Editing Seymour Papert

{{Short description|MIT mathematician, computer scientist, and educator}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Seymour Papert
| image             = Seymour Papert.jpg
| caption           = Papert with a [[Turtle (robot)|Turtle robot]]
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1928|2|29|df=y}}
| birth_name        = Seymour Aubrey Papert
| birth_place       = [[Pretoria]], [[Union of South Africa]]
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|2016|7|31|1928|2|29|df=y}}
| death_place       = [[Blue Hill, Maine]], U.S.
| thesis1_url       = https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/871267195
| thesis1_title     = Sequential Convergence in Lattices with Special Reference To Modular and Subgroup Lattices
| thesis1_year      = 1952
| thesis2_url       = https://www.proquest.com/docview/301315242
| thesis2_title     = The Lattices of Logic and Topology
| thesis2_year      = 1960
| alma_mater        = {{Plainlist|
* [[University of the Witwatersrand]] ([[B. A.|BA]], PhD)<ref name = mathgene>{{MathGenealogy|id=20656}}</ref>
* [[University of Cambridge]] (PhD)}}
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Frank Smithies]]
| doctoral_students = {{Plainlist|
* [[Idit Harel Caperton]]<ref name = mathgene/>
* [[Carl Hewitt]]<ref name = mathgene/>
* [[Mitchel Resnick]]<ref name = mathgene/>
* [[Edwina Rissland]]<ref name = mathgene/>
* [[David Williamson Shaffer]]<ref name = mathgene/>
* [[Gerald Jay Sussman]]<ref name = mathgene/>
* [[Terry Winograd]]<ref name = mathgene/>}}
| known_for         = {{Plainlist|
* [[Perceptrons (book)|Perceptrons]]
*[[Artificial intelligence]]
* [[Logo programming language]]
* [[One Laptop per Child]]
* [[Papert's principle]]}}
| footnotes         = 
| field             = [[Cognitive science]]<br/>Education<br/>Mathematics<br/>[[Computer science]]
| work_institutions = {{Plainlist|
* [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]
* [[University of Geneva]]
* [[University of Paris]]
* [[National Physical Laboratory, UK|National Physical Laboratory]]}}
| website           = {{URL|papert.org}}
| spouse            = {{Plainlist|
* [[Dona Strauss]]
* [[Androula Henriques]]
* [[Sherry Turkle]]
* [[Suzanne Massie]]}}<!-- Please add year dates -->
}}

'''Seymour Aubrey Papert''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|æ|p|ər|t}}; 29 February 1928&nbsp;– 31 July 2016) was a South African-born American mathematician, [[computer scientist]], and [[education|educator]], who spent most of his career teaching and researching at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]].<ref name=NatureObituary/><ref name=stager>{{cite web|url=http://www.stager.org/planetpapert.html|title=Planet Papert: articles by and about Papert|website=stager.org|first=Gary|last=Stager|year=2016}}</ref><ref name="MITobit">{{cite web|title=Professor Emeritus Seymour Papert, pioneer of constructionist learning, dies at 88|url=https://news.mit.edu/2016/seymour-papert-pioneer-of-constructionist-learning-dies-0801|website=MIT News|publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology|access-date=3 August 2016|date=1 August 2016}}</ref> He was one of the pioneers of [[artificial intelligence]], and of the [[Constructionism (learning theory)|constructionist]] movement in education.<ref name="Papert2004">{{cite journal|last1=Papert|first1=Seymour|title=Interviews with Seymour Papert|journal=Computers in Entertainment|volume=2|issue=1|year=2004|pages=9|issn=1544-3574|doi=10.1145/973801.973816|s2cid=52800402}}</ref> He was co-inventor, with [[Wally Feurzeig]] and [[Cynthia Solomon]], of the [[Logo (programming language)|Logo programming language]].<ref name=NatureObituary>{{cite journal|last1=Stager|first1=Gary S.|title=Seymour Papert (1928–2016) Father of educational computing|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|location=London|publisher=[[Springer Nature]]|volume=537|issue=7620|year=2016|pages=308|pmid=27629633|doi=10.1038/537308a|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Person Overview ‹ Seymour A. Papert |url=https://www.media.mit.edu/people/papert/overview/ |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=MIT Media Lab}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Professor Seymour Papert |url=http://www.papert.org/ |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=papert.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Curlie&nbsp;– Computers: History: Pioneers: Papert, Seymour |url=https://curlie.org/Computers/History/Pioneers/Papert,_Seymour |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=curlie.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Daily Papert |url=https://dailypapert.com/ |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=The Daily Papert |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Early years and education==
Born to a Jewish family,<ref name="forward.com">{{Cite web |date=2016-08-03 |title=Remembering Seymour Papert: Revolutionary Socialist and Father of A.I. |url=https://forward.com/culture/346666/remembering-seymour-papert-revolutionary-socialist-and-father-of-ai/ |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=The Forward |language=en}}</ref> Papert attended the [[University of the Witwatersrand]], receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy in 1949 followed by a PhD in mathematics in 1952.<ref name=mathgene/><ref name=papertphd>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Seymour Aubrey|last=Papert |title=Sequential Convergence in Lattices With Special Reference To Modular And Subgroup Lattices |publisher=University of the Witwatersrand |year=1952 |oclc=775688121}}</ref> He then went on to receive a second doctorate,<ref name=NatureObituary/> also in mathematics, at the [[University of Cambridge]] (1959),<ref name=papertphd2>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Seymour Aubrey|last=Papert |title=The lattices of logic and topology|publisher=University of the Cambridge |year=1960 |id={{ProQuest|301315242}}}} {{subscription required}}</ref> supervised by [[Frank Smithies]].<ref name="who's who">Papert, Seymour A. in ''American Men and Women of Science'', R.R. Bowker. (1998–99, 20th ed). p. 1056.</ref>

