Lambert Meertens
Encyclopedia
Lambert Guillaume Louis Théodore Meertens (born 1944) is a Dutch
computer scientist and professor.
While still a student at the Ignatius Gymnasium
in Amsterdam
, Meertens designed a computer
, together with his classmate Kees Koster.
In the 1960s, Meertens applied affix grammar
s to the description and composition of music, and obtained a special prize from the jury at the 1968 IFIP Congress in Edinburgh
for his computer-generated string quartet, "Quartet No. 1 in C Major for 2 Violins, Viola and Violoncello" based on the first non-context-free
affix grammar
. The string quartet was published as Mathematical Centre Report MR 96 in 1968.
Meertens was one of the editors of the Revised ALGOL 68
Report.
He was the originator and one of the designers of the ABC programming language
.
He was chairman of the Dutch Pacifist Socialist Party
(PSP) from 1975 until 1981.
He was co-designer of the Bird-Meertens Formalism
.
He was chair of IFIP Working Group 2.1
on Algorithmic Languages and Calculi from 1999 to 2009.
His original work was at the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) in Amsterdam
, The Netherlands (originally called the Mathematical Centre).
He was later researcher at the Kestrel Institute in Palo Alto, United States
.
He is Professor Emeritus at Utrecht University
, Utrecht
, The Netherlands.
Meertens has an Erdős number
of 3.
The Meertens number
is named after him.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
computer scientist and professor.
While still a student at the Ignatius Gymnasium
Ignatius Gymnasium
Saint Ignatius Gymnasium is one of the five categorial gymnasia in Amsterdam, Netherlands. With the Vossius Gymnasium and the Barlaeus Gymnasium, it is among the most prestigious schools in Amsterdam...
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Meertens designed a computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
, together with his classmate Kees Koster.
In the 1960s, Meertens applied affix grammar
Affix grammar
An affix grammar is a kind of formal grammar; it is used to describe the syntax of languages, mainly computer languages, using an approach based on how natural language is typically described....
s to the description and composition of music, and obtained a special prize from the jury at the 1968 IFIP Congress in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
for his computer-generated string quartet, "Quartet No. 1 in C Major for 2 Violins, Viola and Violoncello" based on the first non-context-free
Context-free grammar
In formal language theory, a context-free grammar is a formal grammar in which every production rule is of the formwhere V is a single nonterminal symbol, and w is a string of terminals and/or nonterminals ....
affix grammar
Affix grammar
An affix grammar is a kind of formal grammar; it is used to describe the syntax of languages, mainly computer languages, using an approach based on how natural language is typically described....
. The string quartet was published as Mathematical Centre Report MR 96 in 1968.
Meertens was one of the editors of the Revised ALGOL 68
ALGOL 68
ALGOL 68 isan imperative computerprogramming language that was conceived as a successor to theALGOL 60 programming language, designed with the goal of a...
Report.
He was the originator and one of the designers of the ABC programming language
ABC programming language
ABC is an imperative general-purpose programming language and programming environment developed at CWI, Netherlands by Leo Geurts, Lambert Meertens, and Steven Pemberton. It is interactive, structured, high-level, and intended to be used instead of BASIC, Pascal, or AWK...
.
He was chairman of the Dutch Pacifist Socialist Party
Pacifist Socialist Party
The Pacifist Socialist Party was a Dutch left-socialist political party. The PSP played a small role in Dutch politics. It is a predecessor of the GreenLeft.-Before 1957:...
(PSP) from 1975 until 1981.
He was co-designer of the Bird-Meertens Formalism
Bird-Meertens Formalism
The Bird-Meertens Formalism is a calculus for deriving programs from specifications , devised by Richard Bird and Lambert Meertens....
.
He was chair of IFIP Working Group 2.1
IFIP Working Group 2.1
IFIP Working Group 2.1 on Algorithmic Languages and Calculi is a working group of the International Federation for Information Processing ....
on Algorithmic Languages and Calculi from 1999 to 2009.
His original work was at the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, The Netherlands (originally called the Mathematical Centre).
He was later researcher at the Kestrel Institute in Palo Alto, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
He is Professor Emeritus at Utrecht University
Utrecht University
Utrecht University is a university in Utrecht, Netherlands. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands and one of the largest in Europe. Established March 26, 1636, it had an enrollment of 29,082 students in 2008, and employed 8,614 faculty and staff, 570 of which are full professors....
, Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
, The Netherlands.
Meertens has an Erdős number
Erdos number
The 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 :...
of 3.
The Meertens number
Meertens number
In mathematical logic, a Meertens number is an integer that is its own Gödel number.The Gödel encoding of a decimal number with n digits is the product of the first n primes raised to the values of their corresponding digits in the sequence....
is named after him.
Awards
- 2007: IFIP Silver Core http://www.ifip.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=84&Itemid=156