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PROFESSOR OF COMPUTER SCIENCE LECTURES AT PRESTIGIOUS MATHEMATICAL
INSTITUTE
Because the prestigious Isaac Newton Institute for
Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge, England, attracts internationally
renowned scientists to its math and science workshops, the administrators
take pains to accommodate their guests physically and intellectually—sometimes
in unexpected ways, as Associate Professor of Computer Science Steven
Lindell discovered when he gave a presentation during the week of
Feb. 27-March 3.
“There’s a six-foot chalkboard in every
room,” reports Lindell with amusement, “even in the
men’s room!”
Lindell’s trip to the Institute was his first
visit. “The whole concept is inspiring,” he says. “The
United Kingdom wants to have all of these world-famous mathematicians
and scientists in one place, and will pay for their accommodations.
It’s admirable.” He had a personal connection as well:
A former University of Pennsylvania doctoral student Lindell once
supervised is now a professor at affiliated Cambridge University,
and led the workshop on logic and databases for which Lindell gave
his lecture.
The topic of his talk related to his long-standing
interest in the connections between mathematical logic and the complexity
of computations and algorithms. He is intrigued by the logical foundations
of thought: “I discovered in college that the best way to
pursue this was not through biology, but math.” Later, he
gravitated toward computer science because he wanted to understand
the mathematical principles behind computer reasoning. More recently,
he has tried to incorporate the influence of physical principles,
which was the subject matter of his lecture.
Lindell discussed the matter requirements of computation,
mentioning logic’s important contributions to databases throughout
the years. “There are some tasks that computers perform very
well, such as record-keeping and processing social security,”
he says. “They’re successful because their systems use
the theoretical foundation of mathematical logic.” He indicated
that there are "natural" physical considerations of the
arrangement of matter in space: “It necessitates a certain
symmetric arrangement of information.”
Lindell’s passion for logical thought also
surfaces in his Haverford classroom, where he tries to convey to
his students the mental processes involved in solving difficult
problems. “If I solve a problem ahead of time,” he says,
“the students only see the final result, not what I went through
to get there.” He prefers to tackle equations in front of
the class, narrating his steps.
Lindell will return to the Isaac Newton Institute
in June to follow up on his previous lecture, this time focusing
on the way energy is uniformly distributed in computers. “Heat
is the limiting factor that prevents computers from going much faster
than they already do, using the current technology,” he says.
“My calculations predict that with continued advancements
in technology, such as the switch to optical computing, computers
should reach their final physical limits in 25 years, at which point
they will be 100,000 times faster than they are today.”
In his next Institute talk, he will address the mathematical
implications of energy constrained computation. “At some point
it will be impossible for technology to go any further,” he
says, “because of the laws of physics, such as conservation
of energy.” Both his previous and upcoming lectures will be
available at the Isaac
Newton Institute’s Web site and Lindell’s home
page.
Lindell is as devoted to educational innovations
as he is to technological breakthroughs, and this summer he will
continue his ongoing experiment in cooperative learning techniques
that bring students together in small groups to solve problems.
“It’s been said that we learn best when we’re
engaged in a social setting such as a study group,” he says,
“and remember things better when we are actively involved
in a project.” Through Haverford’s Cascade Mentoring
Program, Lindell will collaborate with a local high school teacher,
high school students, and a Haverford undergraduate, all of whom
will work together on interactive tablet PCs that will allow them
to observe and comment on each other’s progress.
On a personal note, Lindell is also actively researching
assistive computer technologies for users with physical disabilities
such as himself; his arms have never fully recovered from a computer
overuse injury 10 years ago. He performs all of his computer-oriented
tasks with the help of voice recognition software, on which he recently
gave a presentation for the Office of Disability Services. “Presently,”
he says, “I can’t dictate mathematics, so the College
pays my wife, Suzanne, to type for me.” He hopes someday for
the development of a software program that will automatically recognize
mathematical equations.
— Brenna McBride |
