Elwyn Ralph Berlekamp (September 6, 1940 – April 9, 2019) was a professor of
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
and
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...
at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
.
[Contributors, ''IEEE Transactions on Information Theory'' 42, #3 (May 1996), p. 1048. DO]
10.1109/TIT.1996.490574
[Elwyn Berlekamp]
listing at the Department of Mathematics, University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
. Berlekamp was widely known for his work in computer science,
coding theory
Coding theory is the study of the properties of codes and their respective fitness for specific applications. Codes are used for data compression, cryptography, error detection and correction, data transmission and data storage. Codes are stud ...
and
combinatorial game theory
Combinatorial game theory is a branch of mathematics and theoretical computer science that typically studies sequential games with perfect information. Study has been largely confined to two-player games that have a ''position'' that the players ...
.
Berlekamp was the inventor of the algorithm to factor polynomials, and was one of the inventors of the
Berlekamp–Welch algorithm
The Berlekamp–Welch algorithm, also known as the Welch–Berlekamp algorithm, is named for Elwyn R. Berlekamp and Lloyd R. Welch. This is a decoder algorithm that efficiently corrects errors in Reed–Solomon codes for an RS(''n'', ''k''), code ...
and the
Berlekamp–Massey algorithm
The Berlekamp–Massey algorithm is an algorithm that will find the shortest linear-feedback shift register (LFSR) for a given binary output sequence. The algorithm will also find the minimal polynomial of a linearly recurrent sequence in an arbi ...
s, which are used to implement
Reed–Solomon error correction
Reed–Solomon codes are a group of error-correcting codes that were introduced by Irving S. Reed and Gustave Solomon in 1960.
They have many applications, the most prominent of which include consumer technologies such as MiniDiscs, CDs, DVDs, B ...
.
Berlekamp had also been active in
investing
Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort.
In finance, the purpose of investing i ...
, and ran Axcom, which became
Renaissance Technologies
Renaissance Technologies LLC, also known as RenTech or RenTec, is an American hedge fund based in East Setauket, New York, on Long Island, which specializes in systematic trading using quantitative models derived from mathematical and statisti ...
' Medallion Fund.
Life and education
Berlekamp was born in
Dover, Ohio
Dover is a city in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States, along the Tuscarawas River. The population was 13,112 at the 2020 census. It is located approximately
south of Cleveland, west of Pittsburgh, and northeast of the state capital of Col ...
. His family moved to Northern Kentucky, where Berlekamp graduated from Ft. Thomas Highlands high school in Ft. Thomas, Campbell county, Kentucky. While an undergraduate at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
(MIT), he was a
Putnam Fellow
The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, often abbreviated to Putnam Competition, is an annual mathematics competition for undergraduate college students enrolled at institutions of higher learning in the United States and Canada (regard ...
in 1961.
He completed his bachelor's and master's degrees in
electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
in 1962. Continuing his studies at MIT, he finished his Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1964; his advisors were
Robert G. Gallager
Robert Gray Gallager (born May 29, 1931) is an American electrical engineer known for his work on information theory and communications networks.
Gallager was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 1979 for contributio ...
,
Peter Elias
Peter Elias (November 23, 1923 – December 7, 2001) was a pioneer in the field of information theory. Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, he was a member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty from 1953 to 1991. In 1955, Elias introdu ...
,
Claude Shannon
Claude Elwood Shannon (April 30, 1916 – February 24, 2001) was an American people, American mathematician, electrical engineering, electrical engineer, and cryptography, cryptographer known as a "father of information theory".
As a 21-year-o ...
, and
John Wozencraft
John McReynolds "Jack" Wozencraft (September 30, 1925 – August 31, 2009) was an electrical engineer and information theory, information theorist, professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. One of the pioneers of coding t ...
.
