a story of a top expert of Mathematica: Robby Villegas
Xah Lee
the Mathematica language, died, last month.
• 〈Robby Villegas Died (1968-2010)〉
http://xahlee.org/math/Robby_Villegas.html
Robby Villegas Died (1968-2010)
Xah Lee, 2010-11-24
Am deeply touched to have learned today, that one of my very few
friend, a best friend, a world's top expert of Mathematica, died, in
2010-10. Robby and me are the same age.
Am still not sure what's the cause or story. I have not been in touch
with Robby since 2007. On Robby's site robbyvillegas.com, i found this
tribute from Stephen Wolfram.
With the tragic death of Robby Villegas, the world has lost an
exceptional mind, and one of the great scholars and guardians of the
Mathematica language. It was June 6, 1992, on a pleasant sunny day,
just after an honorary degree ceremony at Knox College in Galesberg,
Illinois. An eager young man who had just received his own degree came
up to me, keen to tell me that he thought that the design of the
function Outer[] in Mathematica was inadequate, and needed to be
enhanced. We talked for quite a while. And eventually I said, “So what
are you doing now that you’ve graduated? We’re hiring people at our
company to work on Mathematica; you should come and join us.” And so
it was that on June 29, 1992, Robby Villegas came to join Wolfram
Research.
In the 15 years that followed, my email archive records more than
10,000 messages that include his name, with the number peaking in
1995. The syntax and semantics of a zillion functions. Ideas for
extending, generalizing, clarifying features in Mathematica. A vast
amount of work concerned with getting things in Mathematica just
right. In making everything as clean and logical as it could be. In
many ways, Robby Villegas was the first full-time design analyst for
Mathematica. I think he personally knew every function in the system—
its character, and its quirks.
And pretty soon when people were discussing some abstruse (or not
so abstruse) potential feature of some new Mathematica function, I
would just say, “Ask Robby; he’ll be able to figure it out.”
Robby Villegas contributed a great many ideas to Mathematica. To
list manipulation and functional programming operations. And to
mathematical typesetting, and the MathML web standard.
We have been lucky enough with Mathematica to be able to build a
very pure and robust intellectual structure, that we can progressively
add to over the years. Robby Villegas was the architect of some of the
most demanding and elegant sections of this structure.
I remember one day when we were discussing some function or
another, and someone was saying that we should do something in a
particular way, because that’s how some other function in Mathematica
worked. And Robby Villegas said that perhaps that precedent was not so
good, because that other function was designed very early in the
history of Mathematica, when designs were rougher.
And in that moment I realized that Robby Villegas had become the
first true scholar of the Mathematica language. With an understanding
not only of its current structure, but also the whole arc of its
history. With his eagerness, he seemed in many ways so young. But yet
he brought to his judgment about Mathematica a certain seasoned
wisdom.
Over the years, I worked on many projects with Robby Villegas.
From all sorts of detailed pieces of Mathematica design, to the
emergency need to produce Mathematica code for notation for numbers
and polynomials from antiquity (code that lives on for example in
Wolfram|Alpha).
In later years, there were times when it could take a while to
hear from Robby Villegas. But always the responses were careful,
clear, and creative. And profoundly committed to making sure that the
Mathematica language that we have all created remained as elegant and
unified as possible.
There are countless specific functions in Mathematica that owe
their structure and syntax to Robby Villegas. And as the system grows,
these functions become the cornerstones of yet more development—
building on the legacy of Robby Villegas.
Every day, around the world, people use those functions that Robby
Villegas designed. And though all will benefit from it, few will pause
to admire the elegance of the design. Or know about the wonderful
human being who put so much effort into creating and ensuring that
elegance: Robby Villegas, a great scholar and guardian of the
Mathematica language, and its first true design analyst.
It is a sorrow to have learned about his death. I'm still not sure how
or what's up. I'll be updating this page in the coming days as i learn
more, and perhaps writes some personal detail of our friendship.
Robby is truly the most humble guy. And as Stephen Wolfram expressed,
he's got the deepest analytical abilities on programing languages (at
least on Mathematica). He taught me many things about Mathematica
while i was a intern at Wolfram Research in 1995. Stephen's
description of him, in particular, “(one of) great scholars and
guardians of the Mathematica language”, is no exaggeration. (I'm not
sure about the “one of”, i'd rather say “the one”, but Stephen knows
about perhaps 100 times more Mathematica programers than me.) Robby is
certainly a language design type of guy. But he is the most humble,
innately, earnestly, and has no ambitions, and is one of the most
confidence-lacking, engineer-geek , socially inept, type of person.
