H. Dean Brown
Encyclopedia
Harold Dean Brown was a scientist in the United States
. His fields ranged from physics
and mathematics
to computer software
and philosophy
.
on August 13, 1927.
Brown received his BS degree in physics
, mathematics
, and chemistry
from South Dakota State College in 1947. He was a University Fellow at the University of Kansas
, from 1950 to 1952, where he received both his master's and doctoral degrees in physics. His doctoral degree specialized in classical and quantum stability. From 1952 to 1958 he was a nuclear reactions specialist in the DuPont Atomic Energy Division, Savannah River Laboratory
and Project Matterhorn
at Princeton University
. While at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study
he claimed to be a friend of Albert Einstein
, with whom he played Go as a way of exploring John von Neumann
’s game theory
.
During his time at DuPont, Brown served as chief scientist at the Savannah River Laboratory in a four-person evaluation team that selected the IBM 650
(the second off the line) in 1956 as the first general purpose electronic digital computer system installed there. According to R. R. Haefner "In the summer of 1953, with assistance from Marian Spinrad, used Friden hand calculators to determine the flux distribution for a fuel rod that was later tested at the Hanford Works
... all the other physicists were on vacation and were horrified to return and discover that Brown had made the calculations and then, without waiting for a colleague to return and check them, had told Hanford where to place the fuel rods."
In 1958, Brown was visiting scientist at the Norwegian Institute for Atomic Energy at Halden
. From 1959 to 1960, he was senior officer, reactor division at the IAEA in Switzerland
and Yugoslavia
. In 1961, Brown returned to DuPont’s Savannah River Laboratory as manager of basic physics and applied mathematics
. He remained in that post until 1963.
Brown then served as scientific director at the Computer Usage Company
in Washington, DC 1963 to 1965. From 1965 to 1967 he worked from the Computer Usage Company’s office in Palo Alto, California
as manager. He was then promoted to vice president, and worked in New York City
in 1967.
In 1967, Brown joined Stanford Research Institute
(now SRI International). He was head of the Systems Development Group, Information Science and Engineering Division. He specialized in computer-aided instruction, man-machine studies, educational policy and planning, and nuclear reactor physics
. While at SRI, he was a member of Willis Harman
’s Futures Research Program. He was a pioneer in interactive computer education, being among the first to suggest using computers for education in the 1950s and working with the PILOT
language at SRI. Brown also worked in conjunction with Adrienne Kennedy
on a project at SRI entitled Computers and the Affective Domain. He worked with the United Nations
for several years, introducing such technology to various countries around the world. One project involved installing computers throughout the educational system of Spain
. At this time he wrote a book on the essentials of learning. He also co-founded The Learning Company
through the Apple Foundation (1980).
In 1976, he was hired by founder Federico Faggin
as director of application software for Zilog
Corporation. As the company’s software expert he was one of the eleven people who created the Z80, one of the early microprocessors.
He also co-founded educational software company Picodyne Corporation with Cuthbert C. Hurd, and served as its CEO. At its inception, the company redeployed Zilog Development Systems as small business computers with custom business applications. The systems were developed for and sold to Silicon Valley
firms such as Shugart
.
Brown served as program chairman and general chairman of the CompCon (computer conference) in Spring 1978 and 1979, respectively.
In his personal life, Brown took an active interest in metaphysics
, philosophy
, psychology
, music
, and horticulture
. He was also interested in linguistics
, being familiar with 25 languages, and interested in cross-cultural similarities in literary forms. His linguistic work included his scholarship of Sanskrit
, and he made original translations of both the Upanishads and the Yoga Sutras.
He was a member of Sigma Pi Sigma
(physics), Sigma X1, Sigma Tau (engineering
), Pi Mu Epsilon
(mathematics), American Mathematical Society
, American Physical Society
, American Nuclear Society
, Association for Computing Machinery
, a member of the Board of Editors for Nuclear Science and Engineering, and a member of the board of directors or the Intuition Network for over a decade.
He died on June 24, 2003.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. His fields ranged from physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and 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...
to computer software
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
and philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
.
