Notes from Friday: I look at science as trying to figure out….
BLOG: Heidelberg Laureate Forum

“I look at science as trying to figure out, what hair balls are.”
Alan Kay
Ivan Edward Sutherland’s first graphic system (Kay showed nice old movies)
50th Birthday of sketchpad. Work was done in 1962 – paper published in 1963
What gravity does to a bridge.
The bridge only needs three codes to react on weight (of words).
Shown by Alan Kay
“Better and Perfect are the two enemies of what is actually needed.”
Alan Kay about progress
“This gave me the image of what personal computing can look like.“
Alan Kay
(This part of Alan Kay’s lecture reminded me of Bob Ross’ “The joy of Painting“)
“‘Simple’ in computer system design is hard! And often it’s not rewarded.”
Butler W. Lampson
“Best idea for efficiency is to reduce waste. Don’t build more and more than you really need.“
Butler W. Lampson
“I only want you to remember 3 things: keep it simple, abstract with interfaces, write a spec.”
Butler W. Lampson
“The information age is a revolution that is changing all aspects of our lives.
Those individuals, institutions, and nations who recognize this change and position themselves for he future will benefit enormously.”
John E. Hopcroft
“If you go to a number of conferences and workshops and you hear a topic comes up in different areas, maybe you should study it.”
John E. Hopcroft
Before the great Farewell Dinner in the Heidelberg Castle, the participants enjoyed several guided tours…
You may also watch Friday’s lectures here in the archive
Srinivasa S.R. Varadhan – Scaling Limits
Alan Kay – Putting Turing to Work
Butler W. Lampson – Principles and Hints for Computer System Design
John E. Hopcroft – Future Directions in Computer Science