I was rather surprised Stephan Wolfram wrote so highly of him and
published it, though, i couldn't find it on Wolfram Research's blog or
his personal blog. Perhaps it's circulated within his company.
I met Robby in 1995 when i went to intern at Wolfram. Before that, i
have exchanged several letters with him in the Mathematica forum
“comp.soft-sys.math.mathematica” or email, on technical matters. (will
dig these emails from my archive later)
While at Wolfram Research Inc (wri) in Champaign, Illinois, he is my
best personal friend, who is my personal guide to the company, to the
town, as well teaching me a ton of Mathematica. We certainly share
many personality traits, in looking for elegance in computer language,
in analyzing language constructs, in philosophizing, of interest in
math and sciences, in chatting about picking up girls. He is also into
Asian culture, Chinese food, and has a weak spot for Asian girls.
Also, he seems to be a perpetual bleeding-heart. Always concerned
about blacks, women's rights, the underprivileged, or abhor those in
power and manipulators. I think being ridiculed as a unattractive
“geek” is one of his psychological wound.
I stayed at wri for 6 months. I was asked to stay to become a regular
employee, but due to my own personal psychological problems i wasn't
sure i should abandon school in getting a degree. Robby was one of the
person i consulted, and partly due to his advice, i did not stay. In
fact, the “decline offer” letter i sent to Stephen Wolfram was drafted
by Robby. (in the end, i never got a degree neither.)
In 2007, i went to wri for a interview. The day before, i called Robby
but didn't got in touch. Then, while at Champaign, i asked to see
Robby and was told he was no longer with the company. Apparently, he
quit or was fired. It was kind of a shock. I knew that Robby has
developed health problems. He always had problems with insomnia, and
he is not very good dealing with stress.
I haven't contacted Robby since. I felt sorry that i did not contact
Robby earlier before my interview and got this rather embarrassing
news in the company. And i felt sorry that i did not contact him since
neither. (I haven't contacted Robby also because my personality,
similar to him — a sort of perpetual procrastination.)
Just this month, i thought about Robby. And today, while on the social
network orkut.com i went to see his profile and saw a “RIP” message.
This is when i learned of his death.
It's kinda sad that many of my math friends, died in recent years.
Perhaps it just means am getting old.
* Death Of A Troll (My Memory of Erik Naggum)
* Russell Towle Died (1949-2008)
* Mathematician Marijke Van Gans Died (1955-2009)
* Martin Gardner (1914-2010)
Xah
Xah Lee
On Nov 24, 2:02 pm, Xah Lee <xah...@gmail.com> wrote:
> just learned that one of my best friend, one of world's top expert of
> the Mathematica language, died, last month.
>
> • 〈Robby Villegas Died (1968-2010)〉http://xahlee.org/math/Robby_Villegas.html
so, apparantly, he killed himself.
not lisp related, but i thought it is interetsing to many here,
becuase Robby is very interested in computer languages, and share with
many of us being ubberly socially inept and frustrated. (he's not a
emacs users. Occationally uses vi. I think he's main editor is NEdit
(if he hasn't changed since 1990s). Yes he's a linux user. Became a
Redhat linux user as his main machine in late 1990s. You could find
many of his writings in comp.soft-sys.math.mathematica, but i believ
they all dates in the mid 1990s. He's a extremely keep-to-himself
guy.) He's also the first computer programer that i got to know in
real meat space, who hates Windows and Microsoft.
-----------------------------------------------
Robby's Goodbye Notes
Apparantly, Robby killed himself. There's this memorial page posted by
Robby's friends on his site at: Source. Reading it, i came across
several Wolfram employees i remember having met, some i recognize as
Robby's good friends. In it, there's this post, apparantly Robby's
goodbye note.