==Career==
Papert worked as a researcher in a variety of places, including [[St. John's College, Cambridge]], the [[Henri Poincaré Institute]] at the [[University of Paris]], the [[University of Geneva]], and the [[National Physical Laboratory, UK|National Physical Laboratory]] in London before becoming a research associate at [[MIT]] in 1963.<ref name="who's who"/> He held this position until 1967, when he became professor of applied math and was made co-director of the [[MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory|MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory]] by its founding director Professor [[Marvin Minsky]], until 1981; he also served as Cecil and Ida Green professor of education at MIT from 1974 to 1981.<ref name="who's who"/>

==Research==
Papert worked on [[learning theory (education)|learning theories]], and was known for focusing on the impact of new technologies on learning in general, and in schools as learning organizations in particular.

===Constructionism===
At MIT, Papert went on to create the [[Genetic epistemology|Epistemology]] and Learning Research Group at the [[MIT School of Architecture and Planning|MIT Architecture Machine Group]] which later became the [[MIT Media Lab]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Group Overview ‹ Lifelong Kindergarten |url=https://www.media.mit.edu/groups/lifelong-kindergarten/overview/ |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=MIT Media Lab}}</ref> Here, he was the developer of a theory on learning called [[Constructionist learning|constructionism]], built upon the work of [[Jean Piaget]] in [[Constructivism (learning theory)|constructivist learning theories]]. Papert had worked with Piaget at the University of Geneva from 1958 to 1963<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.media.mit.edu/~papert/|title=Seymour Papert|website=mit.edu|publisher=MIT|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150308021353/http://web.media.mit.edu/~papert/|archive-date=8 March 2015}}</ref> and was one of Piaget's protégés; Piaget himself once said that "no one understands my ideas as well as Papert".<ref>{{Cite book|title=From the campfire to the holodeck : creating engaging and powerful 21st century learning environments|last=Thornburg|first=David|publisher=Jossey-Bass|year=2013|isbn=9781118748060|location=San Francisco, CA|page=78}}</ref> Papert has rethought how schools should work, based on these theories of learning.

===Logo===
Papert used Piaget's work in his development of the [[Logo (programming language)|Logo programming language]] while at MIT. He created Logo as a tool to improve the way children think and solve problems. A small mobile [[robot]] called the "[[Turtle (robot)|Logo Turtle]]" was developed, and children were shown how to use it to solve simple problems in an [[Play (activity)|environment of play]]. A main purpose of the Logo Foundation research group is to strengthen the ability to [[learning|learn]] [[knowledge]].<ref name="mit.edu">{{Cite web |title=Logo Foundation |url=https://el.media.mit.edu/logo-foundation/ |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=el.media.mit.edu}}</ref> Papert insisted a simple [[programming language|language]] or [[Computer program|program]] that children can learn—like Logo—can also have advanced functionality for expert users.<ref name=NatureObituary/>

===Other work===
As part of his work with technology, Papert has been a proponent of the [[Knowledge Machine]]. He was one of the principals for the [[One Laptop Per Child]] initiative to manufacture and distribute [[The Children's Machine]] in developing nations.

Papert also collaborated with the construction toy manufacturer [[Lego]] on their Logo-programmable [[Lego Mindstorms]] robotics kits,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mindstorms.lego.com/|title=LEGO Mindstorms|access-date=19 April 2005|archive-date=9 January 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060109150438/http://mindstorms.lego.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref> which were named after his groundbreaking 1980 book.<ref name="MITobit" />

A curated archive of Papert's articles, speeches, and interviews may be found on a website dedicated to Papert at: The Daily Papert.

