Nathan Myhrvold
Encyclopedia
Nathan Paul Myhrvold formerly Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft
, is co-founder of Intellectual Ventures
. Myhrvold, usually with coinventors, holds 17 U.S. patents assigned to Microsoft and has applied for more than 500 patents. In addition, Myhrvold and coinventors hold 115 U.S. patents assigned mostly to The Invention Science Fund I, LLC.
, and began college at age 14. He studied mathematics
, geophysics
, and space physics
at UCLA (BSc, Masters). He was awarded a Hertz Foundation
Fellowship for graduate study and he chose to study at Princeton University
, where he earned a master's degree
in mathematical economics
and completed a PhD in theoretical and mathematical physics by age 23. He also attended Santa Monica College
. For one year, he held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Cambridge
working under Stephen Hawking
, studying cosmology, quantum field theory in curved space time, and quantum theories of gravitation.
. The company, Dynamical Systems Research Inc., sought to produce Mondrian, a clone of IBM
's TopView
multitasking
environment for DOS. Microsoft purchased DSR in 1986.
Myhrvold worked at Microsoft for 13 years. At Microsoft he founded Microsoft Research
in 1991.
After Microsoft, in 2000 Myhrvold co-founded Intellectual Ventures
, a patent portfolio developer and broker in the areas of technology and energy, which has acquired over 30,000 patents and whose business practices have caused some controversy, being described by some as a patent troll
company. Among its companies is TerraPower
, which is aiming to develop a nuclear reactor
that is safe and cheap, as part of Bill Gates' strategy to the goal of zero carbon emissions globally by 2050. Gates unveiled his vision for the world's energy future at the TED
2010. The plant will run on natural or depleted uranium
with the potential for 100 years without refuelling.
. His work has appeared in scientific journals including Science
, Nature
, Paleobiology
(With Philip J. Currie), PLoS ONE
and the Physical Review
, as well as Fortune
, Time
, Scientific American
, National Geographic Traveler
and Slate
. He and Peter Rinearson
helped Bill Gates
write The Road Ahead
, a book about the future that reached No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list in 1995 and 1996. Myhrvold has contributed $1 million to the nonprofit SETI
Institute in Mountain View, CA, for the development of the Allen Telescope Array
, planned to be the world's most powerful radio telescope.
After the Science Museum
in London successfully built the computing section of Charles Babbage
's Difference Engine
#2 in 1991, Myhrvold funded the construction of the output section, which performs both printing
and stereotyping
of calculated results. He also commissioned the construction of a second complete Difference Engine #2 for himself, which has been on display at the Computer History Museum
in Mountain View, California
since May 10, 2008.
. An early culinary learning experience took place when he was allowed to act as an observer and apprentice at Rover's, one of Seattle's
leading restaurants, with Chef Thierry Rautureau
. Myhrvold is the principal author of a book of culinary reference and instruction entitled Modernist Cuisine
, released in March 2011, on the application of scientific research principles and new techniques and technology to cooking.
's Fareed Zakaria GPS
and discussed his idea to eliminate global warming
/climate change
using geoengineering
. It involves using hoses suspended from helium
balloons 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) above the Earth
. The hoses would be placed near the North Pole
and the South Pole
and emit sulfur dioxide
, which is known to scatter light. Myhrvold estimated that such a configuration could "easily dim the sun by one percent, and even do it in a way that wouldn't be visible."
's Advisory Board
In 2010, he was named by Foreign Policy
magazine to its list of top 100 global thinkers.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, is co-founder of Intellectual Ventures
Intellectual Ventures
Intellectual Ventures is a private company notable for being one of the top-five owners of U.S. patents, as of 2011. Its business model has a focus on developing a large patent portfolio and licensing these patents to companies. Publicly, it states that a major goal is to assist small inventors...
. Myhrvold, usually with coinventors, holds 17 U.S. patents assigned to Microsoft and has applied for more than 500 patents. In addition, Myhrvold and coinventors hold 115 U.S. patents assigned mostly to The Invention Science Fund I, LLC.
