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Lotfi Zadeh

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Mathematician

The Resume

    (February 4, 1921-September 6, 2017)
    Born in Baku, Azerbaijan
    Birth name was Lotfi Aliaskerzadeh
    Mathematician, computer scientist, and artificial intelligence researcher
    Chaired the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley (1963-68)
    Authored 245 academic papers
    Pioneer in the fields of fuzzy math and fuzzy logic

Why he might be annoying:

    He admitted to being stubborn, with his son Norman saying, 'Once he had an opinion on something, the probability of persuading him that his opinion was incorrect was pretty small.'
    Critics have suggested fuzzy math is just probability theory in a new guise.
    A critic wondered if 'fuzzy math' would have gained the same cachet if Zadeh had called it 'set theory with degrees of membership.'
    The University of Tehran erroneously reported his death a month before it actually happened.

Why he might not be annoying:

    As a student at the University of Tehran, he was first in his class in his freshman and sophomore years.
    When he came to the US for graduate school, he simplified his name by lopping off two thirds of it.
    He said about his nationality, 'The question isn't whether I'm American, Russian, Iranian, Azerbaijani, or anything else. I've been shaped by all these people and cultures, and I feel quite comfortable among all of them.
    Fuzzy logic is intended to replicate human-like reasoning.
    The New York Times described fuzzy logic as 'influencing everything from linguistics, economics, and medicine to air conditioning, vacuum cleaners, and rice cookers.'
    He took up photography as a hobby. Despite his penchant for fuzzy concepts, his pictures are usually quite sharp.

Credit: C. Fishel


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Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying