Peter Killworth
Encyclopedia
Professor Peter D. Killworth (27 March 1946 – 28 January 2008) was an English scientist known for both his work on oceanography
and the study of social networks. A prodigious writer, his published output exceeded 160 scientific papers over the course of his career. He was also known for his work as a pioneering author of text interactive fiction
games during the early 1980s.
The major part of Peter Killworth's career was spent as an oceanographer
, using applied mathematics
to understand ocean dynamics
. He had varied interests across the whole of physical oceanography, including the study of ice, polynya
s, Rossby wave
s, instabilities
and eddies
. He completed his doctorate in Numerical studies in Dynamical Oceanography at Trinity College
, Cambridge University in 1972. After a year conducting research in California, he returned to Cambridge to work with his former PhD supervisor, Adrian Gill and spent the next twelve years at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics
, the latter part of this being spent as a Research Fellow of Clare Hall College
. He maintained close ties to the US during this period, including teaching at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
.
In 1985 he moved to Oxford to join the Robert Hooke Institute, also serving as a Research Fellow of Wolfson College
, and later as a Fellow of St Cross College
. In Oxford he "built and led a research team at the forefront of numerical ocean modelling". With the closure of the Institute, by then the NERC
Oceanography Unit, he moved to Southampton in 1995 to build up a team at the Southampton Oceanography Centre, now the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
, focusing on ocean process modelling. During these years he established the journal Ocean Modelling, which rapidly became one of the leading oceanographic journals, achieving the highest impact factor of any physical oceanographic journal in 2005.
Killworth's work was marked by several awards, including a Fellowship from the American Geophysical Union
in 2000; the Fridtjof Nansen Medal from the European Geophysical Society
in 2002; and the Stommel Research Medal from the American Meteorological Society
in 2008 for his "many important contributions to ocean modelling and theoretical oceanography”. After his death in 2008, the UK National Oceanography Centre established the Peter Killworth Memorial Fund to "provide an annual award to students to support their research, studies and professional development" and "to honour Peter’s commitment to fostering and encouraging the careers of budding scientists."
in California. Bernard had been conducting research on an oceanographic ship, examining how different social actors interrelated and knew one another. Killworth proposed applying the 'Baltimore traffic problem algorithm' to the research challenges this presented. Over the next few years, the partnership would work extensively on the so-called "small world"
, examining differences in the answers to questions such as "how many people does the average person think they know?" and "how many people does the average person really know?"
Killworth's interest in social networks increasingly focused on answering challenging questions about issues on which responses from individuals in questionnaires could not be trusted or were unlikely to be reliable, and where direct empirical data was lacking - "apparently uncountable populations". He was keen to stress the practical implications of this sort of anthropology, highlighting that before "we decide how much money to spend on a social problem, we need to know how big the problem is. It may not matter to anyone but scientists whether the typical American knows 290 people or 2,900, but it matters a lot if we can tell whether populations like the homeless are increasing or decreasing." Killworth was proud of his modelling's contribution to accurately measuring key issues such as the real size of the HIV+ community, or the number of rape victims in given communities.
One academic outcome from this work was a challenge to Dunbar's number
theorem. Dunbar's number theorem suggests a theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships
. These are relationships in which an individual knows who each person is, and how each person relates to every other person. Dunbar's number is not derived from systematic observation of the number of relationships that people living in the contemporary world have. Killworth and his associates did a number of field studies in the United States that came up with an estimated mean number of ties – 290 – that is roughly double Dunbar's estimate. This was not an average of study averages or a theoretical hypothesis but a repeated finding. In 1997, Killworth and Bernard formed the keynote speakers at the International Network for Social Network Analysis
annual "Sunbelt" meeting, presenting on this accumulated work.
Although perhaps best known for his work with Bernard, Killworth also conducted a range of work with social network researchers Chris McCarty, Gene Shelley and Gene Johnsen.
in Cambridge was the centre of much early interactive fiction
text adventure software in the UK, utilising the Phoenix
computer system there. Peter Killworth wrote the groundbreaking mainframe computer game Brand X with fellow mathematician Jonathan Mestel
. With the software arm of Acorn Computers
based just around the corner from his Cambridge department, it was not long before Acornsoft
acquired the rights to Brand X, which was released commercially for the BBC Micro
computer as Philosopher's Quest. Other games followed, including Castle of Riddles
, Countdown to Doom
, Return to Doom and Last Days of Doom, the latter games released through Topologika
. Killworth described these games as "unashamed puzzlefests, you can die in lots of (hopefully funny) ways – but undo will cure that – and it's very easy to get stuck." Killworth published a book on the writing and theory of text adventure games in 1984.
