Chris Wallace (computer scientist)
Encyclopedia
Professor Christopher Stewart Wallace (26 October 1933—7 August 2004) was an Australia
n computer scientist
(and physicist
, who also contributed to a variety of other areas)
notable for having devised:
He was appointed Foundation Chair of Information Science at Monash University
in 1968 at the age of 34 (before the Department was later re-named Computer Science), and Professor Emeritus in 1996. Wallace was a fellow of the Australian Computer Society
and in 1995 he was appointed a fellow of the ACM
"For research in a number of areas in Computer Science including fast multiplication algorithm, minimum message length principle and its applications, random number generation, computer architecture, numerical solution of ODE's, and contribution to Australian Computer Science."http://fellows.acm.org/fellow_citation.cfm?id=1058015&srt=alpha&alpha=W
Wallace received his PhD (in Physics) from the University of Sydney in 1959. He was married to Judy Ogilvie, the first operator of SILLIAC
, one of Australia's first computers which was launched on the 12 of September 1956 at the University of Sydney http://www.usyd.edu.au/alumni/activities/magazine/winter06/byte.shtml. He also engineered one of the world's first Local Area Networks in the mid 1960s http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/CCS/res/res19.htm.
(and here). (As far as we know, this cites and includes references to every paper which Chris Wallace ever wrote [and every thesis he ever supervised].)
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n computer scientist
Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
(and physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
, who also contributed to a variety of other areas)
notable for having devised:
- The minimum message lengthMinimum message lengthMinimum message length is a formal information theory restatement of Occam's Razor: even when models are not equal in goodness of fit accuracy to the observed data, the one generating the shortest overall message is more likely to be correct...
principle (Wallace and Boulton, 1968, WB1968) — an information-theoretic principle in statisticsStatisticsStatistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
, econometricsEconometricsEconometrics has been defined as "the application of mathematics and statistical methods to economic data" and described as the branch of economics "that aims to give empirical content to economic relations." More precisely, it is "the quantitative analysis of actual economic phenomena based on...
, machine learningMachine learningMachine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, is a scientific discipline concerned with the design and development of algorithms that allow computers to evolve behaviors based on empirical data, such as from sensor data or databases...
, inductive inferenceInductive inferenceAround 1960, Ray Solomonoff founded the theory of universal inductive inference, the theory of prediction based on observations; for example, predicting the next symbol based upon a given series of symbols...
and knowledge discoveryKnowledge discoveryKnowledge discovery is a concept of the field of computer science that describes the process of automatically searching large volumes of data for patterns that can be considered knowledge about the data . It is often described as deriving knowledge from the input data...
which can be seen both as a mathematical formalisation of Occam's RazorOccam's razorOccam's razor, also known as Ockham's razor, and sometimes expressed in Latin as lex parsimoniae , is a principle that generally recommends from among competing hypotheses selecting the one that makes the fewest new assumptions.-Overview:The principle is often summarized as "simpler explanations...
and as an invariant BayesianBayesian inferenceIn statistics, Bayesian inference is a method of statistical inference. It is often used in science and engineering to determine model parameters, make predictions about unknown variables, and to perform model selection...
method of model selection and point estimation, - The Wallace treeWallace treeA Wallace tree is an efficient hardware implementation of a digital circuit that multiplies two integers, devised by an Australian Computer Scientist Chris Wallace in 1964.The Wallace tree has three steps:...
multiplier (1964) (see multiplication ALU), - a variety of random number generators,
- a theory in physics and philosophy that entropyEntropyEntropy is a thermodynamic property that can be used to determine the energy available for useful work in a thermodynamic process, such as in energy conversion devices, engines, or machines. Such devices can only be driven by convertible energy, and have a theoretical maximum efficiency when...
is not the arrow of time, - a refrigeration system (from the 1950s, whose design is still in use in 2010),
- hardware for detecting and counting cosmic rays,
- design of computer operating systems,
- and a vast range of other works - see, e.g., and its ``Foreword re C. S. Wallace , pp523-560.
He was appointed Foundation Chair of Information Science at Monash University
Monash University
Monash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....
in 1968 at the age of 34 (before the Department was later re-named Computer Science), and Professor Emeritus in 1996. Wallace was a fellow of the Australian Computer Society
Australian Computer Society
The Australian Computer Society is an association for information and communications technology professionals. According to its Constitution, its objects are "to advance professional excellence in information technology" and "to promote the development of Australian information and communications...
and in 1995 he was appointed a fellow of the ACM
Association for Computing Machinery
The Association for Computing Machinery is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
"For research in a number of areas in Computer Science including fast multiplication algorithm, minimum message length principle and its applications, random number generation, computer architecture, numerical solution of ODE's, and contribution to Australian Computer Science."http://fellows.acm.org/fellow_citation.cfm?id=1058015&srt=alpha&alpha=W
Wallace received his PhD (in Physics) from the University of Sydney in 1959. He was married to Judy Ogilvie, the first operator of SILLIAC
SILLIAC
The SILLIAC , an early computer built by the University of Sydney, Australia, was based on the ILLIAC and ORDVAC computers developed at the University of Illinois, which in turn were based on the IAS architecture developed by John von Neumann.SILLIAC had its genesis in...
, one of Australia's first computers which was launched on the 12 of September 1956 at the University of Sydney http://www.usyd.edu.au/alumni/activities/magazine/winter06/byte.shtml. He also engineered one of the world's first Local Area Networks in the mid 1960s http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/CCS/res/res19.htm.
External links
- Tribute to IT pioneer Chris Wallace — 13 October 2004
- Remembering Emeritus Professor Chris Wallace — 5 September 2008
- Remembering Emeritus Professor Chris Wallace (Information Technology), 2008
- Christopher S. Wallace publications, and searchable publications database
- Wallace, C.S. (posthumous, 2005), Statistical and Inductive Inference by Minimum Message Length, Springer (Series: Information Science and Statistics), 2005, XVI, 432 pp., 22 illus., Hardcover, ISBN 0-387-23795-X. (Links to chapter headings, table of contents and sample pages.)
(and here). (As far as we know, this cites and includes references to every paper which Chris Wallace ever wrote [and every thesis he ever supervised].)