Early life and education
Myhrvold attended Mirman SchoolMirman school
Mirman School for Gifted Children is an independent, co-educational school for gifted children located at 16180 Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles, California, United States with 330 pupils aged 5 to 14...
, and began college at age 14. He studied mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, geophysics
Geophysics
Geophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and...
, and space physics
Space physics
Space physics, also known as space plasma physics, is the study of plasmas as they occur naturally in the universe. As such, it encompasses a far-ranging number of topics, including the sun, solar wind, planetary magnetospheres and ionospheres, auroras, cosmic rays, and synchrotron radiation...
at UCLA (BSc, Masters). He was awarded a Hertz Foundation
Hertz Foundation
The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation is an American non-profit organization that awards fellowships to Ph.D. students in the applied physical, biological and engineering sciences. It is considered to be the most competitive and prestigious graduate fellowship in science and engineering. The...
Fellowship for graduate study and he chose to study at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, where he earned a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in mathematical economics
Mathematical economics
Mathematical economics is the application of mathematical methods to represent economic theories and analyze problems posed in economics. It allows formulation and derivation of key relationships in a theory with clarity, generality, rigor, and simplicity...
and completed a PhD in theoretical and mathematical physics by age 23. He also attended Santa Monica College
Santa Monica College
Santa Monica College is a two-year, public, junior college located in Santa Monica, California.Santa Monica College was first opened in 1929 as Santa Monica Junior College. Current enrollment is over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study...
. For one year, he held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
working under Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
, studying cosmology, quantum field theory in curved space time, and quantum theories of gravitation.
Career
Myhrvold left Cambridge to co-found a computer startup in Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. The company, Dynamical Systems Research Inc., sought to produce Mondrian, a clone of IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
's TopView
TopView
TopView is a text-mode PC DOS multitasking, object oriented windowing environment written by IBM and introduced in August of 1984 and made available in February of 1985. TopView was announced in order to provide an environment that users could run more than one application at the same time on a PC...
multitasking
Computer multitasking
In computing, multitasking is a method where multiple tasks, also known as processes, share common processing resources such as a CPU. In the case of a computer with a single CPU, only one task is said to be running at any point in time, meaning that the CPU is actively executing instructions for...
environment for DOS. Microsoft purchased DSR in 1986.
Myhrvold worked at Microsoft for 13 years. At Microsoft he founded Microsoft Research
Microsoft Research
Microsoft Research is the research division of Microsoft created in 1991 for developing various computer science ideas and integrating them into Microsoft products. It currently employs Turing Award winners C.A.R. Hoare, Butler Lampson, and Charles P...
in 1991.
After Microsoft, in 2000 Myhrvold co-founded Intellectual Ventures
Intellectual Ventures
Intellectual Ventures is a private company notable for being one of the top-five owners of U.S. patents, as of 2011. Its business model has a focus on developing a large patent portfolio and licensing these patents to companies. Publicly, it states that a major goal is to assist small inventors...
, a patent portfolio developer and broker in the areas of technology and energy, which has acquired over 30,000 patents and whose business practices have caused some controversy, being described by some as a patent troll
Patent troll
Patent troll is a pejorative but questioned term used for a person or company who is a non-practicing inventor, and buys and enforces patents against one or more alleged infringers in a manner considered by the target or observers as unduly aggressive or opportunistic, often with no intention to...
company. Among its companies is TerraPower
TerraPower
TerraPower is a nuclear reactor design spin-off company of Intellectual Ventures that is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington in the United States. TerraPower is investigating a class of nuclear fast reactors called the traveling wave reactor...
, which is aiming to develop a nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
that is safe and cheap, as part of Bill Gates' strategy to the goal of zero carbon emissions globally by 2050. Gates unveiled his vision for the world's energy future at the TED
TED
TED may refer to:* TED , an annual multidisciplinary conference* TED spread, the yield spread between U.S...
2010. The plant will run on natural or depleted uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
with the potential for 100 years without refuelling.