==Personal life==
Papert became a political and anti-apartheid activist early in his life in South Africa. He subsequently chose self exile.<ref name="forward.com"/> He was a leading figure in the [[Revolutionary socialism|revolutionary socialist]] circle around ''[[Socialist Review]]'' while living in London in the 1950s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jim Higgins: More Years for the Locust (1997) |url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/higgins/1997/locust/index.htm |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=marxists.org}}</ref> Papert was also a prominent activist against South African [[apartheid]] policies during his university education.<ref name="MITobit" />

Papert was married to [[Dona Strauss]], and later to [[Androula Henriques|Androula Christofides Henriques]].<ref name="MITobit" />

Papert's third wife was MIT professor [[Sherry Turkle]], and together they wrote the influential paper "Epistemological Pluralism and the Revaluation of the Concrete".<ref>{{cite journal| title = Epistemological Pluralism and Revaluation of the Concrete| last = Turkle| first = Sherry|author2=Papert, Seymour | year = 1992| journal = Journal of Mathematical Behavior| volume = 11| issue = 1 }}</ref>

In his final 24 years, Papert was married to [[Suzanne Massie]], who was a Russian scholar and author of ''Pavlovsk: The Life of a Russian Palace'' and ''Land of the Firebird''.<ref name="MITobit" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Author Suzanne Massie biography |url=http://www.suzannemassie.com/bio.html |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=suzannemassie.com}}</ref>

===Accident in Hanoi===
Papert (then aged 78), received a serious [[Traumatic brain injury|brain injury]] when struck by a [[motor scooter]]<ref name="MITobit" /> on 5 December 2006 while crossing the street with colleague Uri Wilensky when they were both attending the 17th [[International Commission on Mathematical Instruction]] (ICMI) Study conference in [[Hanoi]], Vietnam.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.informationweek.com/artificial-intelligence-pioneer-seymour-papert-in-coma-in-hanoi/d/d-id/1049664?|title=Artificial Intelligence Pioneer Seymour Papert in Coma in Hanoi|work=InformationWeek|date=8 December 2006|access-date=14 March 2016}}</ref> He underwent emergency [[brain surgery|surgery]] to remove a [[blood clot]] at the [[L'Hôpital Français De Hanoï|French Hospital of Hanoi]] before being transferred in a complex operation by Swiss Air Ambulance [https://www.rega.ch/en/operations.aspx (REGA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727171020/https://www.rega.ch/en/operations.aspx |date=27 July 2019 }}) [[Bombardier Challenger]] Jet<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seymour Papert&nbsp;– Informatika&nbsp;– 3065&nbsp;– p2k.unkris.ac.id |url=http://p2k.unkris.ac.id/IT/3065-2962/Seymour-Papert_14321_p2k-unkris.html |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=p2k.unkris.ac.id}}</ref> to [[Boston]], Massachusetts, where he spent approximately four weeks in intensive care.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-09-05 |title=Seymour Papert |newspaper=[[The Times]] |language=en |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/seymour-papert-q0r3k0jpz |access-date=2023-09-05 |issn=0140-0460}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-01-10 |title=1969&nbsp;– The Logo Turtle&nbsp;– Seymour Papert et al (Sth African/American) |url=http://cyberneticzoo.com/cyberneticanimals/1969-the-logo-turtle-seymour-papert-marvin-minsky-et-al-american/ |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=cyberneticzoo.com |language=en-US}}</ref> He was moved to a hospital closer to his home in January 2007, but then developed [[sepsis]] 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-03-10 |title=Welcome to The Learning Barn ~ The Official Seymour Papert Website! |url=http://www.thelearningbarn.org/ |access-date=2023-09-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080310185021/http://www.thelearningbarn.org/ |archive-date=10 March 2008 }}</ref> His rehabilitation team used some of the very principles of experiential, hands-on learning that he had pioneered.<ref>{{cite news |first=Linda |last=Matchan |title=In search of a beautiful mind |url=http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2008/07/12/in_search_of_a_beautiful_mind/ |work=Boston Globe |date=12 July 2008 |access-date=16 July 2008 }}</ref>

Papert died at his home in Blue Hill, Maine, on 31 July 2016.<ref name="MITobit"/>

==Awards, honours, and legacy==
Papert's work has been used by other researchers in the fields of education and computer science. He influenced the work of [[Uri Wilensky]] in the design of [[NetLogo]] and collaborated with him on the study of knowledge restructurations, as well as the work of [[Andrea diSessa]] and the development of "dynaturtles". In 1981, Papert along with several others in the Logo group at MIT, started [[Logo 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<ref>{{Cite web |title=LogoWriter or the Elementary Curriculum |url=https://www.siue.edu/~jandris/HTMLDocuments/ANDRIS/logow.html |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=siue.edu}}</ref> and Lego/Logo (marketed as [[Lego Mindstorms]]).  He also influenced the research of [[Idit Harel Caperton]], coauthoring articles and the book ''Constructionism'', and chairing the advisory board of the company [[MaMaMedia]]. He also influenced [[Alan Kay]] and the [[Dynabook]] concept, and worked with Kay on various projects.

