I’m glad I managed to sit in on the class and still have the audio recordings and notes. While I can’t say that Newton taught me calculus, I can say I learned combinatorics from Golomb.
Tag: Sol Golomb
👓 Solomon Golomb (1932–2016) | Stephen Wolfram
![Stephen Wolfram](https://i0.wp.com/www.stephenwolfram.com/about/images/inpages-about_10.gif?w=660&ssl=1)
The Most-Used Mathematical Algorithm Idea in History
An octillion. A billion billion billion. That’s a fairly conservative estimate of the number of times a cellphone or other device somewhere in the world has generated a bit using a maximum-length linear-feedback shift register sequence. It’s probably the single most-used mathematical algorithm idea in history. And the main originator of this idea was Solomon Golomb, who died on May 1—and whom I knew for 35 years.
Solomon Golomb’s classic book Shift Register Sequences, published in 1967—based on his work in the 1950s—went out of print long ago. But its content lives on in pretty much every modern communications system. Read the specifications for 3G, LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or for that matter GPS, and you’ll find mentions of polynomials that determine the shift register sequences these systems use to encode the data they send. Solomon Golomb is the person who figured out how to construct all these polynomials.
Many of the fantastical seeming stories here, as well as Sol’s personality read very true to me with respect to the man I knew for almost two decades.
📑 Solomon Golomb (1932–2016) | Stephen Wolfram Blog
📑 Solomon Golomb (1932–2016) | Stephen Wolfram Blog
📗 Started reading A Mind at Play by Jimmy Soni & Rob Goodman
A great little introduction and start to what portends to be the science biography of the year. The book opens up with a story I’d heard Sol Golomb tell several times. It was actually a bittersweet memory as the last time I heard a recounting, it appeared on the occasion of Shannon’s 100th Birthday celebration in the New Yorker:
In 1985, at the International Symposium in Brighton, England, the Shannon Award went to the University of Southern California’s Solomon Golomb. As the story goes, Golomb began his lecture by recounting a terrifying nightmare from the night before: he’d dreamed that he was about deliver his presentation, and who should turn up in the front row but Claude Shannon. And then, there before Golomb in the flesh, and in the front row, was Shannon. His reappearance (including a bit of juggling at the banquet) was the talk of the symposium, but he never attended again.
I had emailed Sol about the story, and became concerned when I didn’t hear back. I discovered shortly after that he had passed away the following day.
nota bene: I’m currently reading an advanced reader copy of this; the book won’t be out until mid-July 2017.
Downloaded My TwitPic Archive
It includes some of the earliest photos I ever took and posted online via mobile phone. Looking at the quality, it’s interesting to see how far we’ve come. It’s also obvious why photo filters became so popular.
![1diz9 02/07/2009 UCLA is spanking Notre Dame on an early rainy morning basketball game.](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1diz9.jpg?w=326&h=435&ssl=1)
![4p0tp 05/07/2009 Beverly Hills Hotel](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/4p0tp.jpg?w=326&h=435&ssl=1)
![4tp5g 05/09/2009](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/4tp5g-e1478117858680.jpg?w=251&h=188&ssl=1)
![5c147 05/17/2009 A gray sunset in Laguna Beach](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/5c147.jpg?w=141&h=188&ssl=1)
![yxcxt 01/20/2010 Breakfast with a Hopkins Student at One World Cafe](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/yxcxt.jpg?w=126&h=188&ssl=1)
![tp61i 12/16/2009 Veggie Cafe with Rama Kunapuli](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/tp61i.jpg?w=126&h=188&ssl=1)
![t4h6a 12/12/2009 A visit out to Jason Calacanis' office](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/t4h6a.jpg?w=208&h=310&ssl=1)
![qyn1v 11/26/2009 Visit to In-N-Out Glendale](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/qyn1v.jpg?w=207&h=310&ssl=1)
![5pj5s 05/22/2009 Excellent breakfast at Athenaeum & tour of interesting microscopy lab at Caltech; only photo I got was this??](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/5pj5s.jpg?w=233&h=310&ssl=1)
![4p1j 07/19/2008 Back down to the first floor @WholeFoods](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/4p1j.jpg?w=326&h=435&ssl=1)
![4d6n 07/17/2008 Dinner at Hugo's](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/4d6n.jpg?w=326&h=435&ssl=1)
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![4ozy 07/19/2008 The 2nd floor of @WholeFoods in Pasadena is bigger than most average grocery stores. Is that a restaurant over there?](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/4ozy-e1478117890147.jpg?w=326&h=245&ssl=1)
![5bq98 05/16/2009 Hello Laguna Beach...](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/5bq98-e1478117906607.jpg?w=656&h=224&ssl=1)
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![cfti 09/20/2008 UCLA vs Arizona at the Rose Bowl](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/cfti-e1478117243111.jpg?w=253&h=190&ssl=1)
![beot 09/13/2008 Steven Chan session at #drupalcampla](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/beot.jpg?w=326&h=435&ssl=1)
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![69axv 05/30/2009 Breakfast with @viperwriter on the day of his wedding.](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/69axv.jpg?w=216&h=288&ssl=1)