Berlekamp had two daughters and a son with his wife Jennifer. He lived in
Piedmont, California
Piedmont is a small city located in Alameda County, California, United States, completely surrounded by the city of Oakland. Its residential population was 11,270 at the 2020 census. The name comes from the region of Piedmont in Italy, and it me ...
and died in April 2019 at the age of 78 from complications of
pulmonary fibrosis
Pulmonary fibrosis is a condition in which the lungs become scarred over time. Symptoms include shortness of breath, a dry cough, feeling tired, weight loss, and nail clubbing. Complications may include pulmonary hypertension, respiratory failu ...
.
Career
Berlekamp was a professor of electrical engineering at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
from 1964 until 1966, when he became a mathematics researcher at
Bell Labs
Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984),
then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996)
and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007),
is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...
. In 1971, Berlekamp returned to Berkeley as professor of mathematics and computer science, where he served as the advisor for over twenty doctoral students.
[Contributors]
''IEEE Transactions on Information Theory'' 20, #3 (May 1974), p. 408.
He was a member of the
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...
(1977)
and the
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
(1999). He was elected a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
in 1996,
and became a fellow of the
American Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...
in 2012. In 1991, he received the
IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal
The IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal is presented annually to up to three persons, for outstanding achievements in information sciences, information systems and information technology. The recipients receive a gold medal, together with a replica in ...
, and in 1993, the
Claude E. Shannon Award
The Claude E. Shannon Award of the IEEE Information Theory Society was created to honor consistent and profound contributions to the field of information theory. Each Shannon Award winner is expected to present a Shannon Lecture at the following ...
. In 1998, he received a Golden Jubilee Award for Technological Innovation from the
IEEE Information Theory Society
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...
. Along with
Tom M. Rodgers[Puzzles + Math = Magic]
By Edward Rothstein, New York Times, April 3, 2004 he was one of the founders of
Gathering 4 Gardner
Gathering 4 Gardner (G4G) is an educational foundation and non-profit corporation (Gathering 4 Gardner, Inc.) devoted to preserving the legacy and spirit of prolific writer Martin Gardner. G4G organizes conferences where people who have been inspi ...
and was on its board for many years. In the mid-1980s, he was president of
Cyclotomics, Inc., a corporation that developed error-correcting code technology.
He has studied various games, including
dots and boxes,
Fox and Geese
Fox games are a category of asymmetric board games for two players, where one player is the fox and tries to eat the geese / sheep, and the opposing player directs the geese/sheep and attempts to trap the fox, or reach a destination on the board. I ...
, and, especially,
Go. Berlekamp and co-author David Wolfe describe methods for analyzing certain classes of Go endgames in the book ''Mathematical Go.''
Berlekamp and Martin Gardner
Berlekamp was a close friend of
Scientific American
''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...
columnist
Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and popular science writer with interests also encompassing scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literatureespecially the writings of Lewis ...
and was an important member of the gifted and diverse group of people that Gardner nurtured and acted as a conduit for; people who inspired Gardner and who were in turn inspired by him.
[Elwyn Berlekamp Tribute]
by Gathering 4 Gardner on April 17, 2019 Berlekamp teamed up with
John Horton Conway
John Horton Conway (26 December 1937 – 11 April 2020) was an English mathematician active in the theory of finite groups, knot theory, number theory, combinatorial game theory and coding theory. He also made contributions to many branches ...
and
Richard K. Guy
Richard Kenneth Guy (30 September 1916 – 9 March 2020) was a British mathematician. He was a professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Calgary. He is known for his work in number theory, geometry, recreational mathemati ...
, two other close associates of Gardner, to co-author the book ''
Winning Ways for your Mathematical Plays'', leading to his recognition as one of the founders of
combinatorial game theory
Combinatorial game theory is a branch of mathematics and theoretical computer science that typically studies sequential games with perfect information. Study has been largely confined to two-player games that have a ''position'' that the players ...
.
The Mathematical Legacy of Martin Gardner
' by Elwyn Berlekamp, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) is a professional society dedicated to applied mathematics, computational science, and data science through research, publications, and community. SIAM is the world's largest scientific socie ...