Papert won a [[Guggenheim fellowship]] in 1980, a [[Marconi Society|Marconi International]] fellowship in 1981,<ref>{{Cite web |title=MARCONIFOUNDATION.ORG |url=http://www.marconifoundation.org/index.html |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=marconifoundation.org}}</ref> the [[Software Publishers Association]] Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994, and the [[Smithsonian Award]] from ''Computerworld'' in 1997.<ref>Henderson, Harry. 2003. ''A to Z of Computer Scientists.'' New York: Facts on File. p. 208.</ref> Papert has been called by [[Marvin Minsky]] "the greatest living mathematics educator".<ref>From the cover of ''Mindstorms.'' (date needed).</ref>{{Cn|date=September 2023}}

MIT President [[L. 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."<ref name="MITobit" /><ref>''25 years EIAH'', colloque EIAH 2003 [http://archiveseiah.univ-lemans.fr/EIAH2003/Pdf/n005-144.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718171611/http://archiveseiah.univ-lemans.fr/EIAH2003/Pdf/n005-144.pdf|date=18 July 2011}}</ref><ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/sundayprofile/stories/s1144341.htm Interview] from 11 July 2004, on the [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] network</ref><ref>''Conférence vidéo'', colloque EIAH 2003 {{cite web |url=http://w3appli.u-strasbg.fr/canalc2/video.asp?idvideo=1868 |title=Canalc2 : Seymour Papert&nbsp;– EIAH 2003 : Environnements Informatiques pour l'Apprentissage Humain (15/04/2003) |access-date=16 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20071221154623/http://w3appli.u-strasbg.fr/canalc2/video.asp?idvideo=1868 |archive-date=21 December 2007 }}</ref>

In 2016 Papert's alma mater, University of Witwatersrand, awarded him the degree of ''Doctor of Science in Engineering, [[honoris causa]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.wits.ac.za/alumni/distinguished-graduates/honorary-degrees/ | title=Honorary Degrees - Wits University }}</ref><ref>https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wits.ac.za%2Fmedia%2Fwits-university%2Falumni%2Fdocuments%2Fhonorary-degree-citations%2FSeymour%2520Papert%2520Citation.doc</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal bar|Biography|South Africa|Mathematics}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Selected bibliography===
* ''Counter-free automata'' (with Robert McNaughton), 1971, {{ISBN|0-262-13076-9}}
* ''[[Perceptrons (book)|Perceptrons]]'' (with Marvin Minsky), MIT Press, 1969 (Enlarged edition, 1988), {{ISBN|0-262-63111-3}}
* ''[[Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas]]'', 1980, {{ISBN|0-465-04674-6}}
* Papert, S. & Harel, I. (eds). (1991) ''Constructionism: research reports and essays 1985–1990'' by the Epistemology and Learning Research Group, the Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ablex Pub. Corp, Norwood, NJ.
* ''The Children's Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer'', 1993, {{ISBN|0-465-01063-6}}
* ''The Connected Family: Bridging the Digital Generation Gap'', 1996, {{ISBN|1-56352-335-3}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooks=no|onlinebooksby=no}}
* [http://dailypapert.com/print-archives/ Seymour Papert Print Archives] at [http://dailypapert.com The Daily Papert]
* Seymour Papert [http://dailypapert.com/multimedia/ Audio & Video Archives] at The Daily Papert
* {{Official website|papert.org}}

{{Logo programming}}
{{Lisp programming language}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Papert, Seymour}}
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:2016 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
[[Category:20th-century South African mathematicians]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]
[[Category:21st-century South African mathematicians]]
[[Category:American cognitive psychologists]]
[[Category:American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Artificial intelligence researchers]]
[[Category:Computer science educators]]
[[Category:Jewish South African anti-apartheid activists]]
[[Category:South African anti-apartheid activists]]
[[Category:Lisp (programming language) people]]
[[Category:Mathematics educators]]
[[Category:MIT Media Lab people]]
[[Category:People with traumatic brain injuries]]
[[Category:Programming language designers]]
[[Category:Scientists of the National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:Socialist Workers Party (UK) members]]
[[Category:South African computer scientists]]
[[Category:South African educational theorists]]
[[Category:South African Jews]]
[[Category:South African mathematicians]]
[[Category:University of Geneva alumni]]
[[Category:White South African anti-apartheid activists]]