Seymour Papert | |
|---|---|
 Papert with aTurtle robot | |
| Born | Seymour Aubrey Papert (1928-02-29)29 February 1928 |
| Died | 31 July 2016(2016-07-31) (aged 88) Blue Hill, Maine, U.S. |
| Alma mater | |
| Known for | |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Cognitive science Education Mathematics Computer science |
| Institutions | |
| Theses | |
| Doctoral advisor | Frank Smithies |
| Doctoral students | |
| Website | papert |
Seymour Aubrey Papert (/ˈpæpərt/; 29 February 1928 – 31 July 2016) was a South African-born American mathematician,computer scientist, andeducator, who spent most of his career teaching and researching at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology.[2][3][4] He was one of the pioneers ofartificial intelligence, and of theconstructionist movement in education.[5] He was co-inventor, withWally Feurzeig andCynthia Solomon, of theLogo programming language.[2][6][7][8][9]
Born to a Jewish family,[10] Papert attended theUniversity of the Witwatersrand, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy in 1949 followed by a PhD in mathematics in 1952.[1][11] He then went on to receive a second doctorate,[2] also in mathematics, at theUniversity of Cambridge (1959),[12] supervised byFrank Smithies.[13]
Papert worked as a researcher in a variety of places, includingSt. John's College, Cambridge, theHenri Poincaré Institute at theUniversity of Paris, theUniversity of Geneva, and theNational Physical Laboratory in London before becoming a research associate atMIT in 1963.[13] He held this position until 1967, when he became professor of applied math and was made co-director of theMIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory by its founding director ProfessorMarvin Minsky, until 1981; he also served as Cecil and Ida Green professor of education at MIT from 1974 to 1981.[13]
Papert worked onlearning theories, and was known for focusing on the impact of new technologies on learning in general, and in schools as learning organizations in particular.
At MIT, Papert went on to create theEpistemology and Learning Research Group at theMIT Architecture Machine Group which later became theMIT Media Lab.[14] Here, he was the developer of a theory on learning calledconstructionism, built upon the work ofJean Piaget inconstructivist learning theories. Papert had worked with Piaget at the University of Geneva from 1958 to 1963[15] and was one of Piaget's protégés; Piaget himself once said that "no one understands my ideas as well as Papert".[16] Papert has rethought how schools should work, based on these theories of learning.
Papert used Piaget's work in his development of theLogo programming language while at MIT. He created Logo as a tool to improve the way children think and solve problems. A small mobilerobot called the "Logo Turtle" was developed, and children were shown how to use it to solve simple problems in anenvironment of play. A main purpose of the Logo Foundation research group is to strengthen the ability tolearnknowledge.[17] Papert insisted a simplelanguage orprogram that children can learn—like Logo—can also have advanced functionality for expert users.[2]
As part of his work with technology, Papert has been a proponent of theKnowledge Machine. He was one of the principals for theOne Laptop Per Child initiative to manufacture and distributeThe Children's Machine in developing nations.
Papert also collaborated with the construction toy manufacturerLego on their Logo-programmableLego Mindstorms robotics kits,[18] which were named after his groundbreaking 1980 book.[4]
A curated archive of Papert's articles, speeches, and interviews may be found on a website dedicated to Papert at: The Daily Papert.
Papert became a political and anti-apartheid activist early in his life in South Africa. He subsequently chose self exile.[10] He was a leading figure in therevolutionary socialist circle aroundSocialist Review while living in London in the 1950s.[19] Papert was also a prominent activist against South Africanapartheid policies during his university education.[4]
Papert was married toDona Strauss, and later toAndroula Christofides Henriques.[4]
Papert's third wife was MIT professorSherry Turkle, and together they wrote the influential paper "Epistemological Pluralism and the Revaluation of the Concrete".[20]
In his final 24 years, Papert was married toSuzanne Massie, who was a Russian scholar and author ofPavlovsk: The Life of a Russian Palace andLand of the Firebird.[4][21]
Papert (then aged 78), received a seriousbrain injury when struck by amotor scooter[4] on 5 December 2006 while crossing the street with colleague Uri Wilensky when they were both attending the 17thInternational Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI) Study conference inHanoi, Vietnam.[22] He underwent emergencysurgery to remove ablood clot at theFrench Hospital of Hanoi before being transferred in a complex operation by Swiss Air Ambulance(REGAArchived 27 July 2019 at theWayback Machine)Bombardier Challenger Jet[23] toBoston, Massachusetts, where he spent approximately four weeks in intensive care.[24][25] He was moved to a hospital closer to his home in January 2007, but then developedsepsis which damaged a heart valve, which was later replaced.
By 2008 he had returned home, could think and communicate clearly and walk "almost unaided", but still had "some complicated speech problems" and was in receipt of extensive rehabilitation support.[26] His rehabilitation team used some of the very principles of experiential, hands-on learning that he had pioneered.[27]
Papert died at his home in Blue Hill, Maine, on 31 July 2016.[4]
Papert's work has been used by other researchers in the fields of education and computer science. He influenced the work ofUri Wilensky in the design ofNetLogo and collaborated with him on the study of knowledge restructurations, as well as the work ofAndrea diSessa and the development of "dynaturtles". In 1981, Papert along with several others in the Logo group at MIT, startedLogo Computer Systems Inc. (LCSI), of which he was board chair for over 20 years. Working with LCSI, Papert designed a number of award-winning programs, including LogoWriter[28] and Lego/Logo (marketed asLego Mindstorms). He also influenced the research ofIdit Harel Caperton, coauthoring articles and the bookConstructionism, and chairing the advisory board of the companyMaMaMedia. He also influencedAlan Kay and theDynabook concept, and worked with Kay on various projects.
Papert won aGuggenheim fellowship in 1980, aMarconi International fellowship in 1981,[29] theSoftware Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994, and theSmithsonian Award fromComputerworld in 1997.[30] Papert has been called byMarvin Minsky "the greatest of all living education theorists".[31]
MIT PresidentL. Rafael Reif summarized Papert's lifetime of accomplishments: "With a mind of extraordinary range and creativity, Seymour Papert helped revolutionize at least three fields, from the study of how children make sense of the world, to the development of artificial intelligence, to the rich intersection of technology and learning. The stamp he left on MIT is profound. Today, as MIT continues to expand its reach and deepen its work in digital learning, I am particularly grateful for Seymour's groundbreaking vision, and we hope to build on his ideas to open doors to learners of all ages, around the world."[4][32][33][34]
In 2016 Papert's alma mater, University of Witwatersrand, awarded him the degree ofDoctor of Science in Engineering,honoris causa.[35][36]
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