(SIAM), September 2, 2014: Partly because of what I had read about them in Martin Gardner’s columns, I was appropriately awestruck in the 1960s when I first met Sol Golomb and then Richard Guy, each of whom had a large influence on my subsequent work. In 1969 Richard introduced me to John Horton Conway, and the three of us immediately began collaborating on a book that eventually became ''Winning Ways for Your Mathematical Plays''. In the 1970s, I joined Conway in some of his many visits to Gardner’s home on Euclid Avenue, in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. Gardner soon became an enthusiastic advocate of our book project, and he previewed various snippets of it in his Scientific American columns. The dedication of their book says, "To Martin Gardner, who has brought more mathematics to more millions than anyone else."
Berlekamp and Gardner both had great love for and were strong advocates of recreational mathematics.
[ Conferences called ]Gathering 4 Gardner
Gathering 4 Gardner (G4G) is an educational foundation and non-profit corporation (Gathering 4 Gardner, Inc.) devoted to preserving the legacy and spirit of prolific writer Martin Gardner. G4G organizes conferences where people who have been inspi ...
(G4G) are held every two years to celebrate the Gardner legacy.[ Berlekamp was one of the founders of G4G and was on its board of directors for many years.
]
Selected publications
* ''Block coding with noiseless feedback''. Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, 1964.
* ''Algebraic Coding Theory'', New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
: McGraw-Hill
McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referenc ...
, 1968. Revised ed., Aegean Park Press, 1984, .
* (with John Horton Conway
John Horton Conway (26 December 1937 – 11 April 2020) was an English mathematician active in the theory of finite groups, knot theory, number theory, combinatorial game theory and coding theory. He also made contributions to many branches ...
and Richard K. Guy
Richard Kenneth Guy (30 September 1916 – 9 March 2020) was a British mathematician. He was a professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Calgary. He is known for his work in number theory, geometry, recreational mathemati ...
) '' Winning Ways for your Mathematical Plays''.
**1st edition, New York: Academic Press
Academic Press (AP) is an academic book publisher founded in 1941. It was acquired by Harcourt, Brace & World in 1969. Reed Elsevier bought Harcourt in 2000, and Academic Press is now an imprint of Elsevier.
Academic Press publishes reference ...
, 2 vols., 1982; vol. 1, hardback: , paperback: ; vol. 2, hardback: , paperback: .
**2nd edition, Wellesley, : A. K. Peters Ltd., 4 vols., 2001–2004; vol. 1: ; vol. 2: ; vol. 3: ; vol. 4: .
* (with David Wolfe) ''Mathematical Go''. Wellesley, Massachusetts: A. K. Peters Ltd., 1994. .
* ''The Dots-and-Boxes Game''. Natick
Natick ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 37,006 at the 2020 census. west of Boston, Natick is part of the Greater Boston area. ...
, : A. K. Peters Ltd., 2000. .
See also
* Berlekamp switching game The Berlekamp switching game is a mathematical game proposed by American mathematician Elwyn Berlekamp. It has also been called the Gale–Berlekamp switching game, after David Gale, who discovered the same game independently, or the unbalancing lig ...
* Berlekamp–Zassenhaus algorithm
In mathematics, in particular in computer algebra, computational algebra, the Berlekamp–Zassenhaus algorithm is an algorithm for factoring polynomials over the integers, named after Elwyn Berlekamp and Hans Zassenhaus. As a consequence of Gau ...
References
External links
Elwyn Berlekamp
home page at the University of California, Berkeley.
*.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berlekamp, Elwyn
1940 births
2019 deaths
20th-century American mathematicians
21st-century American mathematicians
American information theorists
Coding theorists
Combinatorial game theorists
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Fellows of the American Mathematical Society
Go (game) researchers
MIT School of Engineering alumni
Mathematicians from Ohio
Mathematics popularizers
Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
People from Dover, Ohio
Putnam Fellows
UC Berkeley College of Engineering faculty
Deaths from pulmonary fibrosis