Gustave Solomon (October 27, 1930 – January 31, 1996) was an American

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and electrical engineer who was one of the founders of the algebraic theory of error detection and correction.

Career

Solomon completed his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

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 ...

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 ...

in 1956 under direction of

Kenkichi Iwasawa Kenkichi Iwasawa ( ''Iwasawa Kenkichi'', September 11, 1917 – October 26, 1998) was a Japanese mathematician who is known for his influence on algebraic number theory. Biography Iwasawa was born in Shinshuku-mura, a town near Kiryū, in Gunm ...

. Solomon was best known for developing, along with Irving S. Reed, the algebraic error correction and detection codes named the Reed–Solomon codes. These codes protect the integrity of digital information, and they have had widespread use in modern digital storage and communications, ranging from deep space communications down to the digital audio

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

. Solomon was also one of the co-creators of the Mattson–Solomon polynomial and the Solomon–McEliece weight formulas. He received

IEEE Masaru Ibuka Award The IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award is a Technical Field Award of the IEEE given for outstanding contributions to consumer electronics technology. It is named in honor of Masaru Ibuka, co-founder and honorary chairman of Sony Corpor ...

along with Irving Reed in 1995. In his later years, Solomon consulted at the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...

near

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

Personal life

Solomon was very interested in opera and in theater, and he even wanted to get minor acting parts himself, perhaps in television commercials. Between his assignments in the Communications Research Section at JPL, he taught foreign-born

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

s and scientists English by exposing them to music from American musical productions. He believed in enhancing health and the feelings of well-being through breathing exercises, and he was a practitioner of the

Feldenkrais method The Feldenkrais Method is a type of exercise therapy devised by Israeli Moshé Feldenkrais (1904–1984) during the mid-20th century. Participants are led through varied patterns of body movement, either hands-on or verbally guided, with the ai ...

. Solomon used the mind-body connection philosophy of the Feldenkrais method to teach voice lessons. He had a strong love for music, and was a composer as well. Solomon was survived by one daughter.

References

External links

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

obituar
Gustave Solomon
*

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 ...

obituar
Gus Solomon, 1930–1996
by

Robert McEliece Robert J. McEliece (May 21, 1942 – May 8, 2019) was the Allen E. Puckett Professor and a professor of electrical engineering at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) best known for his work in error-correcting coding and information the ...

* 1930 births 1996 deaths 20th-century American mathematicians Theoretical computer scientists American information theorists Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni {{US-mathematician-stub