Killworth also turned his hand to other programming applications, and "worked on top RISC OS
graph plotting program Tau after taking over the software from original author Tim Birks. He was also a frequent contributor to the ongoing design of the EasiWriter and TechWriter packages, published by Icon Technology.
for many years. He authored the Paul Daniels
' Magic Show release under the Acornsoft
Graphics brand for the BBC Micro
computer in 1984, which provided a range of magical illusions to be conducted using early micro-computers.
Oceanography
Oceanography , also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean...
and the study of social networks. A prodigious writer, his published output exceeded 160 scientific papers over the course of his career. He was also known for his work as a pioneering author of text interactive fiction
Interactive fiction
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
games during the early 1980s.
Oceanography
Oceanography
Oceanography , also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean...
, using applied mathematics
Applied mathematics
Applied mathematics is a branch of mathematics that concerns itself with mathematical methods that are typically used in science, engineering, business, and industry. Thus, "applied mathematics" is a mathematical science with specialized knowledge...
to understand ocean dynamics
Ocean dynamics
Ocean dynamics define and describe the motion of water within the oceans. Ocean temperature and motion fields can be separated into three distinct layers: mixed layer, upper ocean , and deep ocean....
. He had varied interests across the whole of physical oceanography, including the study of ice, polynya
Polynya
A polynya or polynia is an area of open water surrounded by sea ice. It is now used as geographical term for an area of unfrozen sea within the ice pack. It is a loanword from , , which means a natural ice hole, and was adopted in the 19th century by polar explorers to describe navigable...
s, Rossby wave
Rossby wave
Atmospheric Rossby waves are giant meanders in high-altitude winds that are a major influence on weather.They are not to be confused with oceanic Rossby waves, which move along the thermocline: that is, the boundary between the warm upper layer of the ocean and the cold deeper part of the...
s, instabilities
Instability
In numerous fields of study, the component of instability within a system is generally characterized by some of the outputs or internal states growing without bounds...
and eddies
Eddy (fluid dynamics)
In fluid dynamics, an eddy is the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle. The moving fluid creates a space devoid of downstream-flowing fluid on the downstream side of the object...
. He completed his doctorate in Numerical studies in Dynamical Oceanography at Trinity College
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, Cambridge University in 1972. After a year conducting research in California, he returned to Cambridge to work with his former PhD supervisor, Adrian Gill and spent the next twelve years at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics
Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge
The Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge comprises the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics and the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics . It is housed in the Centre for Mathematical Sciences site in West Cambridge, alongside the Isaac...
, the latter part of this being spent as a Research Fellow of Clare Hall College
Clare Hall, Cambridge
Clare Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is a college for advanced study, admitting only postgraduate students.Informality is a defining value at Clare Hall and this contributes to its unique character...
. He maintained close ties to the US during this period, including teaching at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of all aspects of marine science and engineering and to the education of marine researchers. Established in 1930, it is the largest independent oceanographic research...
.
In 1985 he moved to Oxford to join the Robert Hooke Institute, also serving as a Research Fellow of Wolfson College
Wolfson College, Oxford
Wolfson College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Located in north Oxford along the River Cherwell, Wolfson is an all-graduate college with over sixty governing body fellows, in addition to both research and junior research fellows. It caters to a wide range of...
, and later as a Fellow of St Cross College
St Cross College, Oxford
St Cross College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is an all-graduate college, sharing attractive, traditional-style buildings on a central site in St Giles', just south of Pusey Street...
. In Oxford he "built and led a research team at the forefront of numerical ocean modelling". With the closure of the Institute, by then the NERC
Natural Environment Research Council
The Natural Environment Research Council is a British research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences.-History:...
Oceanography Unit, he moved to Southampton in 1995 to build up a team at the Southampton Oceanography Centre, now the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
The National Oceanography Centre, Southampton describes the integrated collaboration between the Southampton-based part of the Natural Environment Research Council’s National Oceanography Centre, and University of Southampton Ocean and Earth Science...
