Jay Wright Forrester

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jay Wright Forrester (born July 14, 1918 in Anselmo , Custer County , Nebraska , † November 16, 2016 in Concord , Massachusetts ) was an American computer scientist and a pioneer in computer technology and systems science. He is considered the founder of system dynamics and in the Whirlwind project first developed large memories with direct access (forerunner of RAM ). Forrester was a professor in the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

biography

Forrester was born to a teacher couple who lived as ranchers on a lonely farm. At the age of nine, he was already doing many repairs to technical equipment on the farm alone. After a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Nebraska, he went on to earn a master's degree at MIT, where he would continue to work.

As part of the Whirlwind project (a flight simulator), of which he was head from 1944, he developed a “ Multicoordinate Digital Information Storage Device ”, an improved version of An Wang's core memory and thus the forerunner of today's RAM ( Random Access Memory ). He applied for the corresponding patent on May 11, 1951. Forrester also created the first animation in computer graphics history , a "bouncing ball" on an oscilloscope . Forrester's student Ken Olsen founded the Digital Equipment Corporation in the 1950s .

In 1956 Forrester founded the System Dynamics Group at the Sloan School of Management at MIT, thereby establishing the field of System Dynamics , which was made known in Germany by the Kortzfleisch device that was also at MIT and worked with Forrester . The group uses simulation methods to investigate the interactions between objects in complex dynamic systems. They are used in various areas, including the methods Forresters were the 1972 published book based on The Limits to Growth (German Limits to Growth ) of the Club of Rome , the Forrester by his student Erich Zahn met.

In 1968 he was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . In 1981 he received the Computer Pioneer Award for his memory development .

literature

  • 1961: Industrial Dynamics , MIT Press, 1961.
  • 1968: Principles of Systems . Pegasus Communications, 1968.
    • Basics of a systems theory. A textbook. Business publisher Gabler 1972.
  • 1969: Urban Dynamics . MIT Press, 1969.
  • 1971: World Dynamics . Wright Allen Press, Cambridge, USA, 1971.
    • The diabolical control loop. The global model of the human crisis. Ed. By Eduard Pestel , 116 pages, 78 illustrations, DVA, Stuttgart 1972, ISBN 3-421026327 .
  • 1975: Collected Papers of Jay W. Forrester . Wright Allen Press, Cambridge, USA, 1975.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In Memoriam . Obituary of the System Dynamics Society, accessed on November 18, 2016. Katie Hafner: Jay W. Forrester Dies at 98; a pioneer in computer models . Obituary in The New York Times , November 17, 2016, accessed November 19, 2016.
  2. ↑ Patent US2736880 : Multicoordinate digital information storage device. Filed May 11, 1951 , published February 28, 1956 , Applicant: Research Corp, Inventor: Jay W. Forrester. ‌
  3. ^ Forrester 1971 (Closed Loop) - A Book of Public Science . Translated by Hans-Dieter Heck: Humorous obituary 1998
personal data
SURNAME Forrester, Jay Wright
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American computer scientist
DATE OF BIRTH July 14, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Anselmo , Custer County , Nebraska
DATE OF DEATH November 16, 2016
Place of death Concord , Massachusetts