The Man Behind ‘Software’

In today’s world, everyone uses software almost every day. From mobile applications, to internet and computer applications, everyone uses software on a regular basis. However, only a few people bothered to find out more about the man behind ‘software.’ What is his name? Is he still alive? How did he come up with the word? There are many questions to be asked and answered about John Tukey, the man behind ‘software.’

Brief  Biography

John Tukey was born on June 16, 1915 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He was home schooled when he was young until he went to college to study Chemistry. After he obtained his Bachelors of Science in Chemistry, he went on to get his Masters of Science in Chemistry at Brown University. A sudden change of heart occurred, and he went to Princeton to pursue a Master of Arts in Mathematics and eventually a Doctorate Degree in Mathematics.  During the advent of World War II, Tukey focused his efforts on solving practical problems that his nation was facing and revolutionized new strategies for the field of data analysis. Since then, his strategies have been used all over the world. Tukey also made some notable contributions to academia, the industry and society in other scientific fields other than Mathematics.

Professional Experience

John Tukey produced crucial theories on how to analyze information and calculate series of quantities swiftly. He spent a long time as both a teacher at Princeton University as well as a scientist at AT&T’s Bell Laboratories. As a teacher, he taught his revolutionary concepts as a component in both the doctorate statistics classes and high school mathematics lessons. However Mr. Tukey often took on projects outside of teaching as well, becoming a consultant for the government and companies and always voicing his opinions in public dialogues.

In the 50’s, many years prior to the beginning of Microsoft, he termed the word software. He also made the prediction that software would turn out to be as significant as hardware, which refers to the tubes, transistors, wire connections and the likes at the time.

Later in life, a lot of his best work focused on an area that statisticians refer to as robust analysis, allowing scientists to plan reliable findings even if the data in they are working with contains errors. In 1970, John Tukey released ”Exploratory Data Analysis,” in which he offered specialised mathematicians fresh methods to evaluate and provide information efficiently.

Public Service

National Defense. Tukey’s support throughout the second World War from the Fire Control Research was only the start of his long-term assistance to the country’s defense system. Although this kind of service did not show up in Tukey’s records before, more of his notable contributions became known after his professional records were made available. In addition, since specialized mathematicians and first computer systems were essential to the creation of nuclear weapons, authorities like Tukey essentially made the decisions that created the very first H-bomb.

Environmental Issues. Tukey’s work regarding health and environment was particularly significant throughout the years. He headed a PSAC panel on polluting the environment. This brought out a study entitled “Restoring the Quality of Our Environment”. It was a milestone on the environmental policy. It enforced stricter environmental policies on companies and required polluters to pay for the wastes by way of taxes.

John Tukey is an important person in history with a lot of contributions that not many people know. He drove his compatriots to integrate excellence and determination to create a better society. Most importantly, he was the man behind the evolution of software and other systems that mankind can no longer live without.

Author Bio:- This article was written by Karl Stockton for the team at cbtplanet.com. Information technology is an extremely significant sector; click here to learn about online information technology.