Theodore Gray

Theodore Gray
Born 18 November 1964
Urbana, Illinois, United States
Nationality American
Fields Mathematics, chemistry, computing, publishing
Institutions Wolfram Research, Touch Press
Alma mater University of Illinois
Known for Co-founder of Wolfram Research
prominent science author
co-founder of Touch Press

Theodore W. "Theo" Gray is a co-founder of Wolfram Research, prominent science author, and co-founder of app developer Touch Press.

Education

Theodore Gray was educated at the University of Illinois Laboratory High School. He would later graduate with a B.S. in chemistry from University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1986.[1][2]

Career

In 1987, Gray left a PhD program in theoretical chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley to work with Stephen Wolfram. In that same year, he co-founded Wolfram Research.[3] His initial work for the company involved creating the user interface for Mathematica.[4] Gray would eventually leave Wolfram Research to become a writer and publisher full-time.[5]

After amassing thousands of samples of elements from the periodic table, he assembled them into a four-legged physical table. The finished table was awarded the 2011 ACS Grady Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public, as well as the 2002 Ig Nobel Award for Chemistry.[6][7] Gray's love of the periodic table would lead him to team up with photography Nick Mann in creating "The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe" and "The Elements Vault."[8]

For many years, Gray wrote a regular column for Popular Science entitled "Gray Matter."[9] The column was a finalist for a National Magazine Award for Best Column in 2010.[10] In 2009, a collection of articles by Gray was published under the title Mad Science: Experiments You Can Do at Home—But Probably Shouldn't.[11][12] A sequel to the book, Mad Science 2: Experiments You Can Do At Home, But STILL Probably Shouldn't was published in 2013.[13]

In 2010, Gray founded Touch Press together with Max Whitby, John Cromie and Stephen Wolfram shortly after the announcement of the launch of the iPad.[14][15] The company was created to develop innovative educational apps using the technology of the iPad to its full potential. The first published app was "The Elements,"[16] and in 2014 Gray released "Molecules", which allows users to touch and discover the basic building blocks of the world.[17] Of Touch Press's "Disney Animated," which was named the best iPad app of 2013 worldwide by Apple, iTunes's App Editor noted, "We’re absolutely spellbound."[18]

Belief in popular science

Throughout his career, Gray has been an advocate for a broader engagement between the public at large and the scientific community.[19] Gray's move towards popular science is motivated by his belief in the inherent curiosity of children:

All children are inherently scientists. They’re curious about the world; they’re constantly asking why, why, why, why, why; they want to know how everything works, and why things are the way they are, and that is essentially the definition of science, right? There’s stuff out there, and we want to know why is it that way, and what can we do with it, and what can we do to get something to happen that we want to have happen. And that’s really just built into children, and it has to be beaten out over the course of many years of schooling to get somebody to not be interested in science.[20]

Works

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Biography of Theodore Gray". Theodore Gray. Theodore Gray. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  2. ↑ Lovdahl, Andrew (2006-12-12). "The biggest table ... period". The Gargoyle. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  3. ↑ Wolfram, Stephen (2010-12-24). "Touch Press: The Second Book". Stephen Wolfram Blog. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  4. ↑ Lehrer, Brian (2009-05-22). "Interview of Wolfram Research Co-Founder Theodore (Theo) Gray". Dell. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  5. ↑ Merli, Melissa (2013-02-10). "Getting Personal: Theodore Gray". The News Gazette. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  6. ↑ Andrews, Ward (2012-03-05). "The Periodic Table Table by Theodore Gray". Design.org. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
  7. ↑ "The 2002 Ig Nobel Prize Winners". Improbable.com. Improbable Research. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  8. ↑ Nicholes, Will (2011-03-16). "Author of ‘Mad Science’ releases book on the elements". The Toledo Blade. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  9. ↑ Gray Matter, Popular Science.
  10. ↑ "Winners & Finalists". Magazine.org. American Society of Magazine Editors. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  11. ↑ Saslow, Rachel (2011-05-16). "Cheating at science fairs; ‘Mad Science’ by Theodore Gray". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
  12. ↑ Nicholes, Will (March 16, 2011). "Author of 'Mad Science' releases book on the elements". Toledo Free Press. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
  13. ↑ Feinberg, Ashley (2013-05-30). "How to Turn Burning Gas Into a Lamp Without Blowing Yourself Up". Gizmodo. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  14. ↑ Roush, Wade (2011-07-29). "TouchPress: Theodore Gray Tests His Mettle in the App World". Publisher's Weekly. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  15. ↑ Wolfram, Stephen (2010-12-24). "Touch Press: The Second Book". Stephen Wolfram Blog. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  16. ↑ Pham, Alex (2010-04-27). "The curious tale of the wooden table that became an iPad book". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  17. ↑ Stockton, Nick (20 October 2014). "Explore the Building Blocks of Everything From Poison to Soap". Wired. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  18. ↑ "Disney Animated By Disney". iTunes. Apple. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  19. ↑ Ingerson, Trevor (2011-09-22). "The Elements: A Q&A with Theodore Gray". Scholastic. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  20. ↑ Lehrer, Brian (2010-04-23). "Elemental Design". WNYC. Retrieved August 14, 2013.

External links

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