Science
He is also involved with paleontological research on expeditions with the Museum of the RockiesMuseum of the Rockies
The Museum of the Rockies, is located in Bozeman, Montana. The museum, originally affiliated with Montana State University in Bozeman, and now, also the Smithsonian Institution, is known for its paleontological collections, although these are not its sole focus...
. His work has appeared in scientific journals including Science
Science (journal)
Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is one of the world's top scientific journals....
, Nature
Nature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
, Paleobiology
Paleobiology (journal)
Paleobiology is a scientific journal promoting the integration of biology and conventional palæontology, with emphasis placed on biological or paleobiological processes and patterns. It attracts papers of interest to more than one discipline, and occasionally publishes research on recent organisms...
(With Philip J. Currie), PLoS ONE
PLoS ONE
PLoS ONE is an open access peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Public Library of Science since 2006. It covers primary research from any discipline within science and medicine. All submissions go through an internal and external pre-publication peer review but are not excluded on the...
and the Physical Review
Physical Review
Physical Review is an American scientific journal founded in 1893 by Edward Nichols. It publishes original research and scientific and literature reviews on all aspects of physics. It is published by the American Physical Society. The journal is in its third series, and is split in several...
, as well as Fortune
Fortune (magazine)
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, Scientific American
Scientific American
Scientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
, National Geographic Traveler
National Geographic Traveler
National Geographic Traveler is a magazine published by the National Geographic Society in the United States. It was launched in 1984. Local-language editions of National Geographic Traveler are published in Armenia, Belgium/the Netherlands, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Latin America,...
and Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
. He and Peter Rinearson
Peter Rinearson
Peter Mark Rinearson is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning and New York Times best-selling journalist, author and businessman.-Journalism career:...
helped Bill Gates
Bill Gates
William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
write The Road Ahead
The Road Ahead
The Road Ahead, a book written by Bill Gates, Nathan Myhrvold and Peter Rinearson and published in November 1995, summarized the implications of the personal computing revolution and described a future profoundly changed by the arrival of a global information superhighway.Gates received a $2.5...
, a book about the future that reached No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list in 1995 and 1996. Myhrvold has contributed $1 million to the nonprofit SETI
SETI
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is the collective name for a number of activities people undertake to search for intelligent extraterrestrial life. Some of the most well known projects are run by the SETI Institute. SETI projects use scientific methods to search for intelligent life...
Institute in Mountain View, CA, for the development of the Allen Telescope Array
Allen Telescope Array
The Allen Telescope Array , formerly known as the One Hectare Telescope , was a joint effort by the SETI Institute and the Radio Astronomy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley to construct a radio interferometer that is dedicated to astronomical observations and a simultaneous...
, planned to be the world's most powerful radio telescope.
After the Science Museum
Science Museum (London)
The Science Museum is one of the three major museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is part of the National Museum of Science and Industry. The museum is a major London tourist attraction....
in London successfully built the computing section of Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage, FRS was an English mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a programmable computer...
's Difference Engine
Difference engine
A difference engine is an automatic, mechanical calculator designed to tabulate polynomial functions. Both logarithmic and trigonometric functions can be approximated by polynomials, so a difference engine can compute many useful sets of numbers.-History:...
#2 in 1991, Myhrvold funded the construction of the output section, which performs both printing
Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
and stereotyping
Stereotype (printing)
In printing, a stereotype, also known as a cliché, stereoplate or simply a stereo, was originally a "solid plate or type-metal, cast from a papier-mâché or plaster mould taken from the surface of a forme of type" used for printing instead of the original...
of calculated results. He also commissioned the construction of a second complete Difference Engine #2 for himself, which has been on display at the Computer History Museum
Computer History Museum
The Computer History Museum is a museum established in 1996 in Mountain View, California, USA. The Museum is dedicated to preserving and presenting the stories and artifacts of the information age, and exploring the computing revolution and its impact on our lives.-History:The museum's origins...
in Mountain View, California
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
since May 10, 2008.