Robby via Christina Szabo Says:
October 7th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
Robby wanted to “give some explanation to people in general” and
asked
me to post this, which he wrote. -Christina
Subject: the end is important in all things
Robby Villegas October 2 at 7:17am
Depression, and even more so, physical exhaustion, continues to
claim more and more of my life, to render a larger percentage of each
day either unusable, or a sloggin, dragging fight to keep myself
upright just to get through the basics of my day. On top of fatigue, a
few years ago I began to develop a tendency toward anxiety, which
gradually became more frequent and of faster onset, throwing a specter
of borderline panic attacks over many of my activities. Eventually, I
was taking partial doses of my prescription sleep medication
*preemptively* before simple activities like skating class, meeting
friends at a bar, going to a theater, or spending an evening studying
at a cafe.
The sleep and exhaustion problems that forced me to suddenly quit
working in January 2007 have gradually worsened, and I have run out of
means at this point.
More important than financial means, though: the ratio of quality
of life to pained struggling has passed a threshold. Eventually, I’ll
forget what it even felt like to be happy, the memories of what I was
will fade further, I won’t be able to appreciate any of the good parts
of life, and I’ll be bitter, not even a shadow of my self.
This must not happen. For many years, I have felt that some day
I’d have to make that call that it’s time to go; that most of the good
stuff was past, and the proportion of hope and new joy to the pain and
effort that goes into rallying would fall too low I want to go out
while I can still reflect on the good things, and go out really
feeling and believing “I lived.”
Worse than the death of the body is the death of pieces of the
self while still alive, and the memories that provide conviction that
there was a lot worth being here for, while it lasted.
In retrospect, I probably should have made this call last winter,
or at the very latest, early summer, given that the last few months
have had a marked dulling effect on me. But, two decades of fighting
depression, rallying through many dozens of life-hating and self-
hating episodes ranging from bad patches to truly close calls, and
being thankful I did each time I got a “new lease on life” that was
followed by more of the worthwhile stuff of life … two decades of that
makes it *intensely* difficult to make that final call.
Albeit more weary and dull than I’ve ever been, I am thankful that
there’s enough left of me to look back (even with difficulty) and
appreciate all the good people, activities, and interests that made My
Life worth living during that time. So it is perhaps not too late to
exit while there’s a reasonable amount left of Me.
Yours in truth,
Robby “R. Scott”
Not sure what to say.
Robby has told me in around 2004 to 2005, our last big exchange, that
he has serious insomnia problems. But i don't recall any serious
depression. Actually, i remember now he has told me that he had
depression episodes, which i did too, and we chatted our experiences.
But i recall it's all past tense, and this chat was in 1995.
(depression is hard to define) But i didn't know it was getting to the
point of killing himself, but again, for certain type of persons who
are not emotionally responsive (i.e. cold, lone, type, who hide their
emotions or unable to express it), it could happen on any seemingly
good day. Robby is extremely sensitive to stress and pressure. He's
the type of nice guy who find it hard to say no, and when he actually
had to, it's after huge mental struggle.
So i guess, for a personality as lone as me and Robby, i can't say i
feel particular regret or inappropriateness on Robby's act of killing
himself. He didn't feel worthwhile to live on, so he had to go. I
certainly wished things could be different, and wished that we'd have
communicated about his situation. I believe, if i told him of my
personal situation, he'd feel better. We certainly would have great
conversations about the pros and cons on methods of suicide, in fact i
believe we had such a conversation before. I missed a friend, who is
one of the greatest unsung expert of Mathematica, of which, i could
certainly use some help, and as a alley in the war on computer
languages.
In the future, i'll dig up some of Robby's emails and post here.
The world has 6.5 billions of people. Due to the incredible advances
of communication tech, especially the internet, we the masses get to
see all sort of weirdos and behaviors directly. (e.g. shown in shock
sites, 4chan, etc.) And, in the past 5 years, we greatly see many
suicides (on facebook et al), and in many cases, literally watched
thru online video someone killing himself.
Am not sure where am going with this, but i guess let's open even more
communication. Legalize suicide. Stop censorship of all sorts except
things like how to make nuclear bomb. We don't like pain, and we don't
want to see our friends to choose to end their life. But we don't want
whatever problems that leads to that path. Hiding and banning is not
going to help. More open info, more communication, we can have more
understanding of us the human animals, and more happiness with us and
our friends. Maybe Robby had biologically rooted psychogical problems.
