/sci/ - Science & Math

Is he the Newton of our times?

I nominated Stephen Wolfram

>At the age of 12, he wrote a dictionary on physics.[25] By 13 or 14, had written three books on particle physics.[26][27][28] They were not published.

>By age 15 he began research in applied quantum field theory and particle physics and publish scientific papers. Topics included matter creation and annihilation, the fundamental interactions, elementary particles and their currents, hadronic and leptonic physics, and the parton model, published in professional peer-reviewed scientific journals including Nuclear Physics B, Australian Journal of Physics, Nuovo Cimento, and Physical Review D.[29] Working independently, Wolfram published a widely cited paper on heavy quark production at age 18[3] and nine other papers,[15] and continued research and to publish on particle physics into his early twenties. Wolfram's work with Geoffrey C. Fox on the theory of the strong interaction is still used in experimental particle physics.[30]

>He was educated at Eton College, but left prematurely in 1976.[31] He entered St. John's College, Oxford at age 17 but found lectures "awful",[15] and left in 1978[32] without graduating[33][34] to attend the California Institute of Technology, the following year, where he received a PhD[35] in particle physics on November 19, 1979 at age 20.[36] Wolfram's thesis committee was composed of Richard Feynman, Peter Goldreich, Frank J. Sciulli and Steven Frautschi, and chaired by Richard D. Field.[36][37]

>child prodigy
>a staggering mathematical genius
>had written three books on particle physics by the age of 13
>at age 15 he began to research in applied quantum field theory and particle physics and published his first scientific paper
>at age 18, working independently, he published a widely cited paper on heavy quark production
>received his PhD in particle physics at age 20, his thesis committee included Feynman
>founder of Wolfram Research, Inc.
>created Mathematica
>invented a new mathematical field, cellular automata
>made pioneering work on knowledge-based programming
>has a periodic element named after him
>wrote Wolfram Alpha, probably the greatest web application ever created
>author of 'A New Kind of Science'
You will never be this alpha

Opinions?