David McGoveran

David McGoveran (born 1952) is an American computer scientist and physicist, software industry analyst, and inventor. In computer science, he is recognized as one of the pioneers of relational database theory. In the field of physics, his most notable work is in discrete and bit-string physics, in which he derived fundamental dimensionless constants from first principles.

Education

David McGoveran majored in physics and mathematics, and minored in cognition and communication at the University of Chicago from 1973 to 1976, with graduate studies in physics and psycholinguistics. He pursued additional graduate studies from 1976 to 1979 at Stanford University.

Career

While a student he was employed by the Enrico Fermi Institute's Laboratory for Astrophysics and Space Research (Chicago 1973-4), Dow Chemical Company's Western Applied Science and Technology Laboratories (Walnut Creek, CA 1974), and University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics (1975-6). After graduation from University of Chicago, he founded the consulting firm of Alternative Technologies[1](Menlo Park, CA 1976) under the mentoring of H. Dean Brown and Dr. Cuthbert Hurd. While starting his consulting practice, he worked at SRI International (1976-9), his first consulting client.[2]

Between 1979 and 1981, he taught electronics engineering in the Professional Engineering Institute at Menlo College (Redwood City, CA) and was Chairman of the Computer Science and Business Departments at Condie College (San Jose, CA), developing the schools bachelor program in computer science.[3]

Alternative Technologies has provided consulting on the design and development of numerous software systems, specializing in mission critical and distributed applications. Clients have included AT&T, Blue Cross, Digital Equipment, Goldman Sachs, HP, IBM, Microsoft, MCI-Worldcom, Oracle, and many others.[4]

McGoveran's software engineering contributions include a collaborative conferencing system (1978); multi-tier relational CIM (computer integrated manufacturing) system (Fasttrack, 1982); relational access manager (1984–89); international electronic funds transfer (1984); trading systems databases (1986–91); OLCP requirements (1986); an object-relational portfolio management (1986–89); first Sybase SQL Server PC client (1987); client-server API requirements (1988); object-relational API requirements (1990); query optimizer requirements (1990); first middleware market analysis and forecast (1991); Database Connectivity Benchmark (1993);[5] numerous high availability and scalable systems (1994–96); and architected BPMS products and established the BPM[6] category (1998-2000) with HP and IBM.

He has chaired various professional conferences (1975-2001). He assesses software opportunities and risks for vendors, venture capitalists and other investors; and occasionally serves as an expert in software intellectual property litigation.

Research

Mathematical Logic

Work on applications of mathematical logic has pervaded Mr. McGoveran's career (1971–present). He has done original research and published on the structure of paradoxes,[7] applications of quantum logic to schizophrenia,[8] linguistic logic[9] and computational semantics (under James D. McCawley), fuzzy logic,[10][11][12] and applications of logic, including multi-valued logics, to databases.[13][14][15][16][17][18]

Discrete Physics

Beginning in 1974, Mr. McGoveran began researching quantum logic and new approaches to discrete mathematics (especially for physics). He became acquainted with, and starting working with, the combinatorial hierarchy and E. W. "Ted" Bastin, Frederick Parker-Rhodes, John Amson, and Clive W. Kilmister through H. Pierre Noyes in 1980 and began applying his own work on discrete mathematics to physics. He worked with H. Pierre Noyes starting in 1982 in the Theory Group at SLAC (Stanford University), making contributions to the discrete mathematical foundations of physics (e.g., bit-string physics),[19][20] and was invited to be Visiting Scholar (1986-1992). The work Prephysics (with Chris Gefwert and H. Pierre Noyes)[21] discusses a philosophy of science behind discrete physics, including McGoveran's multidisciplinary modeling methodology. In Foundations of a Discrete Physics[22] a pregeometry and purely discrete and finite justification for differential geometry (called the ordering operator calculus) is developed from first principles and applied it to physics. The work includes a purely combinatorial derivation of the parallel transport operator, shows that the construction of certain discrete analogs to velocity intrinsically obey Lorentz invariance, while giving commutation relations, and the uncertainty principle. The topological spaces so generated may be multiply connected (as contrasted with simply connected). The relationship to Noyes' bit-string physics is explained. Subsequently McGoveran developed a combinatorial and phenomenological argument for computing the fine structure constant from the combinatorial hierarchy, accurate to four decimal places. While suggestive, the argument was not considered convincing.[23]

