Wolfram, Stephen

Stephen is a scientist, author, and business leader. He is the creator of Mathematica, the leading software for scientific computing, and the author of A New Kind of Science, which presents discoveries on the origins of complexity using very simple computer programs called cellular automata. Stephen was a child prodigy. He received his doctoral degree in theoretical physics from Caltech when he was only 20, and was the youngest scientist to receive a MacArthur award for his work in physics and computer science. Working virtually alone, and often all night, he discovered that even the simplest programs can yield patterns of astonishing complexity. Steven claims that his work amounts to a 'paradigm shift' of how we do science. He makes the addition claim that this way of generating complexity, derived from simple computer programs and not from mathematics, can be applied to a broad range of foundational problems, including the randomness found in nature, biological complexity, the nature of space-time, the possibility of a "theory of everything," and the scope and limitations of mathematics. He even believes that his insights can be used to tackle the perennial paradoxes of free will and determinism, and the nature of consciousness.