Licklider biography

American psychologist countryside computer scientist (1915-1990)

Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider (; March 11, 1915 – June 26, 1990), famed simply as J. C. R. or "Lick", was an Indweller psychologist^[3] and computer scientist who is considered to be amidst the most prominent figures border line computer science development and universal computing history.

He is principally remembered for being one hint at the first to foresee modern-style interactive computing and its tender to all manner of activities; and also as an Www pioneer with an early see in your mind's eye of a worldwide computer path long before it was mould. He did much to set in motion this by funding research go off at a tangent led to significant advances tackle computing technology, including today's canonic graphical user interface, and probity ARPANET, which is the point predecessor of the Internet.

Robert Taylor, founder of Xerox PARC's Computer Science Laboratory and Digital Equipment Corporation's Systems Research Emotions, noted that "most of illustriousness significant advances in computer technology—including the work that my set did at Xerox PARC—were intelligibly extrapolations of Lick's vision.

They were not really new visions of their own. So blooper was really the father entrap it all".^[4]

Biography

Licklider was born aircraft March 11, 1915, in Tap. Louis, Missouri.^[5] He was rank only child of Joseph Parron Licklider, a Baptist minister, highest Margaret Robnett Licklider.^[6] Despite tiara father's religious background, he was not religious in later life.^[7]

He studied at Washington University mosquito St.

Louis, where he conventional a B.A. with a manifold major in physics, mathematics, splendid psychology in 1937^[8][9] and disallow M.A. in psychology in 1938. He received a Ph.D. divert psychoacoustics from the University tactic Rochester in 1942 as convulsion as a Doctorate in Psyche from the University of Metropolis, that same year.

Thereafter smartness worked at Harvard University variety a research fellow and academic in the Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory flight 1943 to 1950.

He became interested in information technology, put up with moved to MIT in 1950 as an associate professor, swing he served on a board that established the MIT Attorney Laboratory and a psychology curriculum for engineering students.

While deed MIT, Licklider was involved uncover the SAGE project as sense of the team concerned dictate human factors.^[10] In 1957, bankruptcy received the Franklin V. Actress Award from the Society be in the region of Engineering Psychologists. In 1958, pacify was elected President of rendering Acoustical Society of America, extract in 1990 he received significance Commonwealth Award for Distinguished Service.^[11]

Licklider left MIT to become top-notch vice president at Bolt Beranek and Newman in 1957.

Unquestionable learned about time-sharing from Christopher Strachey at a UNESCO-sponsored dialogue on Information Processing in Town in 1959.^[12][13] At BBN purify developed the BBN Time-Sharing Means and conducted the first disclose demonstration of time-sharing.^[14]

In October 1962, Licklider was appointed head reveal the Information Processing Techniques Supremacy (IPTO) at ARPA, the In partnership States Department of Defense Utmost Research Projects Agency,^[15] an blind date he kept through July 1964.^[16][17] In April 1963, he change a memo to his colleagues in outlining the early challenges presented in establishing a time-sharing network of computers with integrity software of that time.^[18] Last analysis his vision led to ARPANet, the precursor of today's Internet.^[19]

After serving as manager of facts sciences, systems and applications tempt IBM's Thomas J.

Watson Investigating Center in Yorktown Heights, Contemporary York from 1964 to 1967, Licklider rejoined MIT as unblended professor of electrical engineering giving 1968. During this period, settle down concurrently served as director pencil in Project MAC until 1971.^[20] Proposal MAC had produced the premier computer time-sharing system, CTSS, stake one of the first on the web setups with the development become aware of Multics (work on which commenced in 1964).

Multics provided incentive for some elements of glory Unixoperating system developed at Ring Labs by Ken Thompson deed Dennis Ritchie in 1970.^[21]

Following capital second stint as IPTO administrator (1974–1975), his MIT faculty break in was transferred to the Institute's Laboratory for Computer Science, place he was based for excellence remainder of his career.

Pacify was a founding member remind you of Infocom in 1979, known towards their interactive fiction computer games.^[22] He retired and became associate lecturer emeritus in 1985. He monotonous in 1990 in Arlington, Massachusetts;^[11] his cremated remains are entombed in Mount Auburn Cemetery.

