Michael P. Barnett
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Michael Peter Barnett (24 March 1929 – 13 March 2012) was a British
At MIT he was an associate professor of physics and director of the
Early life and career
Barnett spent most of the World War II years near
This work required the evaluation of certain mathematical objects – molecular integrals over
Two years after Barnett started this work, he was invited to be one of the twenty-five participants in a conference that was organised by
At the
In 1957, Barnett accepted an invitation from
Activities at MIT
In 1958,
The calculations of quantum chemistry involve approximate solutions of the Schrödinger equation. Many methods for computing these require molecular integrals that are defined for systems of 2, 3 and 4 atoms, respectively. The 4-atom (or 4-centre) integrals are by far the most difficult. By extending the methods of his PhD papers, Barnett developed a detailed methodology for evaluating all of these integrals
In 1960, Barnett started to extend a technique he had learned from
Barnett also began to develop his ideas on cognitive modelling, as a member of
Institute of Computer Science
In 1963, Barnett accepted an appointment as reader in information processing at the Institute of Computer Science in the University of London,[34] and, while he was still at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) awarded him a grant, to be taken up in London, to continue his work on computer typesetting, that was publicised by the director, Richard A. Buckingham.[35] His return received further publicity as a "reverse brain drain".[36][37] He worked extensively with printing trade union officials and the staff of training colleges, to provide understanding of the new methods and their potential (pages 208–218 of his book).[26] His concern with social aspects of technological innovation is noted in a detailed book review.[38] He served on the Information Committee of the DSIR.[39]
Asked about university research in England, in a BBC interview on his arrival in 1964, he said "the trouble was deeper than money ... Frustration is caused by concentration of power in the hands of a few."[40] His deepening concern about entrepreneurial activity in academe intensified, (Section 10.6 of his book.[26])
Industry, Columbia and CUNY
After a year at the Institute of Computer Science, Barnett went back to the US He joined the newly formed Graphic Systems Division of RCA, to create software for commercial computer typesetting. RCA acquired the US rights to the Digiset machine of Rudolf Hell and marketed an adaptation as the Videocomp. About 50 were sold.[41] Barnett designed the algorithmic markup language PAGE-1 to express complicated formats in full page composition.[42] This was used for a wide range of typeset products that included, over the years, the Social Sciences Index of the H. W. Wilson Company and several other publications excerpted in a later review paper.,[43] The application to database publishing led Barnett to devise and implement a programming language, that he called SNAP, to express file handling operations as sequences of grammatical English sentences.[44]
In 1969, Barnett joined the H. W. Wilson Company, a publisher of bibliographic tools for libraries, to automate the production of these. He designed and introduced the system that was used to produce the Social Sciences Index for about 10 years. He had also started to teach courses on library automation at the Columbia School of Library Service.[45] He joined the Columbia faculty full-time in 1975.
In 1977, Barnett moved to the Department of Computer and Information Science at
Integrals redux, retirement and symbolic calculation
In 1989, Barnett started to spend part of his time as a visiting scientist at the John von Neumann National Supercomputer Center,
Wikipedia editor
During 2010-2011 Barnett edited over 120 Wikipedia articles and was a major contributor to the highly rated article on Malvern, Worcestershire. He helped document the work of British chemists, including William Moffitt and John Wilson.
References
- ^ "Obituary of Michael Barnett (1929–2012)". Physics Today. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
- ^ a b Michael Peter Barnett, The Evaluation of Integrals Occurring in the theory of molecular structure. PhD thesis, University of London, 1952.
- ^ Charles A Coulson, The evaluation of certain integrals occurring in the theory of molecular structure, Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 33, 104, 1937.
- ^ Michael P Barnett and Charles A Coulson, Evaluation of integrals occurring in the theory of molecular structure, Part I: Basic Functions, Phil. Trans. Royal Society (London) A 243, pages 221–233, 1951.
- ^ Michael P Barnett and Charles A Coulson, Evaluation of integrals occurring in the theory of molecular structure, Part II: Overlap, resonance, Coulomb, hybrid and other two-centre integrals, Phil. Trans. Royal Society (London) A 243, pages 234–249, 1951.
- ^ M J M Bernal and J M Mills, Evaluation of molecular integrals by the method of Barnett and Coulson, DTC online, Information for the Defense Community, 1960.
- ^ John C Slater, Quantum Theory of Matter, McGraw-Hill 1968, pages 543–545.
- ISBN 978-3-642-02788-8. page 173.
- ^ Michael P Barnett, Chemical calculations and chemicals that might calculate, International Journal of Quantum Chemistry, 109, 1640–1657, 2009.
- ^ Robert G Parr and Bryce L Crawford. National Academy of Sciences Conference on Quantum-Mechanical Methods in Valence Theory, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 38, pages 547–554, 1952.
- ^ R.G. Parr, The Genesis of a Theory, International Journal of Quantum Chemistry, 37, pages 327–347, 1996.
- ^ C A Coulson and M P Barnett, The evaluation of unit molecular integrals, Proceedings of the Shelter Island conference "Quantum Mechanics in Valence Theory", pages 237–271, Office of Naval Research, Washington, DC. 1951 – see Acknowledgements.
