Episode · Lex Fridman Podcast · 2020-04-18
Books mentioned on #89 – Stephen Wolfram: Cellular Automata, Computation, and Physics
Stephen Wolfram is a computer scientist, mathematician, and theoretical physicist who is the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research, a company behind Mathematica, Wolfram Alpha, Wolfram Language, and the new Wolfram Physics project.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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2001, a Space Odyssey
2001, a Space Odyssey by Arthur C.
Discussed“but what do you make of the monolith in 2001 Space Odyssey in terms of aliens communicating with us and sparking the the kind of particular intelligent computation that we humans have”
Where to get it
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A new kind of science
A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram is a massive and unconventional exploration of simple computer programs called cellular automata, arguing that these systems can explain complex phenomena across physics, biology, and computation.
Discussed“you saw this you've opened with a new kind of science I mean I remember it was a huge eye-opener that's such simple things can create such complexity”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (4) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
Passing A new kind of science
“is the author of several books including a new kind of science which on a personal note was one of the most influential books in my journey in computer science and artificial intelligence”
Passing A new kind of science
“sort of you know a book title is something like a new kind of science”
Own book A new kind of science
“and anytime you you write a book called something like a new kind of science it's kind of the the pitchforks will come out for the for the old kind of science”
Own book A new kind of science
“and so in some vision of the future of history it's like the disembodied consciousness is are all sort of pursuing things like my new kind of science sort of for the rest of eternity so to speak”