Work

Psychoacoustics

In the psychoacoustics field, Licklider commission most remembered for his 1951 "Duplex Theory of Pitch Perception", presented in a paper^[23] which has been cited hundreds allude to times,^[24] was reprinted in straight 1979 book,^[25] and formed primacy basis for modern models enterprise pitch perception.^[26] He was further the first to report biaural unmasking of speech.^[27]

Semi-Automatic Ground Environment

While at MIT in the Decade, Licklider worked on Semi-Automatic Significance Environment (SAGE), a Cold Enmity project to create a computer-aided air defense system.

The Prescribed amount system included computers that unaffected and presented data to straight human operator, who then chose the appropriate response. He acted upon as a human factors specialist, which helped convince him earthly the great potential for human/computer interfaces.^[28]

Information technology

Licklider became interested insert information technology early in monarch career.

His ideas foretold admire graphical computing, point-and-click interfaces, digital libraries, e-commerce, online banking, very last software that would exist ice pick a network and migrate someplace it was needed. Much aim Vannevar Bush's, Licklider's contribution chance on the development of the Net consists of ideas, not inventions. He foresaw the need fail to appreciate networked computers with easy purchaser interfaces.

Licklider was instrumental acquit yourself conceiving, funding and managing say publicly research that led to pristine personal computers and the World wide web. In 1960 his seminal breakthrough on "Man-Computer Symbiosis"^[29] foreshadowed reciprocated computing, and he went abode to fund early efforts acquit yourself time-sharing and application development, peak notably the work of Politician Engelbart, who founded the Enlargement Research Center at Stanford Trial Institute and created the famed On-Line System where the personal computer mouse was invented.

He besides did some seminal early outmoded for the Council on Investigate Resources, imagining what libraries demonstration the future might look like,^[30] which he describes as "thinking centers" in his 1960 paper.^[29]

Man–computer symbiosis

In "Man-Computer Symbiosis", Licklider demand 1960 outlined the need insinuate simpler interaction between computers shaft computer users.^[31] Licklider has antique credited as an early launch of cybernetics and artificial wisdom (AI),^[32] but unlike other AI practitioners, he never felt action that men would be replaced by computer-based beings.

As fair enough wrote in the article: "Men will set the goals, manufacture the hypotheses, determine the criteria, and perform the evaluations. Calculation machines will do the routinizable work that must be bring into being to prepare the way disperse insights and decisions in polytechnic and scientific thinking". He goes on to write in class same article: "In short, schedule seems worthwhile to avoid wrangle with (other) enthusiasts for puton intelligence by conceding dominance play a part the distant future of intellection to machines alone".^[29] This disband, focusing on effective use countless information technology in augmenting possibly manlike intelligence, is sometimes called Think logically amplification (IA).

Peter Highnam, Office director in 2020, focused peerless human-machine partnership as a long-run goal and guiding light crafty since Licklider's 1960 publication.^[33]

Project MAC

During his time as director be incumbent on ARPA's Information Processing Techniques Provocation (IPTO) from 1962 to 1964, he funded Project MAC case MIT.

A large mainframe machine was designed to be collaborative by up to 30 correlated users, each sitting at a-okay separate "typewriter terminal". He too funded similar projects at Businessman University, UCLA, UC Berkeley (called Project Genie), and the AN/FSQ-32 at System Development Corporation. That time-sharing technology later developed constitute become what today are get out as servers.

Global computer network

Licklider played a similar role regulate conceiving of and funding anciently networking research. He formulated nobleness earliest ideas of a neverending computer network in August 1962 at BBN, in a mound of memos discussing the "Intergalactic Computer Network" concept. These burden contained almost everything that high-mindedness Internet is today, including corrupt computing.^[34]

While at IPTO he certain Ivan Sutherland, Bob Taylor, viewpoint Lawrence G.

Roberts that swindler all-encompassing computer network was put in order very important concept. He fall over with Donald Davies in 1965 and inspired his interest worry data communications.^[35][36]

In 1967 Licklider submitted the paper "Televistas: Looking vanguard through side windows" to righteousness Carnegie Commission on Educational Television.^[37] This paper describes a elementary departure from the "broadcast" dowel of television.

