Robert J. Marks II
Encyclopedia
Robert Jackson Marks II is a Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Baylor University
and proponent of intelligent design
. From 1977 to 2003, he was on the faculty of the University of Washington
in Seattle. He was the first president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE) Neural Networks Council (now the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society
) and the editor-in-chief of the IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks. Marks has over 300 peer-reviewed technical publications, and is a fellow of the IEEE and the Optical Society of America. An old earth creationist, he is a subject of the 2008 pro-intelligent design
motion picture, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
. In 2010, he was named as one of the 20 most brilliant living Christian professors.
, a site promoting intelligent design
. The website, initially hosted on Baylor servers, was deleted when Baylor's administration determined that it violated university policy forbidding professors from creating the impression that their personal views represent Baylor as an institution. Baylor said they would permit Marks to repost his website on their server, provided a 108 word disclaimer accompany any intelligent design-advancing research to make clear that the work does not represent the university's position. The site now resides on a third-party server and still contains the material advancing intelligent design.
Additional controversy arose when it was discovered that William Dembski, a notable intelligent design
proponent and former Baylor staff member at the heart of a previous intelligent design controversy at Baylor over the Michael Polanyi Center
's promotion of intelligent design who was removed as the center's director, had returned to Baylor as a member of the Evolutionary Informatics Lab
. Dembski's participation was funded by a $30,000 grant from the Lifeworks Foundation, which was funded and administrated by researcher Brendan Dixon of the Biologic Institute
, another lab promoting intelligent design affiliated with the Discovery Institute
.
Marks agrees that "associating with [intelligent design] proponents can be harmful to your career" and expressed sympathy for Guillermo Gonzalez
and William Dembski, who feature with Marks in the pro-intelligent design film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
. Interview footage with Marks was shot for Expelled following the deletion of the website. The motion picture alleges persecution of intelligent design advocates by academic institutions and the scientific establishment.
's chapter of Campus Crusade for Christ
for seventeen years. He has presented his talk "What Does Calculus Have to Do with Christianity?" in Poland, Japan, Canada, Russia, and the United States.
Marks has made science-oriented Christian apologetics
presentations. Venues include Poland, Japan, Moscow, Canada, and Siberia. His creationist view is highlighted in "Genesis and Science: Compatibility Extraordinaire." There he says the God of Genesis is the creator of the universe, and indicates that, from an observers perspective on the surface of the earth (granting an opaque to translucent to transparent atmosphere), the "sequence of events in Genesis is consistent with the sequence of events in science."
Marks refers to himself as "A servant of Jesus Christ."
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
and proponent of intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
. From 1977 to 2003, he was on the faculty of the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
in Seattle. He was the first president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a non-profit professional association headquartered in New York City that is dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence...
(IEEE) Neural Networks Council (now the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society
IEEE Computational Intelligence Society
The IEEE Computational Intelligence Society is a professional society of the IEEE that focuses on the "theory, design, application, and development of biologically and linguistically motivated computational paradigms".- History :...
) and the editor-in-chief of the IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks. Marks has over 300 peer-reviewed technical publications, and is a fellow of the IEEE and the Optical Society of America. An old earth creationist, he is a subject of the 2008 pro-intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
motion picture, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is a 2008 documentary film, directed by Nathan Frankowski and hosted by Ben Stein. The film contends that the mainstream science establishment suppresses academics who believe they see evidence of intelligent design in nature and who criticize evidence supporting...
. In 2010, he was named as one of the 20 most brilliant living Christian professors.
The Evolutionary Informatics Lab website controversy
In 2007, Marks created on a Baylor University server a website for the Evolutionary Informatics LabEvolutionary Informatics Lab
The Evolutionary Informatics Lab is a cyberspace entity created in 2007 by Baylor University professor Robert J. Marks II conducting research on mathematical details of evolutionary computation and purported to underlie intelligent design It defines evolutionary informatics and serves as a showcase...
, a site promoting intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
. The website, initially hosted on Baylor servers, was deleted when Baylor's administration determined that it violated university policy forbidding professors from creating the impression that their personal views represent Baylor as an institution. Baylor said they would permit Marks to repost his website on their server, provided a 108 word disclaimer accompany any intelligent design-advancing research to make clear that the work does not represent the university's position. The site now resides on a third-party server and still contains the material advancing intelligent design.