Cooking
In addition to his business and scientific interests, he is a master French chef who has finished first and second in the world championship of barbecue in Memphis, TennesseeMemphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. An early culinary learning experience took place when he was allowed to act as an observer and apprentice at Rover's, one of Seattle's
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
leading restaurants, with Chef Thierry Rautureau
Thierry Rautureau
Thierry Rautureau, nicknamed The Chef In The Hat, is the chef/owner of Rover's and Luc Restaurants in Seattle, Washington. Rautureau was born in the Muscadet region of France, apprenticed in Anjou, France, and at twenty moved to the United States to work at several fine restaurants...
. Myhrvold is the principal author of a book of culinary reference and instruction entitled Modernist Cuisine
Modernist Cuisine
Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking is a cookbook by Dr. Nathan Myhrvold, Chris Young and Maxime Bilet. It was published by The Cooking Lab on 14 March 2011. The book is an encyclopedia and a guide to the science of contemporary cooking...
, released in March 2011, on the application of scientific research principles and new techniques and technology to cooking.
Advocacy
On December 20, 2009, Myhrvold appeared on CNNCNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
's Fareed Zakaria GPS
Fareed Zakaria GPS
Fareed Zakaria GPS is a weekly public affairs show hosted by journalist and author Fareed Zakaria. As of November 2011, the show airs Sundays at 10am Eastern Time and 1pm Eastern Time on CNN. The show also airs Sundays at 1200 and 1900 GMT on CNN International...
and discussed his idea to eliminate global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
/climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
using geoengineering
Geoengineering
The concept of Geoengineering refers to the deliberate large-scale engineering and manipulation of the planetary environment to combat or counteract anthropogenic changes in atmospheric chemistry The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded in 2007 that geoengineering options, such...
. It involves using hoses suspended from helium
Helium
Helium is the chemical element with atomic number 2 and an atomic weight of 4.002602, which is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...
balloons 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) above the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. The hoses would be placed near the North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
and the South Pole
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...
and emit sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is released by volcanoes and in various industrial processes. Since coal and petroleum often contain sulfur compounds, their combustion generates sulfur dioxide unless the sulfur compounds are removed before burning the fuel...
, which is known to scatter light. Myhrvold estimated that such a configuration could "easily dim the sun by one percent, and even do it in a way that wouldn't be visible."
Affiliations and awards
Myhrvold is also a member of the USA Science and Engineering FestivalUSA Science and Engineering Festival
USA Science and Engineering Festival was a science festival in Washington, D.C. that founder Larry Book deemed the country’s first national science festival. The inaugural event was held from October 10, 2010 through October 24, 2010 and was planned to be a yearly event. The two week festival...
's Advisory Board
In 2010, he was named by Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy is a bimonthly American magazine founded in 1970 by Samuel P. Huntington and Warren Demian Manshel.Originally, the magazine was a quarterly...
magazine to its list of top 100 global thinkers.
Further reading
- Auletta, Ken, "The Highwaymen", Harvest Books, 1998. ISBN 0-15-600573-5 — cf Chapter 17: The Microsoft Provocateur: Nathan Myhrvold, Bill Gates Corporate Gadfly.
- Edstrom, Jennifer and Eller, Marlin, "Barbarians Led by Bill Gates: Microsoft From The Inside: How The World's Richest Corporation Wields Its Power", Holt Paperbacks, 1999. ISBN 0-8050-5755-2
External links
- Biography from Intellectual Ventures
- Who's afraid of Nathan Myhrvold?, Fortune, July 10, 2006
- In the Air: Who says big ideas are rare?, Malcolm GladwellMalcolm GladwellMalcolm Gladwell, CM is a Canadian journalist, bestselling author, and speaker. He is currently based in New York City and has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996...
, The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, May 12, 2008 - The intellectual venturer, by Michael Watts 21.January 2011 Wired UK
- Microsoft’s Former CTO Takes On Modernist Cuisine, by Mark McClusky February 24, 2011 Wired.com
- TED talk (embedded video): Nathan Myhrvold: A life of fascinations