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The twitter account doesn't back this up with a source - the OP here doesn't back this up this up with a source - my quick Google search doen't back this up, this may be true, but in this day and age WTF people? why is this number one without any verification?
It’s a little meta given we’re on HN, but I’d trust ColinWright FWIW.
People here might know him best for the "Game of Life"[0], but he did so much more. The book about Conway by Siobhan Roberts is an interesting read about the man and his work. There's a review here.[1] Some will know Conway via is work on the Classification of Finite Simple Groups (with many others), some via his "Look and Say" sequence, while still others will know his book "Winning Ways"[2], written with Richard Gu…
I have fond memories of going through reams of graph paper, manually simulating Conway's Game of Life. This was my first exposure to cellular automata, and I loved to follow the evolution of gliders and other emergent phenomena. This was before the days that personal computer programs existed to do the simulation for you. It's so much more satisfying to do it by hand. Later, I was fascinated by Conway's chained arrow…
In 2017, Richard gave a talk for the 50th Anniversary of the University of Calgary (and his 100th birthday). Much of it was recounting stories of his past in response to questions from the audience. When asked about the glider, he told us how Conway came up with the Game of Life and invited a number of colleagues to help investigate its implications. They spent the next few days just simulating the Game of Life by hand on graph paper. Richard happened to come across it from one of his initial conditions.
Today you could discover the glider in minutes by playing with an interactive simulation. It's interesting how much more effort it used to be. I suppose, though, that you'd build better intuition and understanding doing it by hand.
People here might know him best for the "Game of Life"[0], but he did so much more. The book about Conway by Siobhan Roberts is an interesting read about the man and his work. There's a review here.[1] Some will know Conway via is work on the Classification of Finite Simple Groups (with many others), some via his "Look and Say" sequence, while still others will know his book "Winning Ways"[2], written with Richard Gu…
I remember him being kinda bummed about how Game of Life was the thing that made him famous.
Is there any confirmation of this? It appears absolutely nowhere else on the web.
I trust Colin's explanation of the source. It would be awful to have fed a mistake, but wonderful if the news turned out not to be true. People are posting such good comments about Conway that I wouldn't want to bury the thread. Best case scenario, we change the title to "John Conway has not died" and continue to celebrate him.
> Not yet. Three of the people who told me heard it from his ex wife Diana. Two knew it was imminent since he fell ill on Wednesday.
Also[1]:
> More emails from insiders are arriving regularly. One from a student of his. Etc.
And[2]:
> From 5 of his close associates ...
[0] https://twitter.com/CardColm/status/1249082939423559680
[1] https://twitter.com/CardColm/status/1249082390854729730
[2] https://twitter.com/CardColm/status/1249082119567138819
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Added in edit:
I've now had it confirmed in personal correspondence, but before it can be announced officially it needs to go through the Dean's Office, and it's a Holiday Weekend, so that won't be quick.
It's reasonable for people to be sceptical, I don't have a problem with that.
What a legend.
Do we have official confirmation? Someone on this Twitter thread says it was the coronavirus. Heartbroken.
The twitter account oogle search doesnt back this up - this may be true but in this day and age WTF people why is this number one?
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22844444
It's reasonable to be sceptical, but it's also reasonable to research the existing source and understand that it's reliable.
The twitter account oogle search doesnt back this up - this may be true but in this day and age WTF people why is this number one?
I imagine that there are many reasons. That said, please note how the YC name and Conway are related. At a minimum, this might provide some insight.
I'd be happy to learn otherwise.