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File: ElwynBerlekampHasLeftUs

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<<|
----
My latest posts can be
found here:
  * ColinsBlog
----
Previous blog posts:
  * RootCauseAnalysisAndThePhotocopierQuestion
  * TheUpDownTides
  * TheForeAftTide
  * TheSidewaysTide
  * WrappingUpWrappingUpTheEarth
  * TheOtherWrappingTheEarthProblem
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  * TheRingOfSteel
  * RoundingUpTheRopes
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  * RopeAroundTheEarthRefined
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  * ElementaryEstimates
  * LatitudeCorrection
  * JustGiveMeTheAnswer
  * MoreMusingOnPollardRho
  * IdleThoughtsAboutPollardRho
  * WhenOptimisingCodeMeasure
  * ADogCalledMixture
  * AnotherPayPalScam
  * WhyTopPostingHasWon
  * UnexpectedInteractionOfFeatures
  * ArchimedesHatBoxTheorem
  * ConsideringASphere
  * ToLinkOrNotToLink
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  * TheDoctorAndTheLawyer
  * FourPointsTwoDistancesProof
  * MeetingRonGraham
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  * GrepTimingAnomaly
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  * RandomEratosthenes
  * WrappingUpSquareDissection
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  * DissectingASquare
  * AnOddityInTennis
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  * BinarySearchReconsidered
  * TwoEqualsFour
  * TheLostPropertyOffice
  * TheForgivingUserInterface
  * SettingUpRSS
  * WithdrawingFromHackerNews
----
Additionally, some earlier writings:
  * RandomWritings.
  * ColinsBlog2010
  * ColinsBlog2009
  * ColinsBlog2008
  * ColinsBlog2007
  * ColinsBlogBefore2007
********
I remember meeting Elwyn Berlekamp.

[[[> |>>
https://www.solipsys.co.uk/images/ColinWrightWithElwynBerlekamp.jpg
----
Gathering for Gardner, 2012
<<| ]]]
It was at a Gathering For Gardner (G4G) meeting in Atlanta, Georgia,
(as they have all been - so far).  He was in a group of people that
was chatting, and it was some time before I realised just who he was.
I was already aware of a few of the amazing things he had done, and
so was quietly pleased to be in a conversation group that included
him.  We didn't chat with each other - it was still some years before
that would happen.  But we were co-located, and that was a bit of a
buzz for me.

It turns out that this wasn't unusual.  I can't say that I knew him
well, but my personal experience was that he was quiet, but generous.
You can read about some of the extraordinary work that he did by
looking him up on the web, and I won't go into that here.  Suffice
to say that my signed copy of "Winning Ways" is one of my treasured
possessions.

So you can read online about the Berlekamp-Welch algorithm and the
Berlekamp-Massey algorithms which are used to implement Reed-Solomon
error correcting codes, which are used everywhere from DVDs to getting
images back from space.  I won't repeat that here.  Instead, I'll tell
you a story.

When I attend G4G I always try to arrive on Tuesday afternoon, even
though the event doesn't start till the Wednesday evening.  Part of
this is to allow for hiccoughs and delays in travel, part is to let
me get settled after the journey, but mostly it's because many of the
people I know and who I only get to see every two years also arrive
early, so we get some time to hang out.

One particular G4G I saw someone hanging back, watching us all talk
and play with puzzles, so I wandered over and asked if they were there
for G4G.  "Yes!" came the reply, so I brought them over, pointed out
some of the people in the group, and said that when they were ready
to join in, they would be welcome.

"Is Berlekamp here?" I was asked.  "I really want to have a game of
Go with him."

"I don't think he's here yet, although he's likely to turn up tomorrow.
And just go and talk to him.  When the time is right, ask for a game."

I don't know if he did that, but a day or two later when I saw Elwyn
I said that there was a young lad who wanted a game with him.  The
reply was "That can probably happen."

It was only later that I found out what did happen.

One of the sub-events at most G4Gs was an afternoon at Tom Rodgers'
house.  Those delegates participating in that sub-event were usually
taken after lunch by bus where there was the opportunity of wandering
around the amazing gardens, taking part in a quiz, or Mathematical
Sculpture Building, and then a meal, all while spending time with some
of the other delegates.  My young friend was supposed to be there,
although I didn't see him, and neither did I see Elwyn.

But they were there.

Elwyn hadn't taken the bus.  Instead he'd taken a taxi downtown and
bought a Go set.  He'd then continued on to Tom's house, and had a
game with my young friend.  At the end of the game Elwyn turned the
board over, signed it, and gave the set to him.

That was Elwyn Berlekamp.

----

!! References and addenda ...

There is no way that this can be complete, but here is some extra
information about various things mentioned above:

* Elwyn Berlekamp
    * Genuinely too much to put here, but:
      * https://math.berkeley.edu/~berlek/
      * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elwyn_Berlekamp

* Gathering For Gardner
    * https://www.gathering4gardner.org/
    * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gathering_4_Gardner

* Tom Rodgers
    * http://wiki.yak.net/1018
    * http://wiki.yak.net/1019

* Thane Plambeck's announcement:
    * https://www.facebook.com/tplambeck/posts/10158618819932468

I've been in touch with him, and can now say that the other person in
the story is Art Terlap.  He says it's a story he's told many times,
and it had a lasting impact on him.  And that seems to be a theme in
the stories I'm hearing about meeting Elwyn - he seems to have had a
lasting effect on a lot of people.

Certainly did on me.

----

|>>
| |>> <<<< Prev <<<< ---- RootCauseAnalysisAndThePhotocopierQuestion <<| | : | |>> >>>> Next >>>> ---- ExploringConnectionsBetweenCryptoSystems ... <<| |
----
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