Biography
Harold Dean Brown (generally known as Dean Brown) was born in North DakotaNorth Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
on August 13, 1927.
Brown received his BS degree in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, 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...
, and chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
from South Dakota State College in 1947. He was a University Fellow at the University of Kansas
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
, from 1950 to 1952, where he received both his master's and doctoral degrees in physics. His doctoral degree specialized in classical and quantum stability. From 1952 to 1958 he was a nuclear reactions specialist in the DuPont Atomic Energy Division, Savannah River Laboratory
Savannah River Site
The Savannah River Site is a nuclear reservation in the United States in the state of South Carolina, located on land in Aiken, Allendale and Barnwell Counties adjacent to the Savannah River, southeast of Augusta, Georgia. The site was built during the 1950s to refine nuclear materials for...
and Project Matterhorn
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory for plasma physics and nuclear fusion science located on Princeton University's Forrestal Campus in Plainsboro Township, New Jersey. Its primary mission is research into and development of fusion as an...
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....
. While at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
he claimed to be a friend of Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
, with whom he played Go as a way of exploring John von Neumann
John von Neumann
John von Neumann was a Hungarian-American mathematician and polymath who made major contributions to a vast number of fields, including set theory, functional analysis, quantum mechanics, ergodic theory, geometry, fluid dynamics, economics and game theory, computer science, numerical analysis,...
’s game theory
Game theory
Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...
.
During his time at DuPont, Brown served as chief scientist at the Savannah River Laboratory in a four-person evaluation team that selected the IBM 650
IBM 650
The IBM 650 was one of IBM’s early computers, and the world’s first mass-produced computer. It was announced in 1953, and over 2000 systems were produced between the first shipment in 1954 and its final manufacture in 1962...
(the second off the line) in 1956 as the first general purpose electronic digital computer system installed there. According to R. R. Haefner "In the summer of 1953, with assistance from Marian Spinrad, used Friden hand calculators to determine the flux distribution for a fuel rod that was later tested at the Hanford Works
Hanford Site
The Hanford Site is a mostly decommissioned nuclear production complex on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, operated by the United States federal government. The site has been known by many names, including Hanford Works, Hanford Engineer Works or HEW, Hanford Nuclear Reservation...
... all the other physicists were on vacation and were horrified to return and discover that Brown had made the calculations and then, without waiting for a colleague to return and check them, had told Hanford where to place the fuel rods."
In 1958, Brown was visiting scientist at the Norwegian Institute for Atomic Energy at Halden
Halden
is a both a town and a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The seat of the municipality, Halden is a border town located at the Tista river delta on the Iddefjord, the southernmost border crossing between Norway and Sweden.-History:...
. From 1959 to 1960, he was senior officer, reactor division at the IAEA in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
. In 1961, Brown returned to DuPont’s Savannah River Laboratory as manager of basic physics and 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...
. He remained in that post until 1963.
Brown then served as scientific director at the Computer Usage Company
Computer Usage Company
Computer Usage Company , sometimes called Computer Usage Corporation, was the first independent company to market computer software.-History:...
in Washington, DC 1963 to 1965. From 1965 to 1967 he worked from the Computer Usage Company’s office in Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
as manager. He was then promoted to vice president, and worked in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1967.
In 1967, Brown joined Stanford Research Institute
SRI International
SRI International , founded as Stanford Research Institute, is one of the world's largest contract research institutes. Based in Menlo Park, California, the trustees of Stanford University established it in 1946 as a center of innovation to support economic development in the region. It was later...
(now SRI International). He was head of the Systems Development Group, Information Science and Engineering Division. He specialized in computer-aided instruction, man-machine studies, educational policy and planning, and nuclear reactor physics
Nuclear reactor physics
Nuclear reactor physics is the branch of science that deals with the study and application of chain reaction to induce controlled rate of fission for energy in reactors....
. While at SRI, he was a member of Willis Harman
Willis Harman
Willis Harman was an American engineer, social scientist, academic, futurist, writer, and visionary. He is best remembered for his work with SRI International, for being president of the Institute of Noetic Sciences in California, and for his work in raising consciousness within the...
