Samuel Karlin
Encyclopedia
Samuel Karlin was an American mathematician at Stanford University
in the late 20th century.
Karlin was born in Yanova
, Poland
and immigrated to Chicago
as a child. Raised in an Orthodox
Jewish household, Karlin became an atheist in his teenage years and remained an atheist for the rest of his life.
Karlin earned his undergraduate degree from Illinois Institute of Technology
; and then his doctorate in mathematics from Princeton University
in 1947 (at the age of 22) under the supervision of Salomon Bochner
. He was on the faculty of Caltech from 1948–56, before becoming a professor of mathematics and statistics at Stanford
.
Throughout his career, Karlin made fundamental contributions to the fields of mathematical economics, bioinformatics
, game theory, evolutionary theory, biomolecular sequence analysis, and total positivity
. He did extensive work in mathematical population genetics
. In the early 1990s, Karlin and Stephen Altschul
developed the Karlin-Altschul statistics, a basis for the highly used sequence similarity software program BLAST
.
Karlin authored ten books and more than 450 articles. Karlin was a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
and the National Academy of Sciences
. In 1989, President George H. W. Bush
bestowed Karlin the National Medal of Science
"for his broad and remarkable researches in mathematical analysis, probability theory and mathematical statistics, and in the application of these ideas to mathematical economics, mechanics, and population genetics."
Karlin's three children all became scientists. One of his sons, Kenneth D. Karlin, is a professor of chemistry
at Johns Hopkins University
and the 2009 winner of the American Chemical Society
's F. Albert Cotton
Award for Synthetic Chemistry. His other son, Manuel, is a physician in Portland, Oregon
. His daughter, Anna R. Karlin, is a theoretical computer scientist, the Microsoft Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington
.
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in the late 20th century.
Karlin was born in Yanova
Janów
Janów is a very common placenames in Poland. It may refer to:* Janów Lubelski - town in Poland* Janów Poleski - the Polish name for Ivanava, a town in Belarus...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and immigrated to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
as a child. Raised in an Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
Jewish household, Karlin became an atheist in his teenage years and remained an atheist for the rest of his life.
Karlin earned his undergraduate degree from Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly called Illinois Tech or IIT, is a private Ph.D.-granting university located in Chicago, Illinois, with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, communications, industrial technology, information technology, design, and law...
; and then his doctorate in mathematics from 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....
in 1947 (at the age of 22) under the supervision of Salomon Bochner
Salomon Bochner
Salomon Bochner was an American mathematician of Austrian-Hungarian origin, known for wide-ranging work in mathematical analysis, probability theory and differential geometry.- Life :...
. He was on the faculty of Caltech from 1948–56, before becoming a professor of mathematics and statistics at Stanford
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
Throughout his career, Karlin made fundamental contributions to the fields of mathematical economics, bioinformatics
Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics is the application of computer science and information technology to the field of biology and medicine. Bioinformatics deals with algorithms, databases and information systems, web technologies, artificial intelligence and soft computing, information and computation theory, software...
, game theory, evolutionary theory, biomolecular sequence analysis, and total positivity
Totally positive matrix
In mathematics, a totally positive matrix is a matrix in which the determinant of every square submatrix is positive. For example, a Vandermonde matrix whose nodes are positive and increasing is a totally positive matrix....
. He did extensive work in mathematical population genetics
Population genetics
Population genetics is the study of allele frequency distribution and change under the influence of the four main evolutionary processes: natural selection, genetic drift, mutation and gene flow. It also takes into account the factors of recombination, population subdivision and population...
. In the early 1990s, Karlin and Stephen Altschul
Stephen Altschul
For the former MTV news/current CBS news correspondent, see Serena Altschul.Stephen Frank Altschul is an American mathematician who has designed algorithms that are widely used in the field of bioinformatics . Most notably, Altschul is the co-author of the BLAST algorithm used for sequence...
developed the Karlin-Altschul statistics, a basis for the highly used sequence similarity software program BLAST
BLAST
In bioinformatics, Basic Local Alignment Search Tool, or BLAST, is an algorithm for comparing primary biological sequence information, such as the amino-acid sequences of different proteins or the nucleotides of DNA sequences...
.
Karlin authored ten books and more than 450 articles. Karlin was a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
and the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
. In 1989, President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
bestowed Karlin the National Medal of Science
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
"for his broad and remarkable researches in mathematical analysis, probability theory and mathematical statistics, and in the application of these ideas to mathematical economics, mechanics, and population genetics."
Karlin's three children all became scientists. One of his sons, Kenneth D. Karlin, is a professor of 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....
at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
and the 2009 winner of the American Chemical Society
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...
's F. Albert Cotton
F. Albert Cotton
Frank Albert Cotton was the W.T. Doherty-Welch Foundation Chair and Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University. He authored over 1700 scientific articles. Cotton was recognized for his research on the chemistry of the transition metals.-Education:Frank Albert Cotton was born on...
Award for Synthetic Chemistry. His other son, Manuel, is a physician in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. His daughter, Anna R. Karlin, is a theoretical computer scientist, the Microsoft Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at 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...
.
Selected publications
- S. Karlin and H. M. Taylor. "A First Course in Stochastic Processes." Academic Press, 1975 (second edition).
- S. Karlin and H. M. Taylor. "A Second Course in Stochastic Processes." Academic Press, 1981.
- S. Karlin and H. M. Taylor. "An Introduction to Stochasic Modeling, Third Edition." Academic Press, 1998. ISBN 0-12-684887-4
- S. Karlin, D. Eisenberg, and R. Altman. "Bioinformatics: Unsolved Problems and Challenges." National Academic Press Inc., 2005. ISBN 978-0309100298.
- S. Karlin (Ed.). "Econometrics, Time Series, and Multivariate Statistics." Academic Press, 1983. ISBN 978-0123987501.
- S. Karlin (Author) and E. Nevo (Editor). "Evolutionary Processes and Theory." Academic Press, 1986. ISBN 978-0123987600.
- S. Karlin. "Mathematical Methods and Theory in Games, Programming, and Economics." Dover Publications, 1992. ISBN 978-0486670201.
- S. Karlin and E. Nevo (Eds.). "Population Genetics and Ecology." Academic Press, 1976. ISBN 978-0123985606.
- S. Karlin and W. J. Studden. "Tchebycheff systems: With applications in analysis and statistics (pure and applied mathematics)." Interscience Publishers, 1966 (1st edition). ASIN B0006BNV2C.
- S Karlin and S. Lessard. "Theoretical Studies on Sex Ratio Evolution." Princeton University Press, 1986. ISBN 978-0691084121
- S. Karlin. "Theory of Infinite Games." Addison Wesley Longman Ltd. Inc., 1959. ASIN B000SNID12.
- S. Karlin. "Total Positivity, Vol. 1." Stanford, 1968. ASIN B000LZG0Xu.
External links
- "Math in the News: Mathematician Sam Karlin, Known for Contributions in Computational Biology, has Died." Math Gateway of the Mathematical Association of America, February 5, 2008.
- Obituary, I.M.S. Bulletin, May 2008