In 1988, he used similar methods to develop a new derivation of the Fine Structure Spectrum of Hydrogen,[24] which was further developed and published with H.P.Noyes.[25] In later work,[26] the approach was shown to support Feynman sum-over-paths in 1+1 dimensions and gave the solution to the Dirac equation (Green's function). Noyes has cited McGoveran's calculation of the Sommerfeld-Dirac formula and corrections to both the combinatorial hierarchy computation of the fine structure and gravitational constants as convincing him that the evolving combinatorial hierarchy construction could be the starting point for a new physics and physical cosmology.[27][28]

Transaction Management

Beginning in 1981,[29][30] Mr. McGoveran began consulting on the design of transaction processing systems, including distributed transactions. Investigations into the complexity and cost of distributed transactions, as well as the difficulty of maintaining transactional consistency in online applications led to research into alternatives to the traditional transaction models that used pessimistic concurrency control and enforced ACID properties.[31] McGoveran defined physical transactions as the unit of recovery, logical transactions as the unit of consistency, and business transactions as the unit of audit[32] The resulting adaptive transaction model introduces a transaction intrinsic definition of consistency, deferring the decision to combine the results of two or more transactions. His work on transaction management resulted in the award of US Patent No 7,103,597.[33]

McGoveran's research on E.F. Codd's relational model has focused on the issues of data modeling (database design), missing information, and view updating. The last two are considered by some database researchers to be the most difficult and controversial problems in relational database research.[34]

Having worked on the design and development of several early large scale, distributed, commercial relational database applications,[35][36] McGoveran sought to improve upon the science of database design. This work lead to the development of

  1. new analyses of and solutions to the problem of "missing information" and avoiding the use of nulls and therefore many-valued logic
  2. the specification and uses of relation predicates (relation or set membership functions) as an application of Leibniz' Law[37][38][39]
  3. a new design principle (with C. J. Date) now known as the Principle of Orthogonal Design (POOD)

His work on logic applied to relational databases and on design without nulls (1993) has been republished several times.[40][41]

McGoveran tackled the problem of view updating with Christopher J. Date starting in 1993 after having developed methods for reversible schema migration for clients on Wall Street.[42] His solution, based on relation predicates, formed the basis for the algorithms found in The Third Manifesto (Christopher J. Date, Hugh Darwen) for updating virtual relations (e.g., views). Date has credited McGoveran with originally suggesting the basic idea for the view updating approach,[43] and which Hugh Darwen[44] says represented a major shift in thinking on the issue. This work has resulted in two patents (U.S. Patent 7,620,664 and U.S. Patent 7,263,512).

Some of McGoveran's work on databases is discussed at Fabian Pascal's Database Debunkings.[45]

EAI and Business Process Management

After consulting on numerous data integration and enterprise application integration projects, and related middleware products, McGoveran recognized that process aspects of integration were largely overlooked.[46][47] Most business process technology focused on analyzing and documenting existing business processes, then manually "reengineering" the processes to eliminate waste, remove bottlenecks, and improve cycle times. These efforts were largely disjoint from process automation systems and distributed control systems (which focused on highly repetitive, often continuous processes), and workflow technologies (which focused on highly repetitive sequential processes like document processing).

McGoveran postulated[48] an analogy between data management and process management.[49] Just as the relational data model proposed separating the logical model of the data from the physical storage model, it seemed that a logical process model (i.e., the business process model) should be separated from its physical implementation (e.g., as messaging, remote invocation, services, etc.). As with the relational model, this would permit business process design via models that were logically separated from specifics of process implementation, process scheduling, and process optimization. By introducing process measurement and analytics into the proposed process management system, closed loop process control became theoretically possible. The result was a set of requirements and a canonical architecture for the then largely unknown business process management system (BPMS).

