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Hal Abelson

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Hal Abelson
Abelson in 2007
Born
Harold Abelson

(1947-04-26)April 26, 1947(age 77)[2]
Alma mater
Known for
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsComputer science education
Amorphous computing
InstitutionsMassachusetts Institute of Technology
ThesisTopologically Distinct Conjugate-Varieties with Finite Fundamental-Group(1973)
Doctoral advisorDennis Sullivan[1]
Doctoral students
Websitewww.csail.mit.edu/person/hal-abelsonEdit this at Wikidata

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 theMassachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT), a founding director of bothCreative Commons[5]and theFree Software Foundation,[6]creator of theMIT App Inventorplatform, and co-author of the widely-used textbookStructure and Interpretation of Computer Programs,sometimes also referred to as "the wizard book."

He directed the first implementation of the languageLogofor theApple II,which made the language widely available onpersonal computersstarting in 1981; and published a widely selling book on Logo in 1982. Together withGerald 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. TheMIT 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 ofAaron Swartzby theFederal Bureau of Investigation(FBI), which concluded that MIT did nothing wrong legally, but recommended that MIT consider changing some of its internal policies.

Education

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Abelson graduated with aBachelor of Artsdegree in mathematics fromPrinceton Universityin 1969 after completing a senior thesis onActions with fixed-point set: a homology sphere,supervised byWilliam Browder.[1][7]

He received hisPhDin mathematics from theMassachusetts Institute of Technologyin 1973 after completing his research onTopologically distinct conjugate varieties with finite fundamental groupsupervised byDennis Sullivan.[8][9]

Career and research

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Abelson is also a founding director ofCreative CommonsandPublic Knowledge,and a director of theCenter for Democracy and Technology.[10][11][12][8]

Computer science education

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Abelson has a longstanding interest in using computation as a conceptual framework in teaching. He directed the first implementation ofLogofor theApple II,which made the language widely available on personal computers starting in 1981; and published a widely selling book on Logo in 1982. His bookTurtle Geometry,written withAndrea diSessain 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 ofTurtle graphicswas sold atThe Algorithm Auction,the world’s first auction of computeralgorithms.[13]

Together withGerald 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 theSchemedialect ofLisp(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 theApp Inventor for Androidteam, an educational program aiming to make it easy for people with no programming background to write mobile phone applications and "explore whether this could change the nature of introductory computing".[16]He is coauthor of the bookApp Inventorwith David Wolber,Ellen Spertus,and Liz Looney, published by O'Reilly Media in 2011.[17][18][19]After Google released App Inventor as open source software in late 2009 and provided seed funding to theMIT Media Labin 2011, Abelson became codirector of the MIT Center for Mobile Learning to continue development of App Inventor.[20]

Computing tools

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Abelson and Sussman also cooperate in codirecting the MIT Project on Mathematics and Computation, a project of theMIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory(CSAIL), formerly a joint project of theMIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory(AI Lab) andMIT Laboratory for Computer Science(LCS), CSAIL's components. The goal of the project is to create better computational tools for scientists and engineers. But even with powerful numerical computers, exploring complex physical systems still requires substantial human effort and human judgement to prepare simulations and to interpret numerical results.[6]

Together with their students, Abelson and Sussman are combining methods fromnumerical computation,symbolic algebra,andheuristicprogramming to develop programs that not only perform massive numerical computations, but that also interpret these computations anddiscussthe results in qualitative terms. Programs such as these could form the basis for intelligent scientific instruments that monitor physical systems based upon high-level behavioral descriptions. More generally, they could lead to a new generation of computational tools that can autonomously explore complex physical systems, and which will play an important part in the future practice of science and engineering. At the same time, these programs incorporate computational formulations of scientific knowledge that can form the foundations of better ways to teach science and engineering.[6]

Free software movement

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Abelson and Sussman have also been a part of thefree software movement(FSM), including serving on theboard of directorsof theFree Software Foundation(FSF).[21]

Abelson is known to have been involved in publishingAndrew Huang'sHacking the XboxandKeith Winstein's seven-linePerlDeCSSscript (namedqrpff), andLibrary Access to Music Project(LAMP), MIT's campus-wide music distribution system. TheMIT OpenCourseWare(OCW) project was spearheaded by Hal Abelson and other MIT faculty.[15][22]

Aaron Swartz investigation

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Main article:Aaron Swartz

In January 2013,open accessactivistAaron Swartzdied by suicide. He had been arrested near MIT and was facing up to 35 years imprisonment for the alleged crime of downloadingJournal Storage(JSTOR) articles through MIT'sopen accesscampus network.[23]

In response, MIT appointed professor Hal Abelson to lead an internal investigation of the school's choices and role in the prosecution ofAaron Swartzby 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

