Conrad Wolfram
Encyclopedia
Conrad Wolfram is a British technologist
and businessman known for his work in information technology
and its application.
Wolfram Research was founded by his brother Stephen Wolfram
, the maker of Mathematica
software and the Wolfram Alpha
knowledge engine.
Conrad Wolfram has led the effort to move the use of Mathematica from pure computation system to development and deployment engine, instigating technology such as the Mathematica Player family and web Mathematica and by pushing greater automation within the system. He has also lead the focus on interactive publishing technology with the stated aim of "making new applications as everyday as new documents" claiming that "If a picture is worth a thousand words, an interactive document is worth a thousand pictures." These technologies converged to form the Computable Document Format
Wolfram was on the founding committee of the IMS conferences.
In 2009 he spoke about education reform at the TEDx Conference at the EU Parliament. and again at TED Global 2010
where he argued that "Maths should be more practical and more conceptual, but less mechanical," and that "Calculating is the machinery of math — a means to an end."
He serves on the Computer science
committee Advisory Board at Kings College London.
, England
, in 1970, Wolfram was educated at Dragon School
, Eton College
, Pembroke College, Cambridge
University, UK from which he holds an MA in Natural Sciences and Maths.
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
and businessman known for his work in information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
and its application.
Work
Conrad Wolfram founded Wolfram Research Europe Ltd. in 1991 and remains its managing director. In 1996 he additionally became Strategic and International Director of Wolfram Research, Inc., making him also responsible for Wolfram Research Asia Ltd, and communications such as the wolfram.com website.Wolfram Research was founded by his brother Stephen Wolfram
Stephen Wolfram
Stephen Wolfram is a British scientist and the chief designer of the Mathematica software application and the Wolfram Alpha computational knowledge engine.- Biography :...
, the maker of Mathematica
Mathematica
Mathematica is a computational software program used in scientific, engineering, and mathematical fields and other areas of technical computing...
software and the Wolfram Alpha
Wolfram Alpha
Wolfram Alpha is an answer-engine developed by Wolfram Research. It is an online service that answers factual queries directly by computing the answer from structured data, rather than providing a list of documents or web pages that might contain the answer as a search engine might...
knowledge engine.
Conrad Wolfram has led the effort to move the use of Mathematica from pure computation system to development and deployment engine, instigating technology such as the Mathematica Player family and web Mathematica and by pushing greater automation within the system. He has also lead the focus on interactive publishing technology with the stated aim of "making new applications as everyday as new documents" claiming that "If a picture is worth a thousand words, an interactive document is worth a thousand pictures." These technologies converged to form the Computable Document Format
Computable Document Format
Computable Document Format is an electronic document format designed to allow easy authoring of dynamically generated interactive content. It was created by Wolfram Research.-Features:...
Wolfram was on the founding committee of the IMS conferences.
Math Education Reform
Wolfram has been a prominent proponent of the reform of math education by greater use of information technology. and is the founder of computerbasedmath.org. The UK's Channel 4 news quotes him saying "There are a few cases where it is important to do calculations by hand, but these are small fractions of cases. The rest of the time you should assume that students should use a computer just like everyone does in the real world.". In an interview with the Guardian he described the replacement of hand calculation by computer use as "democratising expertise".In 2009 he spoke about education reform at the TEDx Conference at the EU Parliament. and again at TED Global 2010
TED (conference)
TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
where he argued that "Maths should be more practical and more conceptual, but less mechanical," and that "Calculating is the machinery of math — a means to an end."
He serves on the Computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
committee Advisory Board at Kings College London.
Biography
Born in OxfordOxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in 1970, Wolfram was educated at Dragon School
Dragon School
The Dragon School is a British coeducational, preparatory school in the city of Oxford, founded in 1877 as the Oxford Preparatory School, or OPS. It is primarily known as a boarding school, although it also takes day pupils...
, Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
, Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college has over seven hundred students and fellows, and is the third oldest college of the university. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its...
University, UK from which he holds an MA in Natural Sciences and Maths.