN 0891-2513. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  27. ^ Martínez, Genaro J.; Seck-Tuoh-Mora, Juan C.; Chapa-Vergara, Sergio V.; Lemaitre, Christian (3 March 2020). "Brief notes and history of computing in Mexico during 50 years". International Journal of Parallel, Emergent and Distributed Systems. 35 (2): 185–192. arXiv:1905.07527. doi:10.1080/17445760.2019.1608990. ISSN 1744-5760.
  28. ^ Levy, Steven (1 June 2002). "The Man Who Cracked The Code to Everything..." Wired.com. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  29. ^ W. Daniel Hillis (February 1989). "Richard Feynman and The Connection Machine". Physics Today. Archived from the original on 28 July 2009. Retrieved 3 November 2006.
  30. ^ Pines, David (2018). Pines, David (ed.). Emerging Syntheses in Science: Proceedings of the Founding Workshops of the Santa Fe Institute (PDF). Menlo Park, California: Addison-Wesley. pp. 183–190. doi:10.1201/9780429492594. ISBN 9780429492594. S2CID 142670544. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2018.
  31. ^ a b "The Man Who Cracked The Code to Everything". Wired. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  32. ^ Kolata, G. (1983). "Caltech Torn by Dispute over Software". Science. 220 (4600): 932–934. Bibcode:1983Sci...220..932K. doi:10.1126/science.220.4600.932. PMID 17816011.
  33. ^ Wolfram, Stephen (2002). A New Kind of Science. Wolfram Media. ISBN 1579550088.
  34. ^ "Stephen Wolfram, A New Kind of Science". bactra.org. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  35. ^ Giles, Jim (1 May 2002). "What kind of science is this?". Nature. 417 (6886): 216–218. Bibcode:2002Natur.417..216G. doi:10.1038/417216a. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 12015565. S2CID 10636328.
  36. ^ Wolfram, Stephen (5 March 2009). "Wolfram|Alpha Is Coming!". Wolfram blog. Retrieved 9 March 2009.
  37. ^ Sorrel, Charlie. "Wolfram Alpha for iPhone Drops from $50 to $2". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  38. ^ "Announcing Wolfram|Alpha Pro". Wolfram|Alpha blog. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  39. ^ Johnson, Bobbie (9 March 2009). "British search engine 'could rival Google'". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2009.
  40. ^ "Popular Science columnist earns prestigious American Chemical Society award". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  41. ^ Wolfram Language reference page Retrieved on 14 May 2014
  42. ^ Shankland, Stephen. "Premium Mathematica software free on budget Raspberry Pi". CNET. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  43. ^ Slate's article Stephen Wolfram's New Programming Language: He Can Make The World Computable, 6 March 2014. Retrieved on 14 May 2014.
  44. ^ "TIOBE Index". TIOBE. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  45. ^ "Stephen Wolfram Invites You to Solve Physics". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  46. ^ "Stephen Wolfram's hypergraph project aims for a fundamental theory of physics". Science News. 14 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  47. ^ Becker, Adam (6 May 2020). "Physicists Criticize Stephen Wolfram's 'Theory of Everything'". Scientific American. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  48. ^ "The Trouble With Stephen Wolfram's New 'Fundamental Theory of Physics'". Gizmodo. 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  49. ^ Hossenfelder, Sabine (23 October 2024). This Theory of Everything Could Actually Work: Wolfram's Hypergraphs (Video). YouTube. Event occurs at 10:04. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  50. ^ Stephen, Wolfram. "The Personal Analytics of My Life". Wired. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  51. ^ How Arrival's Designers Crafted a Mesmerizing Language, Margaret Rhodes, Wired, 16 November 2016.
  52. ^ "Dissecting the alien language in 'Arrival'". Engadget. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  53. ^ Siegfried, Tom (13 August 2016). "'Idea Makers' tackles scientific thinkers' big ideas and personal lives Human side of science emphasized in new book". Science News. Society for Science & the Public. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  54. ^ Stephen Wolfram Aims to Democratize His Software by Steve Lohr, The New York Times, 14 December 2015.
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