Harry R. Lewis
Encyclopedia
Harry Roy Lewis is a Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science
and the Director of Undergraduate Studies in Computer Science at Harvard University
. He is also a Faculty Associate of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society
at Harvard. He is in addition the author of several books, including Excellence Without A Soul: How a Great University Forgot Education
(2006), and is a co-author (with Hal Abelson
and Ken Ledeen) of Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness After the Digital Explosion, a work that explores the origins and public consequences of the explosion in recent years of digital information. He was the Dean
of Harvard College
from 1995 to 2003. He is a Visitor
of Ralston College
and a Life Trustee
of the Roxbury Latin School
. He blogs regularly at http://harry-lewis.blogspot.com/ and his old blog may still be found on-line at http://www.bitsbook.com/blog/
Harry Lewis was born in Boston
, Massachusetts
. He earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Harvard in Applied Mathematics
— Bachelor's degree
summa cum laude in 1968, Master's degree
in 1973 and his PhD
in 1974. His PhD thesis
, supervised by Burton Dreben
, was titled "Herbrand
Expansions and Reductions of the Decision Problem." He has been a member of the Harvard faculty since 1974. Among his students were the young Bill Gates
and Mark Zuckerberg
, whose website "Six Degrees to Harry Lewis" was a precusor to Facebook
.
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
and the Director of Undergraduate Studies in Computer Science at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He is also a Faculty Associate of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society
Berkman Center for Internet & Society
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society is a research center at Harvard University that focuses on the study of cyberspace. Founded at Harvard Law School, the center traditionally focused on internet-related legal issues. On May 15, 2008, the Center was elevated to an interfaculty initiative of...
at Harvard. He is in addition the author of several books, including Excellence Without A Soul: How a Great University Forgot Education
Excellence Without a Soul
Excellence Without a Soul is a book by Harry R. Lewis, the former Dean of Harvard College, that examines the state of America's universities and colleges with particular reference to Harvard...
(2006), and is a co-author (with Hal Abelson
Hal Abelson
Harold Abelson is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, a fellow of the IEEE, and is a founding director of both Creative Commons and the Free Software Foundation....
and Ken Ledeen) of Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness After the Digital Explosion, a work that explores the origins and public consequences of the explosion in recent years of digital information. He was the Dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
of Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
from 1995 to 2003. He is a Visitor
Visitor
A Visitor, in United Kingdom law and history, is an overseer of an autonomous ecclesiastical or eleemosynary institution , who can intervene in the internal affairs of that institution...
of Ralston College
Ralston College
Ralston College is a liberal arts college in Savannah, Georgia, United States. It was founded on February 1, 2010 and as of December 2010 is not yet accepting applications for admission. The patrons of Ralston College are Harold Bloom, Hilary Putnam, and Salman Rushdie. The members of the Board...
and a Life Trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
of the Roxbury Latin School
Roxbury Latin School
The Roxbury Latin School is the oldest school in continuous operation in North America. The school was founded in Roxbury, Massachusetts by the Rev. John Eliot under a charter received from King Charles I of England. Since its founding in 1645, it has educated boys on a continuous basis.Located...
. He blogs regularly at http://harry-lewis.blogspot.com/ and his old blog may still be found on-line at http://www.bitsbook.com/blog/
Harry Lewis was born in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. He earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Harvard in 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...
— Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
summa cum laude in 1968, 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 1973 and his PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in 1974. His PhD thesis
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
, supervised by Burton Dreben
Burton Dreben
Burton Spencer Dreben was an American philosopher specializing in mathematical logic. A Harvard graduate who taught at his alma mater for most of his career, he published little but was highly influential as a teacher and as a critic of the work of his colleagues .-The logician:Dreben was a rare...
, was titled "Herbrand
Jacques Herbrand
Jacques Herbrand was a French mathematician who was born in Paris, France and died in La Bérarde, Isère, France. Although he died at only 23 years of age, he was already considered one of "the greatest mathematicians of the younger generation" by his professors Helmut Hasse, and Richard Courant.He...
Expansions and Reductions of the Decision Problem." He has been a member of the Harvard faculty since 1974. Among his students were the young 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...
and Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is an American computer programmer and Internet entrepreneur. He is best known for co-creating the social networking site Facebook, of which he is chief executive and president...
, whose website "Six Degrees to Harry Lewis" was a precusor to Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
.
Books
- Unsolvable Classes of Quantificational FormulasQuantificationQuantification has several distinct senses. In mathematics and empirical science, it is the act of counting and measuring that maps human sense observations and experiences into members of some set of numbers. Quantification in this sense is fundamental to the scientific method.In logic,...
; Addison-WesleyAddison-WesleyAddison-Wesley was a book publisher in Boston, Massachusetts, best known for its textbooks and computer literature. As well as publishing books, Addison-Wesley also distributed its technical titles through the Safari Books Online e-reference service...
Publishing Company, Reading, Massachusetts, 1979 - Harry R. Lewis and Christos H. Papadimitriou Elements of the Theory of Computation; Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1981
- An Introduction to Computer Programming and Data Structures using MACRO-11; Reston Publishing Company, Reston, Virginia, 1981
- Harry R. Lewis and Larry Denenberg; Data Structures and their Algorithms; Harper Collins Publishers, Inc., New York, 1991
- Harry R. Lewis and Christos H. Papadimitriou; STOICHEIA THEORIAS HYPOLOGISMOU ; Technical Chapter of Greece --- TEE, Athens, Greece, 1992. (Greek languageGreek languageGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
edition of #2) - Harry R. Lewis and Christos H. Papadimitriou; Elements of the Theory of Computation, Second Edition; Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1997
- Harry R. Lewis and Christos H. Papadimitriou; Elementos de Teoria da Computação, 2a Edição; Bookman, Porto Alegre, 2000 (Portuguese language edition of #6)
- Harry R. Lewis, Excellence Without a Soul: How a Great University Forgot EducationExcellence Without a SoulExcellence Without a Soul is a book by Harry R. Lewis, the former Dean of Harvard College, that examines the state of America's universities and colleges with particular reference to Harvard...
, PublicAffairsPublicAffairsPublicAffairs is an imprint of the Perseus Books Group, an American book publishing company located in New York City. From PublicAffairs' web site:...
, 2006. - Paperback edition of #8Excellence Without a SoulExcellence Without a Soul is a book by Harry R. Lewis, the former Dean of Harvard College, that examines the state of America's universities and colleges with particular reference to Harvard...
, subtitled Does Liberal EducationLiberal educationA Liberal education is a system or course of education suitable for the cultivation of a free human being. It is based on the medieval concept of the liberal arts or, more commonly now, the liberalism of the Age of Enlightenment...
Have a Future?, 2007. - Chinese (both mainland and Taiwan) and Korean editions of #8.
- Hal AbelsonHal AbelsonHarold Abelson is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, a fellow of the IEEE, and is a founding director of both Creative Commons and the Free Software Foundation....
, Ken Ledeen, Harry Lewis, Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness After the Digital Explosion, Addison-Wesley, 2008.
External links
- Harry R. Lewis official page at Harvard
- "Blown to Bits" website official website for the book, "Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness After the Digital Explosion."
- "Bits and Pieces" Harry Lewis's blog
- "Blown to Bits" Harry Lewis's old blog