, focusing on ocean process modelling. During these years he established the journal Ocean Modelling, which rapidly became one of the leading oceanographic journals, achieving the highest impact factor of any physical oceanographic journal in 2005.
Killworth's work was marked by several awards, including a Fellowship from the American Geophysical Union
American Geophysical Union
The American Geophysical Union is a nonprofit organization of geophysicists, consisting of over 50,000 members from over 135 countries. AGU's activities are focused on the organization and dissemination of scientific information in the interdisciplinary and international field of geophysics...
in 2000; the Fridtjof Nansen Medal from the European Geophysical Society
European Geosciences Union
The European Geosciences Union is an interdisciplinary non-profit learned society open to individuals who are professionally engaged in or associated with geosciences, planetary and space sciences, and related studies.The mission statement of the EGU is "Dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in...
in 2002; and the Stommel Research Medal from the American Meteorological Society
American Meteorological Society
The American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
in 2008 for his "many important contributions to ocean modelling and theoretical oceanography”. After his death in 2008, the UK National Oceanography Centre established the Peter Killworth Memorial Fund to "provide an annual award to students to support their research, studies and professional development" and "to honour Peter’s commitment to fostering and encouraging the careers of budding scientists."
Social networks
Killworth was also known for his work on social networks, applying mathematical modelling to anthropological empirical research. His work in this area began in 1972, when he met American anthroplogist H. Russell Bernard, whilst both men were working at the Scripps Institution of OceanographyScripps Institution of Oceanography
Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, is one of the oldest and largest centers for ocean and earth science research, graduate training, and public service in the world...
in California. Bernard had been conducting research on an oceanographic ship, examining how different social actors interrelated and knew one another. Killworth proposed applying the 'Baltimore traffic problem algorithm' to the research challenges this presented. Over the next few years, the partnership would work extensively on the so-called "small world"
Small world experiment
The small world experiment comprised several experiments conducted by Stanley Milgram and other researchers examining the average path length for social networks of people in the United States. The research was groundbreaking in that it suggested that human society is a small world type network...
, examining differences in the answers to questions such as "how many people does the average person think they know?" and "how many people does the average person really know?"
Killworth's interest in social networks increasingly focused on answering challenging questions about issues on which responses from individuals in questionnaires could not be trusted or were unlikely to be reliable, and where direct empirical data was lacking - "apparently uncountable populations". He was keen to stress the practical implications of this sort of anthropology, highlighting that before "we decide how much money to spend on a social problem, we need to know how big the problem is. It may not matter to anyone but scientists whether the typical American knows 290 people or 2,900, but it matters a lot if we can tell whether populations like the homeless are increasing or decreasing." Killworth was proud of his modelling's contribution to accurately measuring key issues such as the real size of the HIV+ community, or the number of rape victims in given communities.
One academic outcome from this work was a challenge to Dunbar's number
Dunbar's number
Dunbar's number is suggested to be a theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships. These are relationships in which an individual knows who each person is, and how each person relates to every other person...
theorem. Dunbar's number theorem suggests a theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships
Interpersonal relationship
An interpersonal relationship is an association between two or more people that may range from fleeting to enduring. This association may be based on limerence, love, solidarity, regular business interactions, or some other type of social commitment. Interpersonal relationships are formed in the...
. These are relationships in which an individual knows who each person is, and how each person relates to every other person. Dunbar's number is not derived from systematic observation of the number of relationships that people living in the contemporary world have. Killworth and his associates did a number of field studies in the United States that came up with an estimated mean number of ties – 290 – that is roughly double Dunbar's estimate. This was not an average of study averages or a theoretical hypothesis but a repeated finding. In 1997, Killworth and Bernard formed the keynote speakers at the International Network for Social Network Analysis
International Network for Social Network Analysis
The International Network for Social Network Analysis is the professional association of social network analysis. The rapid increase in awareness of social networks, social network software, and social networking has led to lively discussions and influence beyond sheer numbers.-Membership, history...
annual "Sunbelt" meeting, presenting on this accumulated work.