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Publications

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References

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  1. ^abcdeHal Abelsonat theMathematics Genealogy ProjectEdit this at Wikidata
  2. ^abDate information sourced from Library of Congress Authorities data, via correspondingWorldCatIdentitieslinked authority file (LAF).
  3. ^abAbelson, Hal (2008). "The Creation of OpenCourseWare at MIT".Journal of Science Education and Technology.17(2): 164–174.Bibcode:2008JSEdT..17..164A.doi:10.1007/s10956-007-9060-8.hdl:1721.1/37585.S2CID110449905.
  4. ^abAbelson, Harold;Sussman, Gerald Jay;Sussman, Julie (1996).Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, Second Edition.Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.ISBN0-262-51087-1.
  5. ^"Creative Commons: History".Archived fromthe originalon October 7, 2011.RetrievedOctober 9,2011.
  6. ^abcwww.csail.mit.edu/person/hal-abelsonEdit this at Wikidata
  7. ^Abelson, Harold (1969).Actions with fixed-point set: a homology sphere.Princeton, NJ: Department of Mathematics.
  8. ^abAbelson, Hal (September 17, 2015)."Hal Abelson".Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.Massachusetts Institute of Technology.RetrievedSeptember 7,2019.
  9. ^Abelson, Harold (1973).Topologically distinct conjugate varieties with finite fundamental group.mit.edu(PhD thesis). MIT.OCLC30082612.RetrievedMay 31,2020.
  10. ^Hal Abelson PlaylistArchived2019-03-14 at theWayback MachineAppearance on WMBR'sDinnertime SamplerArchived2011-05-04 at theWayback Machineradio show May 7, 2003
  11. ^Abelson on Computer Science EducationonYouTube
  12. ^Q&A with Professor Hal Abelson of MITon Research at Google
  13. ^"Hal Abelson – Turtle Geometry".Artsy.1969.RetrievedSeptember 7,2019.
  14. ^Harvey, Brian (2011)."Why Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs matters".Cs.berkeley.edu.RetrievedOctober 6,2013.
  15. ^abc"Hal Abelson – Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award – United States – 2011".Association for Computing Machinery.RetrievedOctober 11,2013.
  16. ^Abelson, Hal (July 31, 2009)."App Inventor for Android".Official Google Research Blog.RetrievedAugust 7,2009.
  17. ^Wolber, David; Abelson, Hal; Spertus, Ellen; Looney, Liz (May 3, 2011).App Inventor.O'Reilly Media.ISBN9781449308650.
  18. ^"App Inventor 2, 2nd Edition".O’Reilly: Safari.RetrievedOctober 25,2018.
  19. ^ab"App Inventor 2: Create your own Android Apps".AppInventor.org.RetrievedJune 29,2019.
  20. ^"MIT Launches New Center for Mobile Learning".MIT News Office. August 16, 2011. Archived fromthe originalon August 25, 2011.
  21. ^abc"Staff and Board".Free Software Foundation.RetrievedSeptember 7,2019.
  22. ^Aufderheide, Patricia; Jaszi, Peter (2011).Reclaiming Fair Use: How to Put Balance Back in Copyright.University of Chicago Press. p. 53.ISBN9780226032443.
  23. ^"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.Archivedfrom the original on May 26, 2012.RetrievedSeptember 7,2019.
  24. ^Smith, Gerry (January 15, 2013)."Aaron Swartz Case 'Snowballed Out of MIT's Hands,' Source Says".Huffington Post.RetrievedJanuary 16,2013.
  25. ^Smith, Gerry (January 15, 2013)."President Reif writes to MIT community regarding Aaron Swartz,' Source Says".MIT News.RetrievedJanuary 16,2013.
  26. ^Smith, Gerry (January 15, 2013)."Anonymous hacks MIT sites to post Aaron Swartz tribute, call to arms' Source Says".The Washington Post.RetrievedJanuary 16,2013.
  27. ^Abelson, Hal (July 26, 2013)."Report to the President: MIT and the Prosecution of Aaron Swartz"(PDF).Massachusetts Institute of Technology.RetrievedAugust 2,2013.
  28. ^"Taylor L. Booth Education Award".IEEE Computer Society.Archived fromthe originalon January 10, 2011.RetrievedMarch 28,2011.
  29. ^"SIGCSE Award for Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education".SIGCSE.Archived fromthe originalon July 17, 2012.RetrievedJune 21,2012.
  30. ^Abelson, Harold;diSessa, Andrea(June 1981).Turtle Geometry: The Computer As a Medium for Exploring Mathematics.Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.ISBN978-0-262-01063-4.
  31. ^Abelson, Harold; Ledeen, Ken;Lewis, Harry R.(June 20, 2008).Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness After the Digital Explosion.Saddle River, New Jersey: Addison-Wesley.ISBN978-0-13-713559-2.
  32. ^"Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness After the Digital Explosion".Blown to Bits.RetrievedJune 29,2019.
  33. ^Wolber, David; Abelson, Harold;Spertus, Ellen;Looney, Liz (2014).App Inventor 2: Create Your Own Android Apps 2nd Edition.O'Reilly Media.ISBN978-1491906842.


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