Idea Makers - by Stephen Wolfram (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

This book of thoroughly engaging essays from one of today's most prodigious innovators provides a uniquely personal perspective on the lives and achievements of a selection of intriguing figures from the history of science and technology. Weaving together his immersive interest in people and history with insights gathered from his own experiences, Stephen Wolfram gives an ennobling look at some of the individuals whose ideas and creations have helped shape our world today. Contents includes biographical sketches of: Richard Feynman Kurt Godel Alan Turing John von Neumann George Boole Ada Lovelace Gottfried Leibniz Benoit Mandelbrot Steve Jobs Marvin Minsky Russell Towle Bertrand Russell Alfred Whitehead Richard Crandall Srinivasa Ramanujan Solomon Golomb

About the Author

Stephen Wolfram was born in London and educated at Eton, Oxford, and Caltech. He received his PhD in theoretical physics in 1979 at the age of 20, and in the early 1980s made a series of discoveries that launched the field of complex systems research. Starting in 1986, he created Mathematica, the primary software system now used for technical computing worldwide, and the tool that made "A New Kind of Science" possible. Wolfram is the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research, Inc.--the world's leading technical software company. He is also the creator of the WolframAlpha computational knowledge engine, launched in 2009.