Additional controversy arose when it was discovered that William Dembski, a notable intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
proponent and former Baylor staff member at the heart of a previous intelligent design controversy at Baylor over the Michael Polanyi Center
Michael Polanyi Center
The Michael Polanyi Center at Baylor University was the first center at a research university exclusively dedicated to intelligent design study. It was founded in 1999 "with the primary aim of advancing the...
's promotion of intelligent design who was removed as the center's director, had returned to Baylor as a member of the Evolutionary Informatics Lab
Evolutionary Informatics Lab
The Evolutionary Informatics Lab is a cyberspace entity created in 2007 by Baylor University professor Robert J. Marks II conducting research on mathematical details of evolutionary computation and purported to underlie intelligent design It defines evolutionary informatics and serves as a showcase...
. Dembski's participation was funded by a $30,000 grant from the Lifeworks Foundation, which was funded and administrated by researcher Brendan Dixon of the Biologic Institute
Biologic Institute
The Biologic Institute is a tax-exempt organization with offices in Redmond, Washington and laboratories in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. It is funded by the Discovery Institute with the stated purpose of doing biological research...
, another lab promoting intelligent design affiliated with the Discovery Institute
Discovery Institute
The Discovery Institute is a non-profit public policy think tank based in Seattle, Washington, best known for its advocacy of intelligent design...
.
Marks agrees that "associating with [intelligent design] proponents can be harmful to your career" and expressed sympathy for Guillermo Gonzalez
Guillermo Gonzalez
Guillermo Gonzalez may refer to:*Guillermo Gonzalez , American soccer player*Guillermo Gonzalez , astrophysicist and promoter of intelligent design...
and William Dembski, who feature with Marks in the pro-intelligent design film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is a 2008 documentary film, directed by Nathan Frankowski and hosted by Ben Stein. The film contends that the mainstream science establishment suppresses academics who believe they see evidence of intelligent design in nature and who criticize evidence supporting...
. Interview footage with Marks was shot for Expelled following the deletion of the website. The motion picture alleges persecution of intelligent design advocates by academic institutions and the scientific establishment.
Technical contributions
Marks is a researcher in the area of electrical engineering.- Treatment of prostate cancer. Marks and his colleagues developed algorithms for real time identification of placement of radioactive seeds in cancerous prostates. For this work, he was a co-recipient of the Judith Stitt Best Abstract Award from the American BrachytherapyBrachytherapyBrachytherapy , also known as internal radiotherapy, sealed source radiotherapy, curietherapy or endocurietherapy, is a form of radiotherapy where a radiation source is placed inside or next to the area requiring treatment...
Society. The algorithm is used clinically . - Optimal detection. In the field of detection theoryDetection theoryDetection theory, or signal detection theory, is a means to quantify the ability to discern between information-bearing energy patterns and random energy patterns that distract from the information Detection theory, or signal detection theory, is a means to quantify the ability to discern between...
, Marks and his colleagues developed the first closed form solution for the Neyman–Pearson optimal detection of signals in non-Gaussian noiseGaussian noiseGaussian noise is statistical noise that has its probability density function equal to that of the normal distribution, which is also known as the Gaussian distribution. In other words, the values that the noise can take on are Gaussian-distributed. A special case is white Gaussian noise, in which...
- Power load forecasting using neural networks. With his colleagues at the University of WashingtonUniversity of WashingtonUniversity of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
, Marks was the first to apply an artificial neural networkArtificial neural networkAn artificial neural network , usually called neural network , is a mathematical model or computational model that is inspired by the structure and/or functional aspects of biological neural networks. A neural network consists of an interconnected group of artificial neurons, and it processes...
to forecast power demands for utilities in 1991. Six years later neural networks were being used by 32 major North American utilities and remains in common use today. IEEE sponsors a MATLABMATLABMATLAB is a numerical computing environment and fourth-generation programming language. Developed by MathWorks, MATLAB allows matrix manipulations, plotting of functions and data, implementation of algorithms, creation of user interfaces, and interfacing with programs written in other languages,...
based webinar on use of neural networks in load forecasting. A technique "similar to one already used to successfully forecast electrical load needs" has been used to forecast Dow Jones closing values using data from millions of TwitterTwitterTwitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
messages. Concerning the success of the technology introduced in his paper, Marks said "My wife’s grandfather was fond of saying if he had known how long he would have lived, he would have taken better care of himself. If I had known how successful the load forecasting paper would become, I would have spent more time polishing it." - Signal display in time and frequency. The Zhao-Atlas-Marks time-frequency distribution, (a.k.a. the ZAM distribution or ZAMD), was originally called the cone shaped time-frequency distribution.
