Alexey Lyapunov
Alexey Andreevich Lyapunov (Russian: Алексе́й Андре́евич Ляпуно́в; 1911–1973) was a Soviet mathematician and an early pioneer of computer science. One of the founders of Soviet cybernetics, Lyapunov was member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences and a specialist in the fields of real function theory, mathematical problems of cybernetics, set theory, programming theory, mathematical linguistics, and mathematical biology.
Alexey Lyapunov | |
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Born | |
Died | June 23, 1973 61) | (aged
Nationality | Russian |
Citizenship | Soviet Union Russian SFSR |
Alma mater | Moscow State University |
Known for | cybernetics programming theory |
Awards | Order of Lenin Computer Pioneer Award |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Mathematician Cybernetics |
Institutions | Steklov Mathematical Institute Sobolev Institute of Mathematics Novosibirsk State University |
Doctoral advisors | Nikolai Luzin Pyotr Novikov |
Doctoral students | Andrey Ershov, Anatoly Kitov, Rafail Krichevskii, Oleg Lupanov, Yuri Zhuravlyov |
Biography
Composer Sergei Lyapunov, mathematician Aleksandr Lyapunov, and philologist Boris Lyapunov were close relatives of Alexey Lyapunov.
In 1928, Lyapunov enrolled at Moscow State University to study mathematics, and in 1932 he became a student of Nikolai Luzin. Under his mentorship, Lyapunov began his research in descriptive set theory. He became world-wide known for his theorem on the range of an atomless vector-measure in finite dimensions, now called the Lyapunov Convexity Theorem.
From 1934 until the early 1950s, Lyapunov was on the staff of the Steklov Institute of Mathematics. When Mstislav Keldysh organized the Department of Applied Mathematics (now the M.V. Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics) he suggested Lyapunov to lead its work on programming.
In 1961, Lyapunov moved to the Institute of Mathematics of the Siberian Division of the USSR Academy of Sciences (now the Sobolev Institute of Mathematics), where he founded the department of cybernetics. At Novosibirsk State University, he founded the Department of Theoretical Cybernetics and the Laboratory of Cybernetics at the Institute of Hydrodynamics of the Siberian Division of the USSR Academy of Sciences (now the Lavrentiev Institute of Hydrodynamics) which he led until the end of his life.
In 1964, Lyapunov was elected a member of the USSR Academy of Sciences and joined the Division of Mathematics.
He was awarded the Order of Lenin. In 1996, he was awarded the IEEE Computer Society's Computer Pioneer Award.