NationMaster - Encyclopedia: J.C.R. Licklider

Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider (March 11, 1915 - June 26, 1990), known simply as J.C.R. or 'Lick' is one of the most important figures in computer science and general computing history. He received three undergraduate degrees (physics, math and psychology; from Washington University in St. Louis) and did his doctorate in psychoacoustics. He became interested in information technology early in his career, becoming an innovative and forward-thinking computer scientist. Image File history File links Licklider. ... March 11 is the 70th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (71st in Leap year). ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... June 26 is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 188 days remaining. ... This article is about the year. ... Computer science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems. ... Washington University in St. ... Psychoacoustics is the study of subjective human perception of sounds. ... Information technology (IT, also known as Information and Communication(s) Technology (ICT) and Infocomm, especially in Asia) is a broad subject concerned with technology and other aspects of managing and processing information, especially in large organizations. ...

Although at one time best known as the father of artificial intelligence, he was also an important figure in conceptualizing modern computer interaction concepts, and his key role in these developments is increasingly being recognized. He is credited with a major part in the development of a view of computers as general tools, rather than simply devices for performing calculations, and with initiating the thinking which led to the modern Internet. He understood the importance of both computers to mass communications and of an informed population to democracy. Hondas intelligent humanoid robot AI redirects here. ... The IBM ThinkCentre A Series is a popular line of computers. ... This article is in need of improvement. ...

One of the early results of his work was the development of time-sharing. He also mentored and provided funding to Douglas Engelbart, who founded the Augmentation Research Center at Stanford Research Institute and created the famous On-Line System. Alternate uses: see Timesharing Time-sharing is an approach to interactive computing in which a single computer is used to provide apparently simultaneous interactive general-purpose computing to multiple users by sharing processor time. ... Douglas Engelbart Dr. Douglas C. Engelbart (born January 30, 1925 in Oregon) is an American inventor of Norwegian descent. ... Stanford Research Institutes Augmentation Research Center (ARC) was founded by electrical engineer Douglas Engelbart to develop and experiment with new tools and techniques for collaboration and information processing. ... SRI International is one of the worlds largest contract research institutions. ... The NLS workstation showing the CRT display, keyboard, pushbuttons, and mouse NLS, or the oNLine System, was a revolutionary computer collaboration system designed by Douglas Engelbart and the researchers at the Augmentation Research Center (ARC) at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) during the 1960s. ...

Role in Early Computer Science Research

Much like Vannevar Bush, J.C.R. Licklider's contribution to the development of the Internet consists of ideas not inventions. He foresaw the need for networked computers with easy user interfaces. His ideas foretold of graphical computing, point-and-click interfaces, digital libraries, e-commerce, online banking, and software that would exist on a network and migrate to wherever it was needed. He has been called, "Computing's Johnny Appleseed," a well-deserved nickname for a man who planted the seeds of computing in the digital age. Vannevar Bush (March 11, 1890 â€“ June 30, 1974) was an American engineer and science administrator, known for his political role in the development of the atomic bomb, and idea of the memexâ€”seen as a pioneering concept for the World Wide Web. ... The tower of a personal computer. ...

In 1950, Licklider moved from the Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory at Harvard University to MIT where he served on a committee that established MIT Lincoln Laboratory. He worked on a Cold War project known as SAGE designed to create computer-based air defense systems. In 1957 he became a Vice President at BBN, where he bought the first production PDP-1 computer and conducted the first public demonstration of time-sharing. 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Harvard University campus (old map) Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... MapÃºa Institute of Technology (MIT, MapÃºaTech or simply MapÃºa) is a private, non-sectarian, Filipino tertiary institute located in Intramuros, Manila. ... MIT Lincoln Laboratory, also known as Lincoln Lab, is a federally funded research and development center managed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and funded by the United States Department of Defense. ... SAGE Sector Control Room. ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... BBN might refer to: Bolt, Beranek and Newman, (now known as BBN Technologies), a technology company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, best known for its work on packet switching technology Bible Broadcasting Network, a global Christian radio network headquartered in Charlotte, NC Big Bang nucleosynthesis Big Brother Nigeria, a reality show which... The PDP-1 (Programmed Data Processor-1) was the first computer in Digital Equipments PDP series and was first produced in 1960. ... Alternate uses: see Timesharing Time-sharing is an approach to interactive computing in which a single computer is used to provide apparently simultaneous interactive general-purpose computing to multiple users by sharing processor time. ...

