Klaus Samelson
Encyclopedia
Klaus Samelson was a German
mathematician, physicist, and computer pioneer in the area of programming language translation
and push-pop stack
algorithms for sequential formula translation on computers.
, Alsace
, and he lived in Breslau in his early childhood years. Due to political circumstances, he waited until 1946 to study Mathematics and Physics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Munich
.
with a dissertation on a quantum mechanical
problem posed by Arnold Sommerfeld
related to Unipolar Induction
.
Dr Samelson became interested in Numerical Analysis
, and when Hans Piloty, an electrical engineer, and Robert Sauer, a professor of Mathematics, began working together, he joined and got involved in early computers as a research associate in the Mathematical Institute of the Technical University Munich.
This changed his scientific career. His first publications came from Sauer's interests dealing with supersonic flow and precision problems of digital computations for numerical calculations of Eigenvalues
.
Soon after, Samelson's strong influence began on the development of Computer Science and Informatics as a new scientific discipline. With Friedrich L. Bauer
, who also had Fritz Bopp as his Ph.D. advisor, he studied the structure of programming languages in order to develop efficient algorithms for their translation and implementation. This research led to bracketed structures and it became clear to Samelson that this principle should govern the translation of programming languages and the run-time system with stack models and block structure. It was a fundamental breakthrough in how computer systems are modeled and designed.
Piloty, Bauer and Samelson had also worked on the design of PERM, a computer based partially on the Whirlwind
concept. By 1955, the PERM was completed and they continued work that Bauer had begun in 1951 on concepts in automatic programming.
Samelson played a key role in the design of ALGOL
58 and ALGOL 60.
In 1958, he accepted a chair for Mathematics at the University of Mainz, and since 1963 he held a chair at the Technical University Munich where he and F.L. Bauer, began to develop a university curriculum for Informatics and Computer Science. He was involved with international standards in programming and informatics through IFIP
. He became an editor of the journal Acta Informatica when it began in 1971.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
mathematician, physicist, and computer pioneer in the area of programming language translation
Compiler
A compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language...
and push-pop stack
Stack (data structure)
In computer science, a stack is a last in, first out abstract data type and linear data structure. A stack can have any abstract data type as an element, but is characterized by only three fundamental operations: push, pop and stack top. The push operation adds a new item to the top of the stack,...
algorithms for sequential formula translation on computers.
Early life
He was born in StrasbourgStrasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
, and he lived in Breslau in his early childhood years. Due to political circumstances, he waited until 1946 to study Mathematics and Physics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
.
Career
After graduating, he worked briefly as a high school teacher before he returned to university. He completed his doctorate degree in Physics with Fritz BoppFriedrich Bopp
Friedrich Arnold Bopp was a German theoretical physicist who contributed to nuclear physics and quantum field theory. He worked at the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für Physik and with the Uranverein. He was a professor at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and a President of the Deutsche...
with a dissertation on a quantum mechanical
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
problem posed by Arnold Sommerfeld
Arnold Sommerfeld
Arnold Johannes Wilhelm Sommerfeld was a German theoretical physicist who pioneered developments in atomic and quantum physics, and also educated and groomed a large number of students for the new era of theoretical physics...
related to Unipolar Induction
Homopolar generator
A homopolar generator is a DC electrical generator comprising an electrically conductive disc rotating in a plane perpendicular to a uniform static magnetic field. A potential difference is created between the center of the disc and the rim, the electrical polarity depending on the direction of...
.
Dr Samelson became interested in Numerical Analysis
Numerical analysis
Numerical analysis is the study of algorithms that use numerical approximation for the problems of mathematical analysis ....
, and when Hans Piloty, an electrical engineer, and Robert Sauer, a professor of Mathematics, began working together, he joined and got involved in early computers as a research associate in the Mathematical Institute of the Technical University Munich.
This changed his scientific career. His first publications came from Sauer's interests dealing with supersonic flow and precision problems of digital computations for numerical calculations of Eigenvalues
Eigenvalue, eigenvector and eigenspace
The eigenvectors of a square matrix are the non-zero vectors that, after being multiplied by the matrix, remain parallel to the original vector. For each eigenvector, the corresponding eigenvalue is the factor by which the eigenvector is scaled when multiplied by the matrix...
.
Soon after, Samelson's strong influence began on the development of Computer Science and Informatics as a new scientific discipline. With Friedrich L. Bauer
Friedrich L. Bauer
Friedrich Ludwig Bauer is a German computer scientist and professor emeritus at Technical University of Munich.-Life:...
, who also had Fritz Bopp as his Ph.D. advisor, he studied the structure of programming languages in order to develop efficient algorithms for their translation and implementation. This research led to bracketed structures and it became clear to Samelson that this principle should govern the translation of programming languages and the run-time system with stack models and block structure. It was a fundamental breakthrough in how computer systems are modeled and designed.