![35hwa8 11/10/2010 (Mike Miller's UCLA math class)](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/35hwa8.jpg?w=216&h=140&ssl=1)
![18ez0f 03/13/2010 (A Johns Hopkins University Event in Los Angeles)](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/18ez0f.jpg?w=216&h=144&ssl=1)
![9rc1e 07/09/2009 In keeping with the zeitgeist, I'm enjoying birthday cupcakes for dessert!](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/9rc1e.jpg?w=216&h=288&ssl=1)
![8modi 06/28/2009 Nice chat with Bradley Whitford. Gave me autograph for Sonia:"Santos 2012?! - BW" Such a good guy.](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/8modi.jpg?w=172&h=229&ssl=1)
![8g6vy 06/26/2009 Michael Jackson media circus dying down. Only 9 satellite trucks at 12:42am PST outside UCLA Med](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/8g6vy-e1478117307874.jpg?w=305&h=229&ssl=1)
![8fxpw 06/26/2009 Hanging out with Nobel Prizewinner Martin Chalfe in front of my poster on GFP.](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/8fxpw.jpg?w=171&h=229&ssl=1)
![8fjlt 06/26/2009 Massive media zoo at UCLA for passing of Michael Jackson! 32 SAT trucks. LAPD army camped out.](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/8fjlt-e1478117322311.jpg?w=417&h=313&ssl=1)
![6rwho 06/06/2009 Afternoon snack with John Astin](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/6rwho.jpg?w=235&h=313&ssl=1)
![6qqyi 06/06/2009 Breakfast at One World Cafe](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/6qqyi.jpg?w=326&h=435&ssl=1)
![6ohpa 06/05/2009 Having lunch with PM Forni at Gertrudes.](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/6ohpa.jpg?w=326&h=435&ssl=1)
![6d97 08/03/2008 Out for an evening constitutional in the cooling San Marino Breeze](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/6d97.jpg?w=412&h=549&ssl=1)
![6br3b 05/31/2009 The first sunrise on the beginning of Jason & Molly's marriage. Good luck kids!](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/6br3b-e1478117341857.jpg?w=240&h=181&ssl=1)
![6bqzi 05/31/2009 Rosy-fingered dawn touches the sky over Delaware at 5:30am.](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/6bqzi-e1478117277791.jpg?w=240&h=180&ssl=1)
![4ci29 05/01/2009 Can you tell how I know this BMW is driven by an IT professional? Taken on 110 S into downtown Los Angeles this morning.](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/4ci29.jpg?w=240&h=180&ssl=1)
![2v0w8e 10/06/2010 (A peek into the social media class at UCLA)](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2v0w8e.jpg?w=303&h=466&ssl=1)
![2qgwt 04/02/2009 Absorbing genius from Dr. Sol Golomb (as he teaches combinatorics)](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2qgwt.jpg?w=349&h=466&ssl=1)
![1psaf 02/27/2009 Hanging out with Communications Gods Andrew Viterbi, Sol Golomb, and Robert Gray](https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1psaf-e1478117261557.jpg?w=656&h=492&ssl=1)
Devastating News: Sol Golomb has apparently passed away on Sunday
Solomon W. Golomb (May 30, 1932 – May 1, 2016)
Shannon Award winner and long-time ITSOC member Solomon W. Golomb passed away on May 1, 2016.
Solomon W. Golomb was the Andrew Viterbi Chair in Electrical Engineering at the University of Southern California (USC) and was at USC since 1963, rising to the rank of University and Distinguished Professor. He was a member of the National Academies of Engineering and Science, and was awarded the National Medal of Science, the Shannon Award, the Hamming Medal, and numerous other accolades. As USC Dean Yiannis C. Yortsos wrote, “With unparalleled scholarly contributions and distinction to the field of engineering and mathematics, Sol’s impact has been extraordinary, transformative and impossible to measure. His academic and scholarly work on the theory of communications built the pillars upon which our modern technological life rests.”In addition to his many contributions to coding and information theory, Professor Golomb was one of the great innovators in recreational mathematics, contributing many articles to Scientific American and other publications. More recent Information Theory Society members may be most familiar with his mathematics puzzles that appeared in the Society Newsletter, which will publish a full remembrance later.
A quick search a moment later revealed this sad confirmation along with some great photos from an award Sol received just a week ago:
A sad day 4 @USC @USCViterbi @USCMingHsiehEE with the loss of beloved Sol Golomb. Was only last week we celebrated his Franklin medal.
— Yannis C. Yortsos (@DeanYortsos) May 2, 2016
With Andy Viterbi and Sol Golomb at the celebration of @TheFranklin @USCViterbi @USCMingHsiehEE pic.twitter.com/0iktSa9zf1
— Yannis C. Yortsos (@DeanYortsos) April 22, 2016
Sol Golomb receiving the @TheFranklin medal in Electrical Engineering @USCViterbi @USCMingHsiehEE pic.twitter.com/L3RFUGhsWs
— Yannis C. Yortsos (@DeanYortsos) April 21, 2016
As is common in academia, I’m sure it will take a few days for the news to drip out, but the world has certainly lost one of its greatest thinkers, and many of us have lost a dear friend, colleague, and mentor.
I’ll try touch base with his family and pass along what information sniff I can. I’ll post forthcoming obituaries as I see them, and will surely post some additional thoughts and reminiscences of my own in the coming days.
HARASS SARAH is a PALINdrome, as well as a popular left-wing sport.
Incidentally, I note that ‘HARASS SARAH’ is a PALINdrome, as well as a popular left-wing sport.
via personal communication while discussing a palindromic word puzzle