The Life and Times of Stephen Wolfram:Timeline
| 1950s and 1960s | |
|---|---|
| 1959: | Born August 29 in London, England |
| 1967–1972: | Dragon School, Oxford |
| 1968–1976: | Won various prizes for English, science, math, etc. |
| 1970s | |
|---|---|
| 1972: | Won scholarship to Eton College |
| 1972–1976: | King’s Scholar, Eton College |
| 1972–1973: | Wrote unpublished book on particle physics |
| 1973: | Started programming Elliott 903C computer |
| 1973: | Did first scientific computer experiments |
| 1974: | Wrote first scientific paper |
| 1975: | Published first scientific paper |
| 1975: | Won scholarship to Oxford University |
| 1976: | Worked in Theory Division, Rutherford Laboratory |
| 1976: | Published second scientific paper |
| 1976: | Started using ARPANET and algebraic computation systems |
| 1976–1978: | Attended Oxford University St. John’s College |
| 1977: | Placed top in university examinations |
| 1977: | Worked in Theoretical High-Energy Physics Group, Argonne National Laboratory |
| 1977: | Wrote classic paper on heavy quark production in QCD |
| 1978: | Discovered early connections between cosmology and particle physics |
| 1978: | Moved to Caltech |
| 1978: | Invented Fox–Wolfram variables for analysis of event shapes in particle physics |
| 1979: | Discovered Politzer–Wolfram upper bound on masses of quarks in the Standard Model |
| 1979: | Published tenth scientific paper |
| 1979: | PhD in theoretical physics from Caltech |
| 1979: | Began development of SMP |
| 1980s | |
|---|---|
| 1979–1982: | Developed standard QCD approach to simulation of particle events |
| 1980: | Described basic phenomenon of inflationary cosmology |
| 1980–1981: | Carried out first complete calculation of matter-antimatter asymmetry generation |
| 1981: | Began work on cellular automata |
| 1980–1982: | Faculty member at Caltech |
| 1981: | First version of SMP released |
| 1981: | Won MacArthur Prize Fellowship |
| 1981: | Founded Computer Mathematics Corporation (later merged into Inference Corporation) |
| 1981: | Published twenty-fifth scientific paper |
| 1982: | Wrote landmark paper “Statistical Mechanics of Cellular Automata” |
| 1982: | Discovered fractal structure of binomial coefficients mod a prime |
| 1981–1986: | Consultant on science and technology to many organizations |
| 1982: | Coined the term “complex systems research” |
| 1983–1986: | Long-term member of Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton |
| 1983: | Discovered Wolfram classification of cellular automata |
| 1983: | Developed algebraic formalism for additive cellular automata |
| 1984: | Invented regular language complexity |
| 1984: | Discovered computational irreducibility |
| 1985: | Published fiftieth scientific paper |
| 1985: | Published “Undecidability and Intractability in Theoretical Physics” |
| 1985: | Published “Origins of Randomness in Physical Systems” |
| 1985: | Invented a cellular automaton–based system for cryptography |
| 1985: | Invented a cellular automaton approach to fluid dynamics |
| 1986: | Worked on the development of languages for massively parallel computers |
| 1986: | Founded the Center for Complex Systems Research |
| 1986: | Joined the University of Illinois as Professor of Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science |
| 1986: | Began development of Mathematica |
| 1987: | Founded the journal Complex Systems |
| 1987: | Founded Wolfram Research, Inc. |
| 1988: | Ended active position at University of Illinois |
| 1988: | First edition of The Mathematica Book published |
| 1988: | Mathematica Version 1.0 released (June 23) |
| 1989: | Mathematica available on more than 10 computer platforms |
| 1989: | 1000 technical papers cite Wolfram’s 1983 cellular automaton paper |
| 1990s | |
|---|---|
| 1990: | 100,000 users of Mathematica |
| 1990: | Wolfram Research reached $10M in annual revenue |
| 1990: | Completed second edition of The Mathematica Book |
| 1990: | Wolfram Research Europe founded |
