Hal Abelson
Hal Abelson | |
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Born | Harold Abelson April 26, 1947[2] |
Alma mater |
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Known for | |
Awards | |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Computer science education Amorphous computing |
Institutions | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Thesis | Topologically Distinct Conjugate-Varieties with Finite Fundamental-Group (1973) |
Doctoral advisor | Dennis Sullivan[1] |
Doctoral students | |
Website | www |
Harold Abelson (born April 26, 1947)[2] is an American mathematician and computer scientist. He is a professor of computer science and engineering in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a founding director of both Creative Commons[5] and the Free Software Foundation,[6] creator of the MIT App Inventor platform, and co-author of the widely-used textbook Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, sometimes also referred to as "the wizard book."
He directed the first implementation of the language Logo for the Apple II, which made the language widely available on personal computers starting in 1981; and published a widely selling book on Logo in 1982. Together with Gerald Jay Sussman, Abelson developed MIT's introductory computer science subject, The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (called by the course number, 6.001), a subject organized around the idea that a computer language is primarily a formal medium for expressing ideas about methodology, rather than just a way to get a computer to perform operations. Abelson and Sussman also cooperate in codirecting the MIT Project on Mathematics and Computation. The MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) project was spearheaded by Abelson and other MIT faculty.[3]
Abelson led an internal investigation of MIT's choices and role in the prosecution of Aaron Swartz by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which concluded that MIT did nothing wrong legally, but recommended that MIT consider changing some of its internal policies.
Education
Abelson graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from Princeton University in 1969 after completing a senior thesis on Actions with fixed-point set: a homology sphere, supervised by William Browder.[1][7]
He received his
Career and research
Abelson is also a founding director of Creative Commons and Public Knowledge, and a director of the Center for Democracy and Technology.[10][11][12][8]
Computer science education
Abelson has a longstanding interest in using computation as a conceptual framework in teaching. He directed the first implementation of Logo for the Apple II, which made the language widely available on personal computers starting in 1981; and published a widely selling book on Logo in 1982. His book Turtle Geometry, written with Andrea diSessa in 1981, presented a computational approach to geometry which has been cited as "the first step in a revolutionary change in the entire teaching/learning process." In March 2015, a copy of Abelson's 1969 implementation of Turtle graphics was sold at The Algorithm Auction, the world’s first auction of computer algorithms.[13]
Together with Gerald Jay Sussman, Abelson developed MIT's introductory computer science subject, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, a subject organized around the notion that a computer language is primarily a formal medium for expressing ideas about methodology, rather than just a way to get a computer to perform operations. This work, through the textbook of the same name, videotapes of their lectures, and the availability on personal computers of the Scheme dialect of Lisp (used in teaching the course), has had a worldwide impact on university computer science education.[14][15]
He is a visiting faculty member at Google, where he was part of the
Computing tools
Abelson and Sussman also cooperate in codirecting the MIT Project on Mathematics and Computation, a project of the
Together with their students, Abelson and Sussman are combining methods from
Free software movement
Abelson and Sussman have also been a part of the free software movement (FSM), including serving on the board of directors of the Free Software Foundation (FSF).[21]
Abelson is known to have been involved in publishing Andrew Huang's Hacking the Xbox and Keith Winstein's seven-line Perl DeCSS script (named qrpff), and Library Access to Music Project (LAMP), MIT's campus-wide music distribution system. The MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) project was spearheaded by Hal Abelson and other MIT faculty.[15][22]
Aaron Swartz investigation
In January 2013, open access activist Aaron Swartz died by suicide. He had been arrested near MIT and was facing up to 35 years imprisonment for the alleged crime of downloading Journal Storage (JSTOR) articles through MIT's open access campus network.[23]
In response, MIT appointed professor Hal Abelson to lead an internal investigation of the school's choices and role in the prosecution of Aaron Swartz by the FBI.[24][25][26] The report was delivered on July 26, 2013. It concluded that MIT did nothing wrong legally, but recommended that MIT consider changing some of its internal policies.[27]
Awards and honors
- Designated as one of MIT's six inaugural MacVicar Faculty Fellows, in 1992, in recognition of his significant and sustained contributions to teaching and undergraduate education[21]
- 1992 Bose Award, the MIT School of Engineering teaching award[21]
- 1995 Taylor L. Booth Education Award, given by IEEE Computer Society, cited for his continued contributions to the pedagogy and teaching of introductory computer science[28]
- 2011 ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award for "his contribution to computing education, through his innovative advances in curricula designed for students pursuing different kinds of computing expertise, and for his leadership in the movement for open educational resources"[15]
- 2012 Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education[29]
Publications
- Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs[4]
- Turtle Geometry: The Computer As a Medium for Exploring Mathematics[30]
- Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness After the Digital Explosion[31][32]
- App Inventor 2: Create Your Own Android Apps[33][19]
References
- ^ a b c d e Hal Abelson at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
- ^ a b Date information sourced from Library of Congress Authorities data, via corresponding WorldCat Identities linked authority file (LAF).