In 1960, Licklider wrote his famous paper Man-Computer Symbiosis, which outlined the need for simpler interaction between computers and computer users. Licklider has been credited as an early pioneer of cybernetics and AI [1]. Unlike many AI practitioners, Licklider never felt that men would be replaced by computer-based beings. As he wrote in that article: "Men will set the goals, formulate the hypotheses, determine the criteria, and perform the evaluations. Computing machines will do the routinizable work that must be done to prepare the way for insights and decisions in technical and scientific thinking." 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... Man-Computer Symbiosis is a key speculative March, 1960 paper by psychologist/computer scientist J.C.R. Licklider, which outlined his vision that humans and the new technology of computers, if tightly-coupled together, would prove to compliment each others strengths to a high degree: Man-computer symbiosis is... Again, in a ship, if a man were at liberty to do what he chose, but were devoid of mind and excellence in navigation (Î±ÏÎµÏ„Î·Ï‚ ÎºÏ…Î²ÎµÏÎ½Î·Ï„Î¹ÎºÎ·Ï‚), do you perceive what must happen to him and his fellow sailors? (Plato, Alcibiades, 135A). ... Hondas intelligent humanoid robot AI redirects here. ...

Licklider formulated the earliest ideas of a global computer network in August 1962 at BBN, in a series of memos discussing the "Galactic Network" concept. These ideas contained almost everything that the Internet is today. 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... Galactic Network can be said to be the first conception of what would eventually became the internet. ...

His paper The Computer as a Communication Device, Science and Technology, April 1968, illustrates his vision of network applications.

In October 1962 Licklider was appointed head of the DARPA information processing office, part of the United States Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. He would then convince Ivan Sutherland, Bob Taylor, and Lawrence G. Roberts that an all-encompassing computer network was a very important concept. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technology for use by the military. ... The United States Department of Defense, abbreviated as DoD or DOD and sometimes called the Defense Department, is a civilian Cabinet organization of the United States government. ... Ivan Sutherland Ivan Sutherland, working at MIT (1963) Ivan Edward Sutherland (born 1938 in Hastings, Nebraska) is a computer programmer and Internet pioneer. ... Robert Taylor was director of ARPAs Information Processing Techniques Office (1965-69), founder and associate manager of Xerox PARCs Computer Science Laboratory (CSL [[1]]) (1970-77), manager of Xerox PARC CSL (1977-83), founder and manager of Digital Equipment Corporations Systems Research Center (1983-96). ... Larry Roberts received the SIGCOMM Award in 1998 for Visionary Contributions and Advanced Technology Development of Computer Communication Networks. Categories: Computer specialist stubs ...

In 1968, J.C.R. Licklider became director of Project MAC at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which he had provided the initial funding for while at DARPA. Project MAC had produced the first computer time-sharing system, CTSS, and one of the first online setups with the development of Multics (work on which commenced in 1964). Multics was the direct ancestor of the Unix operating system developed at Bell Labs by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie in 1970. 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Project MAC, later the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science (LCS), was a research laboratory at MIT. Project MAC would become famous for groundbreaking research in operating systems, artificial intelligence, and the theory of computation. ... The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, is a private research university located in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. MIT is one of the worlds leading research institutions in science and technology. ... CTSS, which stood for the Compatible Time-Sharing System, was one of the first time-sharing operating systems; it was developed at Project MAC at MIT. CTSS was first published, as well as operated in a time-sharing environment, in 1961; in addition, it was the system with the first... A computer network is a system for communication between computers. ... Multics (Multiplexed Information and Computing Service) was an extraordinarily influential early time-sharing operating system. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Unix or UNIX is a computer operating system originally developed in the 1960s and 1970s by a group of AT&T Bell Labs employees including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and Douglas McIlroy. ... An operating system (OS) is a software program that manages the hardware and software resources of a computer. ... Bell Laboratories (also known as Bell Labs and formerly known as AT&T Bell Laboratories and Bell Telephone Laboratories) was the main research and development arm of the United States Bell System. ... Ken Thompson Kenneth Thompson (born February 4, 1943) is a pioneer of computer science notable for his contributions to the development of the C programming language and the UNIX operating system. ... Ken Thompson (left) with Dennis Ritchie (right) Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie (born September 9, 1941) is a computer scientist notable for his influence on ALTRAN, B, BCPL, C, Multics, and Unix. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ...

So many of Licklider's visions are still with us today that the effect of his ideas can scarcely be quantified, especially with the explosion of the World Wide Web and the general Internet. The World Wide Web (WWW or simply the Web) is a global, read-write information space. ...

External resources

Vannevar Bush (March 11, 1890 â€“ June 30, 1974) was an American engineer and science administrator, known for his political role in the development of the atomic bomb, and idea of the memexâ€”seen as a pioneering concept for the World Wide Web. ... Douglas Engelbart Dr. Douglas C. Engelbart (born January 30, 1925 in Oregon) is an American inventor of Norwegian descent. ...

External resources

See also