- The ZAMD is a special case of Cohen's classCohen's class distribution functionBilinear time–frequency distributions, or quadratic time–frequency distributions, arise in a sub-field field of signal analysis and signal processing called time–frequency signal processing, and, in the statistical analysis of time series data...
of time-frequency distributions. - The ZAMD is currently in the MATLABMATLABMATLAB is a numerical computing environment and fourth-generation programming language. Developed by MathWorks, MATLAB allows matrix manipulations, plotting of functions and data, implementation of algorithms, creation of user interfaces, and interfacing with programs written in other languages,...
Time-Frequency Toolbox and National InstrumentNational instrumentThe term national instrument can refer to:*National Instruments, an American corporation*The national instrument of a nation, referring to a musical instrument of particular cultural and social importance...
's LabVIEW Tools for Time-Frequency, Time-Series, and Wavelet Analysis
- The ZAMD is a special case of Cohen's class
- Remote sensing. Marks and his colleagues were the first to use neural network inversion in remote sensing. They measured snow parameters from microwave measurements made by satellites. Their general approach is widely used today.
- Wireless arrays. Marks is a co-recipient of a NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Tech Brief for pioneering power efficient communication in wireless arrays. - Power generation. Working with Southern California EdisonSouthern California EdisonSouthern California Edison , the largest subsidiary of Edison International , is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California, USA. It provides 14 million people with electricity...
, Marks and his colleagues pioneered computational intelligenceComputational intelligenceComputational intelligence is a set of Nature-inspired computational methodologies and approaches to address complex problems of the real world applications to which traditional methodologies and approaches are ineffective or infeasible. It primarily includes Fuzzy logic systems, Neural Networks...
based methods for early detection of intermittent shorted windings in multi ton electric generators while the rotors were still turning.
- Marks has made a number of contributions to the sampling theorem including authoring the first book exclusively dedicated to the subject.
- Restoration of lost samples. Using "sophisticated estimation of the missing samples using previous and future samples," Marks first showed that, when a signal sampled above its Nyquist rateNyquist rateIn signal processing, the Nyquist rate, named after Harry Nyquist, is two times the bandwidth of a bandlimited signal or a bandlimited channel...
, lost samples are "are redundant, in the sense that any finite number of them can be obtained from the remaining ones by solving a system of linear equations." - Ill-posed sampling. The sampling theorem's Cheung–Marks theorem shows that samples taken from a signal at or above the Nyquist rateNyquist rateIn signal processing, the Nyquist rate, named after Harry Nyquist, is two times the bandwidth of a bandlimited signal or a bandlimited channel...
may prove incapable of restoring the signal in the presence of small amounts of noiseNoiseIn common use, the word noise means any unwanted sound. In both analog and digital electronics, noise is random unwanted perturbation to a wanted signal; it is called noise as a generalisation of the acoustic noise heard when listening to a weak radio transmission with significant electrical noise...
. - Optimal image sampling. Cheung and Marks also first showed that images could be sampled below their Nyquist rateNyquist rateIn signal processing, the Nyquist rate, named after Harry Nyquist, is two times the bandwidth of a bandlimited signal or a bandlimited channel...
and still be recovered without aliasingAliasingIn signal processing and related disciplines, aliasing refers to an effect that causes different signals to become indistinguishable when sampled...
.
- System representation using samples. Marks and his colleagues showed continuous dynamic systems can be characterized using the sampling theorem.
- Optical computers. Marks invented and implemented an all optical computer that – using lenses, mirrors, and light from a laser – performs iterative calculations literally at the speed of light.