But am sure, whatever his suffering of depression, can be helped
better if whatever caused his stress, socially induced self-loathing,
closet inhibitions (such as gay people), parental or family problems,
can be reduced. Tolerate, and appreciate, your friends, co-workers, or
strangers, while they are alive.
It's kinda sad that many of my math friends, died in recent years.
Perhaps it just means am getting old.
Xah
markha...@gmail.com
The beginning of the end was when he started using late 80s IBM
keyboards. If he had only used Microsoft Ergonomic keyboards and GNU
Elisp instead of Mathematica, and gNewSense instead of proprietary
RedHat.
Ricardo
Reading his last note on his fatigue, he sounds like a man who
couldn't laugh. He should've dropped math problems a bit and enjoy a
good laugh from time to time. Overly dramatic people develop cancer
or suicidal tendencies...
RG
<67344004-75e9-478b...@z9g2000pri.googlegroups.com>,
Xah Lee <xah...@gmail.com> wrote:
> just learned that one of my best friend, one of world's top expert of
> the Mathematica language, died, last month.
I'm very sorry for your loss, Xah.
I have to say, though, that Robby's goodbye note was inspiring. If I
have half as much command of my faculties as Robby did when my time
comes I will count myself lucky. I offer this in his memory:
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/invictus/
rg
small Pox
I find it COMPASSIONATE that WOLF RAM Research Incorporated after
milking such a smart person did not give him safety cushion in his
time of difficulty. This is in line with the corporate operational
policy of bernard madoffs, roman polanskys, wolf rams, larry ellis
islanders, and neocons.
Even stalin cried and led the funerals of his comrades whom he had
used his jewish doctors to kill.
I urge everyone to read the great ebook, the sale and manufacture of
saint einstein.
postings like mine are needed to get the google censhorship crew to
wake up and remove the porn postings barraged by CIA criminals. It is
well known that they are targetting minorities with drugs and various
marijuana and porn.
Mathematica is LISP IN DISGUISE. Wolf Ram stole the idea from lisp.
Its R-LISP. The guy who came up with R-LISP was also doing some
physics calculations at Stanford. Wolf Ram was doing at Caltech. The
fundamental object of Lisp is the cons cell or pair or list and with
nesting.
The fundamental object of Mathematica is table - really a cheap
attempt to pretend NOVELTY. A table is atleast a pair. A symbol-value
table of one row is a pair.
THE GREATEST TRIBUTE THAT CAN BE GIVEN TO THIS PERSON IS TO MAKE SURE
THAT HIS IDEAS DO NOT BECOME LOST AND BECOME THE MONOPOLY OF A SNAKEs
OF A CORPORATIONs BUT BENEFIT THE HUMANITY AT LARGE.
THE GREATEST TRIBUTE THAT CAN BE GIVEN TO THIS PERSON IS TO MAKE SURE
THAT HIS IDEAS DO NOT BECOME LOST AND BECOME THE MONOPOLY OF A SNAKEs
OF A CORPORATIONs BUT BENEFIT THE HUMANITY AT LARGE.
THE GREATEST TRIBUTE THAT CAN BE GIVEN TO THIS PERSON IS TO MAKE SURE
THAT HIS IDEAS DO NOT BECOME LOST AND BECOME THE MONOPOLY OF A SNAKEs
OF A CORPORATIONs BUT BENEFIT THE HUMANITY AT LARGE.
THE GREATEST TRIBUTE THAT CAN BE GIVEN TO THIS PERSON IS TO MAKE SURE
THAT HIS IDEAS DO NOT BECOME LOST AND BECOME THE MONOPOLY OF A SNAKEs
OF A CORPORATIONs BUT BENEFIT THE HUMANITY AT LARGE.
publish them in the clearest manner in an accumulation for free. if
they are clear then they wont take many pages, lot of effort. If they
are published openly, they will get refined automatically and get
added. Maybe a wikipedia article saying the fundamental ideas or an
anonymous pdf posted on forums. or a wikileak doc.
THE MANUFACTURE AND SALE OF
SAINT EINSTEIN
By Christopher Jon Bjerknes
2,825 page treatise on Einstein's plagiarism, Einstein's Zionism,
history of Zionism, racism, Judaism, and more. The complete book The
Manufacture and Sale of Saint Einstein in one 17 Mb. PDF file can be
downloaded by clicking on this link: http://www.jewishracism.com/SaintEinstein.pdf