The first commercial package compliant with this BPMS architecture ChangEngine - was then built and introduced by Hewlett-Packard in 1997-98 under McGoveran's direction.[50] Subsequently, McGoveran introduced these concepts at DCI's EAI conference in 1999,[51] through work as Sr. Technical Editor of the eAI Journal (Thomas Communications)[52] and worked with companies like IBM, Vitria, Candle, Fuego, Savvion, and numerous others to help shape the market and the BPM category.[53] Many workflow and business process reengineering (BPR) companies joined in the effort, transforming themselves into BPM companies during the period 1999-2010.

Inventions and Products

McGoveran has been awarded five U.S. Patents and a U.S. Scientific Copyright, and has filed several additional patent applications.

Three Dimensional Programmable Slide Rule "U. S. Scientific Copyright" (1969).

Affiliations

Selected Published Works

McGoveran has written articles in the fields of relational databases, transaction processing, business intelligence, enterprise application integration, business process management, mathematics, and physics, including over 100 monthly columns for eAI Journal (a.k.a. Business Integration Journal) throughout the life of the journal.

Books

Encyclopedias

Anthologies

Articles (Magazines, Journals)

Letters to the Editor

Reports

See also

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ Pascal, F. (April 11, 2015). An Interview with David McGoveran. "Database Debunkings".
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ Pascal, F. (April 11, 2015). An Interview with David McGoveran. "Database Debunkings".
  5. ↑ Finkelstein, R. (1993). Database Connectivity Benchmark.
  6. ↑ Pascal, F. (April 11, 2015). An Interview with David McGoveran. "Database Debunkings".
  7. ↑ McGoveran, D. (1981). Getting Into Paradox, In Kilmister, C. W. (Ed.). "Proc. ANPA 2". Cambridge, England: Cambridge University.
  8. ↑ Oshins, E., and McGoveran, D. (February 1980). Thoughts About Logic About Thoughts. The Question: Schizophrenia? In Banathy, B. H. (Ed.). "Proceedings of the 24th Annual North American Meeting of the Society For General Systems Research, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, San Francisco, CA Jan. 7-10, 1980". Louisville, KY: Systems Science Institute. OCLC Number 6263125.
  9. ↑ McCawley, D. (1981). "Everything that Linguists have Always Wanted to Know about Logic . . . But Were Ashamed to Ask". Chicago, IL: University Of Chicago Press.
  10. ↑ McGoveran, D. (January 1985). Fuzzy Logic. Letters to the Editor: IEEE Spectrum. (p.8).
  11. ↑ Oshins, E., Adelson, D., McGoveran, D. (1982). Clarifying Fuzzy Logic: A Spectral Decomposition and Iconic Realization. (presented AAAS, 1980). In Gray, W. Fidler, J. & Battista, J. (Eds). "General Systems Theory and the Psychological Sciences. Vol. 2". Seaside, CA: Intersystems Publications. ISBN 978-0914105107 and ISBN 0914105108.
  12. ↑ McGoveran, D. (1980). Fuzzy Logic and Non-Distributive Truth Valuations. In Wang, P.P., Chang, S.K. (Eds.). "Fuzzy Sets: Theory and Applications to Policy Analysis and Information Systems". New York: Plenum Press. ISBN 0-306-40557-1.
  13. ↑ McGoveran, D., (Dec.1993-Mar. 1994) Nothing from Nothing, "Database Programming & Design". San Francisco, CA: Miller-Freeman. (in four parts).
  14. ↑ Date, C. J. (1998) "Relational Database Writings 1994-1997". Reading, MA: Longman Pub. Group. (ISBN 0201398141 & ISBN 978-0201398144).
