Algorithms 2010, 3(3), 260-264; doi:10.3390/a3030260
Obituary

Ray Solomonoff, Founding Father of Algorithmic Information Theory

Paul M.B. Vitanyiemail
CWI, Science Park 123, Amsterdam 1098 XG, The Netherlands
Received: 12 March 2010 / Accepted: 14 March 2010 / Published: 20 July 2010
(This article belongs to the Special Issue "Algorithmic Complexity in Physics & Embedded Artificial Intelligences"—In Memoriam Ray Solomonoff (1926-2009))
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Abstract: Ray J. Solomonoff died on December 7, 2009, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, of complications of a stroke caused by an aneurism in his head. Ray was the first inventor of Algorithmic Information Theory which deals with the shortest effective description length of objects and is commonly designated by the term “Kolmogorov complexity.” In the 1950s Solomonoff was one of the first researchers to treat probabilistic grammars and the associated languages. He treated probabilistic Artificial Intelligence (AI) when “probabilistic” was unfashionable, and treated questions of machine learning early on. But his greatest contribution is the creation of Algorithmic Information Theory. [...]

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MDPI and ACS Style

Vitanyi, P.M. Ray Solomonoff, Founding Father of Algorithmic Information Theory. Algorithms 2010, 3, 260-264.

AMA Style

Vitanyi PM. Ray Solomonoff, Founding Father of Algorithmic Information Theory. Algorithms. 2010; 3(3):260-264.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Vitanyi, Paul M.B. 2010. "Ray Solomonoff, Founding Father of Algorithmic Information Theory." Algorithms 3, no. 3: 260-264.

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