The sun has set for the famous Elwyn Berlekamp. He was a mathematician who also doubled up as a game theorist, whose work of error-correcting codes had spacecraft allowed from Voyager to Hubble Space Telescope. He died at his home at Piedmont in California after suffering from pulmonary fibrosis. He died at age 78.
According to his colleague Richard Karp, Berlekamp was highly genius in many ways. He effectively succeeded in every single task he would have himself to do. This included the areas of mathematics, computer science, game theory and even in investments. Berlekamp grew and developed in stature during the era of the digital revolution and shifted his focus on dealing with the problem encountered anytime information was being transferred from one device to another. He needed to find a solution whereby he would account for the lost data during the transfer of information. He first developed a computer algebraic algorithm that would compress information or images in a way that would allow for accurate reconstruction in case any bit of data would go missing during transmission due to other factors.
This is a man who when his error-correcting codes had not been properly implemented as deserved, he started a company which he later named Cyclotomics that ensured proper implementation of his discovery. The encoders by this company are the ones that formed the standard for space communication by NASA. These encoders are the ones which are still used in the Voyager I and II spacecraft that after the launch in 1977 are almost on the outer edge of the solar system.
the technology or error-correcting codes is what was applied to develop the sophisticated electrical subsystems and circuits that are being used in military communications not forgetting sound encoding and decoding equipment. Berlekamp’s will leave on for many generations to come of game theorists.
References
seangametheory 