  15. ↑ Date, C. J., McGoveran, D. (July, 1994). A New Database Design Principle. "Database Programming & Design".
  16. ↑ Date, C. J. (1995). "Relational Database Writings 1991-1994". Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0201824590 & ISBN 978-0201824599.
  17. ↑ Date, C. J., McGoveran, D. (August, 1994). Updating Joins and Other Views. "Database Programming & Design".
  18. ↑ [ Date, C. J., McGoveran, D. (June, 1994). Updating Union, Intersection, and Difference Views. "Database Programming & Design".]
  19. ↑ Noyes, H. P., et al. (2001). "Bit-String Physics: A Finite and Discrete Approach to Natural Philosophy". Series on Knots and Everything. Vol. 27. World Scientific Publishing Co. Inc. Singapore. ISBN 9810246110.
  20. ↑ McGoveran, D. (2013). Ordering Operators: Towards a Discrete, Strictly Finite and Quantized Interpretation of the Tensor Calculus. In Amson, J. C., Kauffman, L. H. (Eds.) Scientific Essays in Honor of H. Pierre Noyes, New York, London, and Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co. Inc. ISBN 981457936X & ISBN 978-9814579360.
  21. ↑ Gefwert, C., McGoveran, D., Noyes, H. P. (1989). Prephysics. SLAC-PUB-4525. Stanford, CA: SLAC Theory Group, Stanford University.
  22. ↑ McGoveran, D., Noyes, H.P. (June, 1989). Foundations for a Discrete Physics. SLAC-PUB-4526. Stanford, CA: SLAC Theory Group, Stanford University.
  23. ↑ McGoveran, D., Noyes, H.P. (March 1989). Physical Numerology? SLAC-PUB-4929. Stanford, CA: SLAC Theory Group, Stanford University.
  24. ↑ McGoveran, D. (1988). The Fine Structure of Hydrogen. In Kilmister, C. W. (Ed.). Discrete Physics and Beyond: Proc. ANPA 10. Cambridge University, UK: ANPA.
  25. ↑ Noyes, H. P., McGoveran, D. (1991) On the Fine Structure Spectrum of Hydrogen. SLAC-PUB 4730. Stanford, CA: SLAC Theory Group, Stanford University.
  26. ↑ McGoveran, D. (1989). Advances in the Foundations. In Manthey, M. (Ed.). "Objects in Discrete Physics: Proc. ANPA 11". (pp. 82-100). Cambridge University, UK: ANPA.
  27. ↑ Noyes, H. P., et al. (2001). "Bit-String Physics: A Finite and Discrete Approach to Natural Philosophy". p.343. Series on Knots and Everything. Vol. 27. World Scientific Publishing Co. Inc. Singapore. ISBN 9810246110.
  28. ↑ Amson, J. C., Kauffman, L. H. (Eds.) Scientific Essays in Honor of H. Pierre Noyes. Forward, p. xiii. New York, London, and Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co. Inc. ISBN 981457936X & ISBN 978-9814579360.
  29. ↑ Pascal, F. (April 11, 2015). An Interview with David McGoveran. "Database Debunkings".
  30. ↑ Alternative Technologies.
  31. ↑ McGoveran, D. (Nov. 2007). Beyond ACID: An Adaptive Approach To Transaction Management. "Middleware Spectra", 21(4). (pp. 14-23).]
  32. ↑ McGoveran, D. (2004). Understanding Business Transactions. "Business Integration Journal". Vol. 5. Dallas, TX: Thomas Communications.
  33. ↑ McGoveran, D. (2002) Adaptive Transaction Manager for Complex Transactions and Business Processes. US Patent No 7,103,597. Washington, DC: US Patent and Trademark Office.
  34. ↑ [ Date, C. J. (December 20, 2012). "View Updating and Relational Theory". Forward by Hugh Darwen. p. xv. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media. ISBN 1449357849 & ISBN 978-1449357849.]
  35. ↑ Pascal, F. (April 11, 2015). An Interview with David
  36. ↑ Alternative Technologies.