Although perhaps best known for his work with Bernard, Killworth also conducted a range of work with social network researchers Chris McCarty, Gene Shelley and Gene Johnsen.
Software design
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical PhysicsFaculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge
The Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge comprises the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics and the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics . It is housed in the Centre for Mathematical Sciences site in West Cambridge, alongside the Isaac...
in Cambridge was the centre of much early interactive fiction
Interactive fiction
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
text adventure software in the UK, utilising the Phoenix
Phoenix (computer)
Phoenix was an IBM mainframe computer at Cambridge University's Computer Laboratory. "Phoenix/MVS" was also the name of the computer's operating system, written in-house by Computer Laboratory members. Its DNS hostname was phx.cam.ac.uk.- Hardware :The Phoenix system was an IBM 370/165...
computer system there. Peter Killworth wrote the groundbreaking mainframe computer game Brand X with fellow mathematician Jonathan Mestel
Jonathan Mestel
Andrew Jonathan Mestel is Professor of applied mathematics at Imperial College London who works on magnetohydrodynamics and biological fluid dynamics...
. With the software arm of Acorn Computers
Acorn Computers
Acorn Computers Ltd. was a British computer company established in Cambridge, England, in 1978. The company produced a number of computers which were especially popular in the UK. These included the Acorn Electron, the BBC Micro, and the Acorn Archimedes...
based just around the corner from his Cambridge department, it was not long before Acornsoft
Acornsoft
Acornsoft was the software arm of Acorn Computers Ltd, and a major publisher of software for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron. As well as games, they also produced a large number of educational titles, extra computer languages and business and utility packages - these included ROM-based word...
acquired the rights to Brand X, which was released commercially for the BBC Micro
BBC Micro
The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...
computer as Philosopher's Quest. Other games followed, including Castle of Riddles
Castle of Riddles
Castle of Riddles is a text adventure released by Acornsoft for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron home computers. The game was written by Peter Killworth and was one of a series of text adventures written for, or ported to the BBC Micro by the same author . As with all such games, only text is used...
, Countdown to Doom
Countdown to Doom
Countdown to Doom is a text adventure computer game, more recently termed interactive fiction, written in 1982 by Peter Killworth. Its setting is the planet Doomawangara, which is coyly said to be shortened to "Doom". There are two sequels, Return to Doom and Last Days of Doom.The game was first...
, Return to Doom and Last Days of Doom, the latter games released through Topologika
Topologika
Topologika Software Ltd is a still-independent British publisher of educational software. Based in Brighton, the company was founded in 1983.Many of its early products were interactive fiction adventure games taken on after Acornsoft was sold to Superior Software who only continued to release their...
. Killworth described these games as "unashamed puzzlefests, you can die in lots of (hopefully funny) ways – but undo will cure that – and it's very easy to get stuck." Killworth published a book on the writing and theory of text adventure games in 1984.
Killworth also turned his hand to other programming applications, and "worked on top RISC OS
RISC OS
RISC OS is a computer operating system originally developed by Acorn Computers Ltd in Cambridge, England for their range of desktop computers, based on their own ARM architecture. First released in 1987, under the name Arthur, the subsequent iteration was renamed as in 1988...
graph plotting program Tau after taking over the software from original author Tim Birks. He was also a frequent contributor to the ongoing design of the EasiWriter and TechWriter packages, published by Icon Technology.
Other interests
Peter Killworth was also a keen amateur magician, and a member of the Cambridge University Pentacle ClubPentacle Club
The Pentacle Club is one of the world's oldest magic societies, famous amongst amateur and professional magicians for its long history and sequence of famous members.-Origins:...
for many years. He authored the Paul Daniels
Paul Daniels
Paul Daniels, born Newton Edward Daniels on 6 April 1938, is a British magician and television performer. He achieved international fame through his television series The Paul Daniels Magic Show, which ran on the BBC from 1979 to 1994.-Early life:...
' Magic Show release under the Acornsoft
Acornsoft
Acornsoft was the software arm of Acorn Computers Ltd, and a major publisher of software for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron. As well as games, they also produced a large number of educational titles, extra computer languages and business and utility packages - these included ROM-based word...
Graphics brand for the BBC Micro
BBC Micro
The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...
computer in 1984, which provided a range of magical illusions to be conducted using early micro-computers.