| 1990: | Wolfram Research reached 100 employees |
| 1991: | Second edition of The Mathematica Book published |
| 1991: | Mathematica Version 2.0 released |
| 1991: | 38-city international lecture tour |
| 1991: | Began work on A New Kind of Science (NKS) |
| 1991–1992: | Wrote NKS Chapter 2: “The Crucial Experiment” |
| 1992: | Wrote NKS Chapter 3: “The World of Simple Programs” |
| 1992–1993: | Wrote NKS Chapter 4: “Systems Based on Numbers” |
| 1992–1993: | Wrote NKS Chapter 6: “Starting from Randomness” |
| 1993: | Wrote NKS Chapter 5: “Two Dimensions and Beyond” |
| 1993: | Wolfram Research reached 200 employees |
| 1994: | Wolfram Research Asia founded |
| 1994: | The Mathematica Book published in Japanese and German |
| 1994: | 10,000 technical papers cite Wolfram’s work |
| 1994: | Cellular Automata and Complexity: Collected Papers published |
| 1994–1995: | Wrote early sections of NKS Chapter 8: “Implications for Everyday Systems” |
| 1994–1995: | Wrote NKS Chapter 7: “Mechanisms in Programs and Nature” |
| 1995: | Wolfram Media, Inc. founded |
| 1995: | The Mathematica Book published in French |
| 1995: | Over a million users of Mathematica |
| 1995: | Wrote NKS Chapter 11: “The Notion of Computation” |
| 1995–1998, 2001: | Wrote NKS Chapter 9: “Fundamental Physics” |
| 1996: | Complex Systems began tenth year of publication |
| 1996: | Third edition of The Mathematica Book published |
| 1996: | Mathematica Version 3.0 released |
| 1997: | Wrote later sections of NKS Chapter 8: “Implications for Everyday Systems” |
| 1998: | Ten years of Mathematica celebrated |
| 1998–1999: | Wrote NKS Chapter 10: “Processes of Perception and Analysis” |
| 1999: | Fourth edition of The Mathematica Book published |
| 1999: | Mathematica Version 4.0 released |
| 1999–2001: | Wrote NKS Chapter 12: “The Principle of Computational Equivalence” |
| 2001–2009 | |
|---|---|
| 2001: | webMathematica released |
| 2001: | Finished NKS Chapter 1: “The Foundations for a New Kind of Science” |
| 2002: | A New Kind of Science released (May 14) |
| 2002: | A New Kind of Science becomes a bestseller |
| 2002: | Over 200 major news articles about A New Kind of Science |
| 2002: | wolframscience.com website launched |
| 2002–2003: | 50-city lecture tour |
| 2003: | Fifth edition of The Mathematica Book |
| 2003: | Mathematica Version 5.0 released |
| 2003: | First NKS Conference |
| 2003: | First NKS Summer School (now Wolfram Summer School) |
| 2004: | A New Kind of Science available online |
| 2005: | 500 technical papers cite A New Kind of Science |
| 2005: | WolframTones website launched |
| 2007: | Wolfram Demonstrations Project launched |
| 2007: | Mathematica reaches 2500 built-in functions and objects |
| 2007: | “Mathematica Reinvented”: Mathematica 6 released |
| 2007: | Wolfram 2, 3 Turing Machine Prize announced and won |
| 2008: | 20 years of Mathematica celebrated |
| 2008: | Mathematica 7 released |
| 2009: | Wolfram|Alpha launched |
| 2009: | Wolfram|Alpha mobile app released |
| 2020– | |
|---|---|
| 2020: | Launched Q&A educational livestreams+podcasts |
| 2020: | Launched the Wolfram Physics Project |
| 2020: | Published A Project to Find the Fundamental Theory of Physics book |
| 2021: | Published Combinators: A Centennial View book |
| 2021: | A third of a century of Mathematica celebrated |
| 2021: | Introduced the concept of the ruliad |
| 2021: | Version 13 of Mathematica and Wolfram Language launched |
| 2022: | Launched the Wolfram Institute |
| 2022: | Published Twenty Years of A New Kind of Science book |
| 2022: | Published Metamathematics: Foundations & Physicalization book |
| 2023: | Published What Is ChatGPT Doing … and Why Does It Work? book |
| 2023: | Published The Second Law: Resolving the Mystery of the Second Law of Thermodynamics book |
| 2023: | Introduced observer theory |
| 2024: | Version 14 of Mathematica & Wolfram Language launched |
| 2024: | Published Predicting the Eclipse: A Multimillennium Tale of Computation book |