  37. ↑ Date, C. J., McGoveran, D. (July, 1994). A New Database Design Principle. "Database Programming & Design". San Francisco, CA: Miller-Freeman.
  38. ↑ Date, C. J., McGoveran, D. (June, 1994). Updating Union, Intersection, and Difference Views. "Database Programming & Design". San Francisco, CA: Miller-Freeman.
  39. ↑ Date, C. J., McGoveran, D. (August, 1994). Updating Joins and Other Views. Database Programming & Design. San Francisco, CA: Miller-Freeman.
  40. ↑ McGoveran, D., (Dec.1993-Mar. 1994) Nothing from Nothing. "Database Programming & Design". San Francisco, CA: Miller-Freeman. (in four parts).
  41. ↑ Date, C. J. (1998) "Relational Database Writings 1994-1997". Reading, MA: Longman Pub. Group. (ISBN 0201398141 & ISBN 978-0201398144).
  42. ↑ Pascal, F. (April 11, 2015). An Interview with David McGoveran. "Database Debunkings".
  43. ↑ Date, C. J. (December 20, 2012). "View Updating and Relational Theory". Preface. p. xiv. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media. ISBN 1449357849 & ISBN 978-1449357849.
  44. ↑ [Date, C. J. (December 20, 2012). "View Updating and Relational Theory". Forward by Hugh Darwen. p. xv. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media. ISBN 1449357849 & ISBN 978-1449357849.
  45. ↑ Pascal, F. (April 11, 2015). An Interview with David McGoveran. "Database Debunkings".
  46. ↑ Pascal, F. (April 11, 2015). An Interview with David McGoveran. "Database Debunkings".
  47. ↑ Alternative Technologies.
  48. ↑ Pascal, F. (April 11, 2015). An Interview with David McGoveran. "Database Debunkings".
  49. ↑ McGoveran, D. (1999). Think BPMS! McGoveran, D. (2004). Understanding Business Transactions. "eAI Journal". Vol. 1. Dallas, TX: Thomas Communications.
  50. ↑ Jannasch, D. (1998). "Proceedings of HP World '98". San Diego, CA: Hewlett-Packard.
  51. ↑ (Jan. 7, 1999). Application Server Workshop and Enterprise Application Integration Conference to Premiere in 1999. Andover, MA: DCI/PRNewswire.
  52. ↑ eAI JOURNAL and BUSINESS INTEGRATION JOURNAL ARTICLES. Alternative Technologies Publications Directory.
  53. ↑ Pascal, F. (April 11, 2015). An Interview with David McGoveran. "Database Debunkings".
  54. ↑ Pascal, F. (April 11, 2015). An Interview with David McGoveran. "Database Debunkings".
  55. ↑ McGoveran, D., (1988). Relational Access Manager User's Manual. Alternative Technologies Publications Directory.
  56. ↑ McGoveran vs Pacific Telesis Group; Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco, Case No. CGC 89 912650
  57. ↑ Pascal, F. (April 11, 2015). An Interview with David McGoveran. "Database Debunkings".
  58. ↑ Pascal, F. (April 11, 2015). An Interview with David McGoveran. "Database Debunkings".
  59. ↑ Bochenski, B. (Dec. 17, 1990) Client Server Products. "Computerworld", p.53-54, by Barbara Bochenski
  60. ↑
  61. ↑ Pascal, F. (April 11, 2015). An Interview with David McGoveran. "Database Debunkings".
  62. ↑ Holt, S. (Apr 5, 1999,). Enterprise app integration vendors link up. "InfoWorld". p. 72.
  63. ↑ Pascal, F. (April 11, 2015). An Interview with David McGoveran. "Database Debunkings".
  64. ↑ Pascal, F. (April 11, 2015). An Interview with David McGoveran. "Database Debunkings".
  65. ↑
  66. ↑ IBM Beacon Awards Distinguish Outstanding Business Partner Achievements In 2001. San Francisco, CA:IBM.
  67. ↑ IBM Beacon Awards Distinguish Outstanding Business Partner Achievements in 2002. New Orleans, LA:IBM.
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