’s Futures Research Program. He was a pioneer in interactive computer education, being among the first to suggest using computers for education in the 1950s and working with the PILOT
PILOT
Programmed Instruction, Learning, Or Teaching is a simle historic programming language developed in the 1960s.Like its younger sibling LOGO programming language, it was an early foray into the technology of computer assisted instruction ....
language at SRI. Brown also worked in conjunction with Adrienne Kennedy
Adrienne Kennedy
Adrienne Kennedy is an African-American playwright and was a key figure in the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. She is best known for her first major play Funnyhouse of a Negro....
on a project at SRI entitled Computers and the Affective Domain. He worked with the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
for several years, introducing such technology to various countries around the world. One project involved installing computers throughout the educational system of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. At this time he wrote a book on the essentials of learning. He also co-founded The Learning Company
The Learning Company
The Learning Company is an American educational software company, founded in 1980. It produced a grade-based system similar to Knowledge Adventure's JumpStart series. The products for preschoolers through second graders feature Reader Rabbit, and software for more advanced students features The...
through the Apple Foundation (1980).
In 1976, he was hired by founder Federico Faggin
Federico Faggin
Federico Faggin , who received in 2010 the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by Barack Obama, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on scientists, engineers, and inventors, at the White House in Washington, is an Italian-born and naturalized U.S...
as director of application software for Zilog
Zilog
Zilog, Inc., previously known as ZiLOG , is a manufacturer of 8-bit and 24-bit microcontrollers, and is most famous for its Intel 8080-compatible Z80 series.-History:...
Corporation. As the company’s software expert he was one of the eleven people who created the Z80, one of the early microprocessors.
He also co-founded educational software company Picodyne Corporation with Cuthbert C. Hurd, and served as its CEO. At its inception, the company redeployed Zilog Development Systems as small business computers with custom business applications. The systems were developed for and sold to Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
firms such as Shugart
Shugart
Shugart is the de facto standard for floppy disk drive interfaces created by Shugart Associates.* 50 pin: 8"* 34 pin: 5¼", 3½", 3""Shugart" may also refer to the company Shugart Associates, the founder of Shugart Associates, Alan Shugart, or political scientist Matthew Søberg Shugart....
.
Brown served as program chairman and general chairman of the CompCon (computer conference) in Spring 1978 and 1979, respectively.
In his personal life, Brown took an active interest in metaphysics
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, and horticulture
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
. He was also interested in linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, being familiar with 25 languages, and interested in cross-cultural similarities in literary forms. His linguistic work included his scholarship of Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, and he made original translations of both the Upanishads and the Yoga Sutras.
He was a member of Sigma Pi Sigma
Sigma Pi Sigma
Sigma Pi Sigma is the National Physics Honor Society. It strives to promote physics at all stages, to promote fraternity between those who excel at physics, and to promote service among its members. It is closely associated with the Society of Physics Students .- External links :*...
(physics), Sigma X1, Sigma Tau (engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
), Pi Mu Epsilon
Pi Mu Epsilon
Pi Mu Epsilon is the U.S. honorary national mathematics society.The society was founded at Syracuse University on May 25, 1914, by Professor Edward Drake Roe, Jr, and currently has chapters at 337 institutions across the nation.-Goals:...
(mathematics), American Mathematical Society
American Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, which it does with various publications and conferences as well as annual monetary awards and prizes to mathematicians.The society is one of the...
, American Physical Society
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
, American Nuclear Society
American Nuclear Society
The American Nuclear Society is an international, not-for-profit 501 scientific and educational organization with a membership of approximately 11,000 scientists, engineers, educators, students, and other associate members. Approximately 900 members live outside the United States in 40 countries....
, Association for Computing Machinery
Association for Computing Machinery
The Association for Computing Machinery is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
, a member of the Board of Editors for Nuclear Science and Engineering, and a member of the board of directors or the Intuition Network for over a decade.
He died on June 24, 2003.