- ^ S2CID 110449905.
- ^ ISBN 0-262-51087-1.
- ^ "Creative Commons: History". Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2011-10-09.
- ^ a b c www
.csail .mit .edu /person /hal-abelson - ^ Abelson, Harold (1969). Actions with fixed-point set : a homology sphere. Princeton, NJ: Department of Mathematics.
- ^ a b Abelson, Hal (September 17, 2015). "Hal Abelson". Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
- OCLC 30082612. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
- ^ Hal Abelson Playlist Archived 2019-03-14 at the Wayback Machine Appearance on WMBR's Dinnertime Sampler Archived 2011-05-04 at the Wayback Machine radio show May 7, 2003
- YouTube
- ^ Q&A with Professor Hal Abelson of MIT on Research at Google
- ^ "Hal Abelson – Turtle Geometry". Artsy. 1969. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
- ^ Harvey, Brian (2011). "Why Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs matters". Cs.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2013-10-06.
- ^ a b c "Hal Abelson – Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award – United States – 2011". Association for Computing Machinery. Retrieved 2013-10-11.
- ^ Abelson, Hal (July 31, 2009). "App Inventor for Android". Official Google Research Blog. Retrieved August 7, 2009.
- ISBN 9781449308650.
- ^ "App Inventor 2, 2nd Edition". O’Reilly: Safari. Retrieved 2018-10-25.
- ^ a b "App Inventor 2: Create your own Android Apps". AppInventor.org. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
- ^ "MIT Launches New Center for Mobile Learning". MIT News Office. 16 August 2011. Archived from the original on 25 August 2011.
- ^ a b c "Staff and Board". Free Software Foundation. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
- ISBN 9780226032443.
- ^ "Alleged Hacker Charged with Stealing Over Four Million Documents from MIT Network". The United States Attorney's Office: District of Massachusetts. US Department of Justice. July 19, 2011. Archived from the original on May 26, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
- ^ Smith, Gerry (January 15, 2013). "Aaron Swartz Case 'Snowballed Out of MIT's Hands,' Source Says". Huffington Post. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
- ^ Smith, Gerry (January 15, 2013). "President Reif writes to MIT community regarding Aaron Swartz,' Source Says". MIT News. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
- ^ Smith, Gerry (January 15, 2013). "Anonymous hacks MIT sites to post Aaron Swartz tribute, call to arms' Source Says". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
- ^ Abelson, Hal (July 26, 2013). "Report to the President: MIT and the Prosecution of Aaron Swartz" (PDF). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2013-08-02.
- ^ "Taylor L. Booth Education Award". IEEE Computer Society. Archived from the original on January 10, 2011. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
- ^ "SIGCSE Award for Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education". SIGCSE. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-262-01063-4.
- ISBN 978-0-13-713559-2.
- ^ "Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness After the Digital Explosion". Blown to Bits. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
- ISBN 978-1491906842.