Stephen Wolfram

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

Part of what this achieves is to generalize beyond traditional mathematics the kind of constructs that can appear in models. Events are like functions, whose “arguments” are incoming tokens, and whose output is one or more outgoing tokens. And the same issue arose for Alonzo Church’s lambda calculus (introduced around 1930).

Physics 65

Physics Science Sciences Mathematics 65

Stephen Wolfram

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

Part of what this achieves is to generalize beyond traditional mathematics the kind of constructs that can appear in models. Events are like functions, whose “arguments” are incoming tokens, and whose output is one or more outgoing tokens. And the same issue arose for Alonzo Church’s lambda calculus (introduced around 1930).

Science 64

Science Sciences Physics Mathematics 64

Stephen Wolfram

AUGUST 22, 2023

It didn’t help that his knowledge of physics was at best spotty (and, for example, I don’t think he ever really learned calculus). But I think at least in the later part of his life, Ed felt his greatest achievements related to cellular automata and in particular his idea that the universe is a giant cellular automaton.

Computer 68

Computer Physics Science Sciences 68