Piloty, Bauer and Samelson had also worked on the design of PERM, a computer based partially on the Whirlwind
Whirlwind (computer)
The Whirlwind computer was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is the first computer that operated in real time, used video displays for output, and the first that was not simply an electronic replacement of older mechanical systems...
concept. By 1955, the PERM was completed and they continued work that Bauer had begun in 1951 on concepts in automatic programming.
Samelson played a key role in the design of ALGOL
ALGOL
ALGOL is a family of imperative computer programming languages originally developed in the mid 1950s which greatly influenced many other languages and became the de facto way algorithms were described in textbooks and academic works for almost the next 30 years...
58 and ALGOL 60.
In 1958, he accepted a chair for Mathematics at the University of Mainz, and since 1963 he held a chair at the Technical University Munich where he and F.L. Bauer, began to develop a university curriculum for Informatics and Computer Science. He was involved with international standards in programming and informatics through IFIP
International Federation for Information Processing
The International Federation for Information Processing is an umbrella organization for national societies working in the field of information technology. It is a non-governmental, non-profit organization with offices in Laxenburg, Austria...
. He became an editor of the journal Acta Informatica when it began in 1971.
Selected publications
- Alan J. Perlis, Klaus Samelson, Preliminary Report: International Algebraic Language, Communications of the ACM 1(12): 8-22 (1958)
- Klaus Samelson, Friedrich L. Bauer, Sequentielle Formelübersetzung ("Sequential Formula Translation"), Elektronische Rechenanlagen 1(4): 176-182 (1959)
- Edsger W. Dijkstra, W. Heise, Alan J. Perlis, Klaus Samelson, ALGOL Sub-Committee Report - Extensions. Communications of the ACM 2(9): 24 (1959)
- Friedrich L. Bauer, Klaus Samelson: The problem of a common language, especially for scientific numeral work, IFIP Congress 1959: 120-124
- John W. Backus, Friedrich L. Bauer, Julien Green, C. Katz, John McCarthy, Alan J. Perlis, Heinz Rutishauser, Klaus Samelson, Bernard Vauquois, Joseph Henry Wegstein, Adriaan van Wijngaarden, Michael Woodger, Report on the Algorithmic Language ALGOL 60", Communications of the ACM 3(5): 299-314, 1960
- Sequential Formula Translation, Klaus Samelson, Friedrich L. Bauer, Communications of the ACM 3(2): 76-83, 1960
- Comments on ALGOL 60 Maintenance and Revisions, ALGOL Bulletin, Issue 12, April 1961
- Klaus Samelson, Programming Languages and their Processing, IFIP Congress 1962: 487-492
- Jürgen Eickel, Manfred Paul, Friedrich L. Bauer, Klaus Samelson, A Syntax Controlled Generator of Formal Language Processors, Communications of the ACM 6(8): 451-455, 1963
- John W. Backus, Friedrich L. Bauer, Julien Green, C. Katz, John McCarthy, Alan J. Perlis, Heinz Rutishauser, Klaus Samelson, Bernard Vauquois, Joseph Henry Wegstein, Adriaan van Wijngaarden, Michael Woodger, Peter Naur, Revised Report on the Algorithmic Language ALGOL 60, Communications of the ACM 6(1): 1-17, 1963
- Friedrich L. Bauer, Klaus Samelson, Language Hierarchies and Interfaces, International Summer School, Marktoberdorf, Germany, July 23 - August 2, 1975 Springer, 1976
- Klaus Samelson, ECI Conference 1976, Proceedings of the 1st European Cooperation in Informatics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, August 9–12, 1976, Proceedings, Springer, 1976
- Rupert Gnatz, Klaus Samelson, Methoden der Informatik für Rechnerunterstütztes Entwerfen und Konstruieren, GI-Fachtagung, München, 19./21. Oktober 1977, Springer, 1977
- Klaus Samelson, Entwicklungslinien in der Informatik, GI Jahrestagung 1978, pp. 132-148
- Friedrich L. Bauer, Manfred Broy, Walter Dosch, Rupert Gnatz, Bernd Krieg-Brückner, Alfred Laut, M. Luckmann, T. Matzner, Bernhard Möller, Helmuth Partsch, Peter Pepper, Klaus Samelson, Ralf Steinbrüggen, Martin Wirsing, Hans Wössner, Programming in a Wide Spectrum Language: A Collection of Examples, Sci. Comput. Program. 1(1-2): 73-114 (1981)
- Klaus Samelson, Friedrich L. Bauer, Sequential Formula Translation, (Reprint). Communications of the ACM 26(1): 9-13 (1983)
- The Munich Project CIP: Volume I: the wide spectrum language CIP-L, Springer-Verlag, 1986
External links
- Samelson-Prinzip (in German)