Christianity
Marks served as the faculty adviser to the University of WashingtonUniversity of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
's chapter of Campus Crusade for Christ
Campus Crusade for Christ
Campus Crusade for Christ is an interdenominational Christian organization that promotes evangelism and discipleship in more than 190 countries...
for seventeen years. He has presented his talk "What Does Calculus Have to Do with Christianity?" in Poland, Japan, Canada, Russia, and the United States.
Marks has made science-oriented Christian apologetics
Christian apologetics
Christian apologetics is a field of Christian theology that aims to present a rational basis for the Christian faith, defend the faith against objections, and expose the perceived flaws of other world views...
presentations. Venues include Poland, Japan, Moscow, Canada, and Siberia. His creationist view is highlighted in "Genesis and Science: Compatibility Extraordinaire." There he says the God of Genesis is the creator of the universe, and indicates that, from an observers perspective on the surface of the earth (granting an opaque to translucent to transparent atmosphere), the "sequence of events in Genesis is consistent with the sequence of events in science."
Marks refers to himself as "A servant of Jesus Christ."
Other activities
- With William A. DembskiWilliam A. DembskiWilliam Albert "Bill" Dembski is an American proponent of intelligent design, well known for promoting the concept of specified complexity...
, Marks offered statistical arguments against James CameronJames CameronJames Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
's claim to have found the burial site of JesusJesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
as portrayed in Cameron's documentary The Lost Tomb of JesusThe Lost Tomb of JesusThe Lost Tomb of Jesus is a documentary co-produced and first broadcast on the Discovery Channel and Vision TV in Canada on March 4, 2007, covering the discovery of the Talpiot Tomb. It was directed by Canadian documentary and film maker Simcha Jacobovici and produced by Felix Golubev and Ric...
. - Marks has served as a consultant with MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft 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...
, the Pacific Gas and Electric CompanyPacific Gas and Electric CompanyThe Pacific Gas and Electric Company , commonly known as PG&E, is the utility that provides natural gas and electricity to most of the northern two-thirds of California, from Bakersfield almost to the Oregon border...
, the Boeing Corporation, the John Fluke Manufacturing CompanyFluke CorporationFluke Corporation, a subsidiary of the Danaher Corporation, is a manufacturer of industrial testing equipment including electronic test equipment. It was started in 1948 by John Fluke, Sr., a friend and roommate of David Packard, future co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, when both were employed at...
, and Southern California EdisonSouthern California EdisonSouthern California Edison , the largest subsidiary of Edison International , is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California, USA. It provides 14 million people with electricity...
. - Marks was the cartoonist for the student newspaper while at Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology.,
- Marks hosted a political radio talk show in the early 1970s.
- Marks's Erdos numberErdos numberThe Erdős number describes the "collaborative distance" between a person and mathematician Paul Erdős, as measured by authorship of mathematical papers.The same principle has been proposed for other eminent persons in other fields.- Overview :...
is three and his Bacon number is two. Therefore, his Erdos–Bacon number is five.
Books by Robert J. Marks II
- R.J. Marks II, "Handbook of Fourier Analysis and Its Applications," Oxford University Press, (2009).http://www.handbookoffourieranalysis.com/
- R. D. Reed and R.J. Marks II, Neural Smithing: Supervised Learning in Feedforward Artificial Neural Networks, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, (1999).
- M. Palaniswami, Y. Attikiouzel, R.J. Marks II, David Fogel and Toshio Fukuda; Editors, Computational Intelligence: A Dynamic System Perspective, IEEE Press, (1995).
- R.J. Marks II, Editor, Fuzzy Logic Technology and Applications, IEEE Technical Activities Board, Piscataway, (1994).
- J.Zurada, R.J. Marks II and C.J. Robinson; Editors, Computational Intelligence: Imitating Life, (IEEE Press, 1994).
- R.J. Marks II, Introduction to Shannon Sampling and Interpolation Theory, Springer-Verlag, (1991).http://marksmannet.com/RobertMarks/REPRINTS/1999_IntroductionToShannonSamplingAndInterpolationTheory.pdf
- M.A. El-Sharkawi and R. J. Marks II, Editors, Applications of Neural Networks to Power Systems, IEEE Press, Piscataway, (1991).
External links
- Robert J. Marks II, PhD home page
- Dr. Robert J. Marks II Engineering Faculty, Baylor University