- ^ M P Barnett (ed), Band Structure: Theory and Experiment. Proceedings of a Symposium Held at RRE Malvern on 27 and 28 September 1954.
- ^ R. W. Langridge, M. P. Barnett and A. F. Mann, Calculation of the Fourier transform of a helical molecule, Journal of Molecular Biology, 2, 63, 1960.
- ^ H.A.W. Morrice and W N Allan, Planning for the ultimate hydraulic development of the Nile Valley, Proceedings of the Institute of Civil Engineers, 14, 101, 1959.
- ^ M P Barnett, Comment on the Nile Valley Calculations, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series B, volume 19, 223, 1957.
- ^ R.B. Bird, C.F. Curtiss and P.R. Certain, Joseph Oakland Hirschfelder, May 27, 1911 – March 30, 1990, Biographical Memoirs, 66, pages 190–205, 1995, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C.
- ^ C. F. Curtiss, J. O. Hirschfelder and M P Barnett, Theory of detonations, Part III: Ignition temperature approximation, Journal of Chemical Physics, 30, 470, 1959.
- ^ Michael P Barnett, "Cooperative Computing Laboratory", pages 336–7, in President's Report Issue 1963. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Bulletin, volume 99, number 2, November, 1963.
- ^ ISSN 1069-3599
- ^ M P Barnett, The evaluation of molecular integrals by the zeta—function method, in Methods in computational physics, volume 2, Quantum Mechanics, ed. B Alder, S Fernbach and M Rotenberg, pages 95–153, Academic Press, New York, 1963.
- ^ Donald Ellis, Department of Physics and Astronomy, North Western University Archived 20 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ S F Boys, G B Cook, C M Reeves and I Shavitt, Nature, 178, 1207–9, 1956.
- ^ B.P.N. Shih, R.L. Snyder, M.P. Barnett and D.A. Luce, Union list of Chinese communist periodicals, MIT Libraries, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1963.
- ^ I.G. Izsak, J.M. Gerard, R. Efimba and M.P. Barnett, Construction of Newcomb operators on a digital computer, Research in Space Science Special Report Number 140, Smithsonian Institution Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1964.
- ^ a b c M.P. Barnett, Computer Typesetting, Experiments and Prospects, MIT Press, 1965.
- ^ M.P. Barnett, Some comments suggested by a consideration of computers, in Macromolecular specificity and biological memory, ed. F.O. Schmidt, pages 24–27, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1962.
- ^ D.F Manzer and M.P. Barnett, Analysis by Simulation: Programming techniques for a High-Speed Digital Computer, in Arthur Maas et al., Design of Water Resource Systems, pages 324–390, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1962.
- ^ R.P. Futrelle, Biological Knowledge Laboratory, North Western University
- ^ M.P. Barnett and R.P. Futrelle, "Syntactic analysis by digital computer", Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery, 5, pages 515–526, 1962
- ^ M.P. Barnett and K.L. Kelley, Editing verbal texts by digital computer, American Documentation, 14, 99, 1963.
- ^ M J Bailey, M P Barnett and R P Futrelle, "Format free input in FORTRAN", Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery, 6, 505, 1963.
- ^ I.G. Csizmadia, B.T. Sutcliffe and M.P. Barnett, A group orbital treatment of lithium hydride, Canadian Journal Chemistry, 42, pages 1645–1663, 1964.
- ^ British Scientist Leaving U.S., The Times, February 14, 1964, page 6, issue 55935, col. G.
- ^ Towards Printing by Computer, The Times, February 22, 1964, page 6, issue 55942, col. E>
- ^ Scientist Back From U.S.: New Light Cast on '"Brain Drain", The Times, 25 March 1964, page 10, issue 55969, col. G.
- ^ Automated Printing at Universities, The Guardian 26 March 1964, page 9.
- ^ John Seybold, American Documentation, 17 (4) 219, 1964.
- ^ M P Barnett, The information explosion, Nature, 203, 585, 1964.
- ^ "Reversing Current Tide, British Scientist Returns", The New York Times, 25 March 1964, page 18.
- ^ Jack Belzer, Albert G. Holzman and Allen Kent, Encyclopedia of computer science and technology, volume 5, page 350.
- ^ John. Pierson, Computer composition using PAGE-1, Wiley Interscience, New York, 1972.
- ^ a b c M P Barnett, Electronic publishing for educational institutions, in D. D. Mebane (ed.), Solving college and university problems through technology, pages 121—158, EDUCOM, Princeton, New Jersey, 1981.
- OL 5754250M
- ^ M P Barnett, Computer hardware and software for librarians, in P.J. Fasana and A. Veaner (eds.), Collaborative library systems development, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1971.
- OL 2849295M, 0835904547
- OL 3493113M, 0316081647
- OL 21267624M, 0316082201
- OL 2547803M, 0070037922
- ^ Science on the ETA10, John von Neumann National Supercomputer Center, Consortium for Scientific Computing, 1988.
- ^ A R Hoffman and J F Traub, Supercomputers: directions in technology and applications, National Academy Press, 1989.
- ^ M P Barnett, Symbolic computation, Slater orbitals and nuclear magnetic resonance.