Warren Weaver facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Warren Weaver
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | July 17, 1894 |
| Died | 24 November 1978 (aged 84) |
| Occupation | scientist, mathematician |
| Known for | Shannon–Weaver model Mason–Weaver equation Machine translation Statistical semantics |
| Awards | Kalinga Prize (1964) |
Warren Weaver (born July 17, 1894 – died November 24, 1978) was an American scientist and mathematician. He also worked as a science leader, helping to guide important research. He is known as one of the first people to think about machine translation (using computers to translate languages). He also played a big part in supporting science in the United States.
Contents
Warren Weaver's Life and Work
Early Life and Education
Warren Weaver earned three degrees from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He studied science and civil engineering. He received his Ph.D. in 1921. After his studies, he taught mathematics at Throop College, which is now the California Institute of Technology.
During World War I, he served in the United States Army Air Service. After the war, he returned to teach mathematics at the University of Wisconsin from 1920 to 1932. He also received honorary degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of São Paulo.
Leading Science at the Rockefeller Foundation
From 1932 to 1955, Weaver was the director of the Natural Sciences Division at the Rockefeller Foundation. This was a very important job. He was in charge of approving money for big science projects. These projects included work in molecular engineering and genetics (studying how traits are passed down). He also supported research in agriculture, especially for creating new types of wheat and rice. Medical research also received his support.
Weaver was very interested in how scientists communicate. He also studied the mathematical ideas of probability and statistics.
Helping During World War II
During World War II, Warren Weaver took a break from the Rockefeller Foundation. He led the Applied Mathematics Panel for the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development. In this role, he guided mathematicians who used operations research to solve problems for the war effort. He knew a lot about early electronic calculating machines (computers). He also understood how math and statistics could help with cryptography (code-breaking).
He was a member of important groups like the Department of War's Research Advisory Panel.
Important Roles in Science Organizations
Weaver was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1944. He also served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1954. He was a member or leader of many other science groups. He helped write the Arden House Statement, which set goals for the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was also elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1958 and the National Academy of Sciences in 1969.
Writing About Science
In 1949, a book called The Mathematical Theory of Communication was published. It included articles by Claude Shannon and a shorter article by Weaver. Weaver's article explained Shannon's complex ideas to a wider audience.
With Max Mason, he wrote a book called The Electromagnetic Field in 1929. He also wrote Lady Luck: The Theory of Probability (1963) and an autobiography called Scene of Change.
The building for the Courant Institute at New York University is named Warren Weaver Hall in his honor.
Ideas for Machine Translation
Weaver was one of the first people to think about using computers to translate languages.
The "Translation" Memorandum
Weaver first mentioned using digital computers for machine translation in a letter in 1947. His colleagues at the Rockefeller Foundation encouraged him to develop his ideas. This led to a special paper he wrote in July 1949, simply called "Translation."
This paper was very important for the early days of machine translation. It suggested goals and methods even before many people understood what computers could do. It directly started research in the United States and later around the world. Weaver's paper was so impactful because he was an expert in math and computing. He also had influence with important leaders in the U.S. government.
Weaver's paper suggested better ways to translate than just changing one word at a time. He proposed four main ideas:
- Looking at Context: He thought that computers could figure out the correct meaning of a word by looking at the words around it. For example, the word fast can mean "quick" or "stuck in place." By looking at other words in the sentence, a computer could pick the right meaning.
- Using Logic: Weaver thought that if human language has a logical structure, then translation could be like solving a logic puzzle. The computer would use rules to figure out the "conclusion" (the translated text) from the "premises" (the original text).
- Code-Breaking Methods: He wondered if translating a language could be like breaking a secret code. If you want to translate Russian into English, you could think of the Russian text as a coded version of the English. He was especially interested in Claude Shannon's work on Information theory and code-breaking during World War II.
- Universal Language Ideas: Weaver believed there might be basic rules or structures common to all human languages. He used a metaphor (a comparison) to explain this: Imagine people in tall, closed towers trying to talk to each other. It's hard. But if they go down to a shared basement, they can talk easily. He thought languages might have a "common foundation" that computers could use for translation. He was inspired by Erwin Reifler's ideas about the Chinese language.
Weaver's paper caused other machine translation experts to act. Erwin Reifler, for example, suggested that humans could help with translation. A "pre-editor" could add special symbols to the original text. A "post-editor" could fix the computer's translation to make it sound natural.
Supporting Biological Science
Weaver understood that tools from physics and chemistry could greatly help us learn about biological processes (how living things work). He used his position at the Rockefeller Foundation to find and support young scientists. Many of these scientists later won Nobel Prizes for their work in genetics or molecular biology.
Awards and Honors
Warren Weaver received many awards for his contributions.
- In 1957, he was given the Public Welfare Medal by the United States National Academy of Sciences.
- In 1965, he received the first Arches of Science Medal. This was for helping people understand the meaning of science.
- He also won UNESCO's Kalinga Prize for making science popular and easy to understand.
- He received the Medal for Merit, was an officer in the Legion of Honour, and earned the King's Medal for Service in the Cause of Freedom.
Other Interests
Weaver loved Lewis Carroll's famous book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. He collected 160 different versions of the book in 42 languages! In 1964, he wrote his own book about how Alice was translated, called Alice in Many Tongues: The Translations of Alice in Wonderland.
In his book, he even included parts of letters from Lewis Carroll about publishing the book. Weaver, being a scientist, created a way to judge the quality of the different translations. He focused on the silly parts, wordplay, and logical jokes in the Mad Tea-Party scene. He even got famous people like anthropologist Margaret Mead and Nobel Prize winner Hugo Theorell to help him evaluate the translations. A newer book, Alice in a World of Wonderlands (2015), continues Weaver's work, looking at Alice translations in 174 languages.
See also
In Spanish: Warren Weaver para niños
