Did John H. Conway Pass Away?

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Discussion Overview

The thread discusses the reported passing of mathematician John H. Conway, focusing on the circumstances surrounding the news, reactions from the community, and reflections on his contributions to mathematics and computer science. The scope includes personal anecdotes, links to articles, and expressions of grief.

Discussion Character

  • Meta-discussion, Exploratory, Emotional reflection

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants mention various sources reporting Conway's death, including Twitter and Wikipedia, noting the lack of confirmation from traditional reliable sources at the time of posting.
  • Several posts express sadness and respect for Conway, highlighting his influence and contributions, particularly his invention of the Game of Life.
  • Links to articles and obituaries are shared, including a Princeton University announcement and various news outlets confirming his passing due to COVID-19.
  • Participants reflect on personal experiences with Conway, including attending conferences and his impact on their academic journeys.
  • Some participants note that Conway was not solely defined by the Game of Life, mentioning other significant aspects of his work that they feel deserve recognition.
  • A few posts include links to memorials and tributes, such as an XKCD comic and articles discussing his legacy.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the sadness surrounding Conway's passing and express admiration for his work, but there is no consensus on the extent to which his contributions beyond the Game of Life are recognized or appreciated.

Contextual Notes

Some posts reference the evolving nature of the news regarding Conway's death, indicating that information was still being updated and confirmed at the time of discussion.

robphy
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Sad.

There were a lot of reports on Twitter... but, at the time of this posting, nothing points to the usual reliable sources.
https://trenden.nice2have.jp/april-11th-2020-at-1300-john-conway-twitter-buzz/
Wikipedia has been going back and forth with edits... but now seems to have accepted it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Horton_Conway
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_things_named_after_John_Horton_Conway

The following seems the most reliable.


https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=4732 (claims to have a comment by John's widow)

https://dailyvoice.com/new-jersey/m...f-life-inventor-john-conway-in-3-days/786461/ (an online newspaper in that area near Princeton)

https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2020/04/1...speels-genie-en-kenner-van-symmetrie-a3996590
John Horton Conway

https://www.math.princeton.edu/people/john-conway
https://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=18849

I met him once at a math conference for students [like myself at the time] at Syracuse.
He complimented me on a talk I gave on a geometrical construction in relativity.

RIP.

robphy

https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0604079v1


more videos:


RIP
 
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Mathematics news on Phys.org
:cry: Requiescat in pace, John
 
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I really enjoyed his video on the Monster Group
 
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Interview with John Horton Conway
https://www.ams.org/notices/201305/rnoti-p567.pdfA Life in Games
https://www.quantamagazine.org/john-conways-life-in-games-20150828/

has this image

1586745083485.png

"A survey of Life-forms, from a 1970 letter to Martin Gardner.
Courtesy of James Gardner, Martin Gardner Papers, Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries"
 
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Professor Conway's 'game of life' was one of the most neato things I learned when I first stepped on the way to becoming a computer nerd. He was an inspiration to us. He will be sorely missed.
 




 
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  • #10
RIP John Conway. I know he hated being famous for the game of life, since he thought his other more interesting work had been overshadowed. Anyway, this is my favorite game of life video.

 
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  • #14
Prof. Conway was one of the all-time greats ##-## many aspiring programmers admired him ##-## in the early '80s one of my buddies wrote a tribute Game of Life program in PL1 that displayed nicely on a 3270 ##\dots##
 
  • #15
I gave my respect to him. RIP John Conway. :cry: