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So, who are some computer scientists (and mathematicians) that should be on the list? That is a loaded but honest question.
by rp 18y ago
So, who are some computer scientists (and mathematicians) that should be on the list? That is a loaded but honest question.
- technoguyrob 18y agoGrothendieck, Knuth, Paul Cohen, Terence Tao, Shing-Tung Yao. In my opinion Godel was the greatest mathematician of the 20th century, but he's dead.
- wheeler 18y agoHow can you possibly think that Grothendieck should be on a list of public intellectuals?
- mechanical_fish 18y agoI'm not nominating anyone. I don't think being named to the list of "100 random names, compiled over a round of beers at a Foreign Policy office party, that make you sound sophisticated when you drop them" is a very high honor.
- geebee 18y agoThat's an interesting question. I think that the software world (distinct from CS or Math) does have "public intellectuals", though they are rarely known outside software. I'd say that Eric Raymond, David Heinemeier Hansson, Paul Graham, Joel Spolsky, Kathy Sierra, and Linus Torvalds are "public intellectuals" within this space. Many of these folks have impressive tech accomplishments, but people know who they are largely because they've read their writings/essays about software (ie., I'm distinguishing people who are known purely on the basis of code). It's very difficult to become a software public intellectual without reasonably impressive technical achievements, though I'd probably say Lawrence Lessig is in the club.
- huherto 18y agoIMHO: Linus, Alan Kay, Alan Turing
- presty 18y agoMarvin Minsky, John McCarthy and Donald E. Knuth,