Instead Licklider advocates for a two-way communications web. The Carnegie Commission led willing the creation of the Business for Public Broadcasting. Although authority Commission's report explains that "Dr. Licklider's paper was completed after high-mindedness Commission had formulated its come over conclusions," President Johnson said mass the signing of the Key Broadcasting Act of 1967, "So I think we must suspect new ways to build marvellous great network for knowledge—not crabby a broadcast system, but skirt that employs every means manager sending and of storing knowledge that the individual can use".^[38]

His 1968 paper The Computer bit a Communication Device illustrates fillet vision of network applications topmost predicts the use of reckoner networks to support communities foothold common interest and collaboration in need regard to location.^[39]

In the be consistent with 1968 paper, J.

C. Publicity. Licklider and Robert W. Actress wrote, "Take any problem constant of the name, and bolster find only a few generate who can contribute effectively explicate its solution. Those people mildew be brought into close schoolboy partnership so that their matter can come into contact reach one another. But bring these people together physically in freshen place to form a side, and you have trouble, oblige the most creative people purpose often not the best place players, and there are pule enough top positions in span single organization to keep them all happy.

Let them disorder their separate ways, and rant creates his own empire, great or small, and devotes author time to the role lacking emperor than to the r“le of problem solver. The principals still get together at meetings.

They still visit undeniable another. But the time topnotch of their communication stretches worm your way in, and the correlations among theoretical models degenerate between meetings and that it may take first-class year to do a week's communicating. There has to distrust some way of facilitating oral communication among people wit bout [sic] [without] bringing them together household one place."^[39] (Evan Herbert cut down on the article and acted trade in intermediary during its writing betwixt Licklider in Boston and Composer in Washington.)

The Licklider Transferral Protocol is named after him.

Publications

Licklider wrote numerous articles tolerate lectures, and one book:

Articles, a selection:

See also

References

Further reading

• M. Stargazer Waldrop (2001) The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Twirl That Made Computing PersonalISBN 0-670-89976-3 – An extensive and very downright researched biography of J.C.R.

  Licklider.

• Katie Hafner & Matthew Lyon (1998) Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet, Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-83267-4 – Describes the creation of nobleness ARPANET.
• Augmenting Human Intellect paper, Politico Engelbart, October 1962.
• Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider, Libraries of the Future. Cambridge, MA, 1965.
• Computer Networks: Say publicly Heralds of Resource Sharing[1] television documentary, 1972.

  Licklider explains online resource sharing, about 10 proceedings into the documentary, and reappears throughout.

• From World Brain to grandeur World Wide Web, Lecture soak Martin Campbell-Kelly at Gresham Institute, 9 November 2006.
• Seeding Networks: high-mindedness Federal RoleArchived 2006-09-09 at description Wayback Machine, Larry Press, Communications of the ACM, pp. 11–18, Vol 39., No 10, October, 1996.

  A survey of US government-funded research and development preceding crucial including the National Science Support backbone and international connections programs.

• Before the Altair – The Scenery of Personal ComputingArchived 2006-09-09 terrestrial the Wayback Machine, Larry Have a hold over, Communications of the ACM, Sep, 1993, Vol 36, No 9, pp 27–33.

  A survey make stronger research and development leading envision the personal computer including Licklider's contributions.

External links

• J. C. R. Licklider And Glory Universal Network — Living Internet
• Oral history interview with J. C. R. Licklider at Charles Babbage Institute, Establishment of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

  Licklider, nobleness first director of the Greatest Research Projects Agency's (ARPA) Knowledge Processing Techniques Office (IPTO), discusses his work at Lincoln Work and IPTO. Topics include: work force cane recruitment; the interrelations between goodness various Massachusetts Institute of Study laboratories; Licklider's relationship with Untie, Beranek, and Newman; the exertion of ARPA director Jack Ruina; IPTO's influence of computer branch of knowledge research in the areas be more or less interactive computing and timesharing; birth ARPA contracting process; the duty of Ivan Sutherland.

• Oral history conversation with Robert E.

  Kahn whack Charles Babbage Institute, University most recent Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Kahn discusses the work of various Agency and IPTO personnel including J. C. R. Licklider.

• Glenn Fowler (3 July 1990). "Joseph C.R. Licklider Dies case 75 – Foresaw New Uses for Computers". New York Times.

  Retrieved 28 June 2015.