Thu 03 Nov 2011, 6:00pm | MR3, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Clarkson Rd
Professor Sir Tony Hoare (Microsoft Research) speaks on
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Great ideas tell us how to think: how to think effectively about many areas of essential interest to us, because they tell us about ourselves and about the world we live in. They embody principles that endure and evolve over a long period of time. They form the basis of a teaching syllabus for the education of students at school and at Universities. The application of great ideas brings cultural, intellectual, moral, and/or economic benefit to those who adopt and exploit them. And a great idea is often associated with the name of a great thinker, who first formulated and propagated the principles in published form.
It is much easier to recognise great ideas that have been formulated a long time ago, for example in the civilization of Ancient Greece. We know that these ideas have already stood the test of time; they have already been taught to our schoolchildren and university students through many generations. And their continuing relevance to today's world of computers and Computer Science are convincing evidence of their versatility and their enduring power to deliver benefit to mankind.
This lecture will concentrate on Aristotle's logic, and Euclid's geometry, and draw interesting analogies with some of the basic principles of Computer Science.
Great Ideas of Computing Science: from Aristotle to EuclidGreat ideas tell us how to think: how to think effectively about many areas of essential interest to us, because they tell us about ourselves and about the world we live in. They embody principles that endure and evolve over a long period of time. They form the basis of a teaching syllabus for the education of students at school and at Universities. The application of great ideas brings cultural, intellectual, moral, and/or economic benefit to those who adopt and exploit them. And a great idea is often associated with the name of a great thinker, who first formulated and propagated the principles in published form.
It is much easier to recognise great ideas that have been formulated a long time ago, for example in the civilization of Ancient Greece. We know that these ideas have already stood the test of time; they have already been taught to our schoolchildren and university students through many generations. And their continuing relevance to today's world of computers and Computer Science are convincing evidence of their versatility and their enduring power to deliver benefit to mankind.
This lecture will concentrate on Aristotle's logic, and Euclid's geometry, and draw interesting analogies with some of the basic principles of Computer Science.
Tony HoareMicrosoft Research A concept we refer to as the biological constraint is shown to be able where id=11;
to explain the effectiveness of mathematical descriptions of the
universe, as well as accounting for the origin of life and our ability
to think logically. The biological constraint, which can be studied
systematically through the use of appropriate models, refers to
selection in the biological realm in favour of mechanisms that have wide
applicability, a subset of which have mathematical character that can
evolve to ever subtler forms. The precise conformance of physical
phenomena to precise mathematical laws is related to the enforcement of
symmetry.
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