now we need the game of death
John Conway has died
111–120 of 194 posts
Re: John Conway has died
#112So, this may not actually have happened. The confusing thing is that, today, John Sharp, also an elderly recreation mathematician, also died. Currently the only source is the tweet above. We are not sure whether Colm has made a mistake. He did know John Horton Conway, but some people are mistaking his scientific american article, and the later guardian article, for an obit... Terrible news if JHC is dead, and also te…
A valid concern, and sad news, but Colm's latest tweet isn't consistent with mistaken identity.
https://twitter.com/CardColm/status/1249088354857226242?s=20
Re: John Conway has died
#113So, this may not actually have happened. The confusing thing is that, today, John Sharp, also an elderly recreation mathematician, also died. Currently the only source is the tweet above. We are not sure whether Colm has made a mistake. He did know John Horton Conway, but some people are mistaking his scientific american article, and the later guardian article, for an obit... Terrible news if JHC is dead, and also te…
See my comment here:
Re: John Conway has died
#114So, this may not actually have happened. The confusing thing is that, today, John Sharp, also an elderly recreation mathematician, also died. Currently the only source is the tweet above. We are not sure whether Colm has made a mistake. He did know John Horton Conway, but some people are mistaking his scientific american article, and the later guardian article, for an obit... Terrible news if JHC is dead, and also te…
A valid concern, and sad news, but Colm's latest tweet isn't consistent with mistaken identity. https://twitter.com/CardColm/status/1249088354857226242?s=20
I'm hearing it's a mistake (I'm signing up just to share this, as a former assistant of his). But what I'm hearing could be wrong as well... in short, I would await an official press release from Princeton.
Re: John Conway has died
#115When I was 15 years old, I coded a Game of Life (with TurboPascal) and spent days playing with it, not only by activating cells, but also changing the automaton rules.
Eight years later, during my PhD, I had to pack discs on Riemannian manifolds (AKA how to place dictators on a surface so that they are as far as possible from each other). In the top tier of my bibliography, John Conway was there again. At first, I couldn't believe it it was the same person.
Re: John Conway has died
#116People 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…
That article in The Guardian is especially good. The author clearly loves mathematics and knows how to tell a good story. > Conway’s is a jocund and playful egomania, sweetened by self-deprecating charm. He has on many occasions admitted: “I do have a big ego! As I often say, modesty is my only vice. If I weren’t so modest, I’d be perfect.”
It is often remarked that I am rarely wrong.
Re: John Conway has died
#117Of course, Conway was a serious mathematician who was slightly vexed that the thing he might be most remembered for is what he considered a cast-off game that he dabbled with in the late 1960s.
Conway talked about determinism (and free will) from a mathematical and scientific perspective in interviews and lectures. I found what he had to say very interesting - I don't know if he came up with all the ideas he talked about, but I had certainly never heard of many of them before I heard him talk about them.
Re: John Conway has died
#118"One of the most unique mathematicians and human beings who ever lived."
This statement makes no sense and seems like a rather shallow, facile eulogy for such a complex person.
Re: John Conway has died
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Mulcahy writes of formal confirmation[0]: > 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/1249082…
thanks for the update
Re: John Conway has died
#120Today truly is a doomsday for the old giant.
Rest in peace.