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{{Short description|Soviet-American physicist, computer scientist, and human rights activist}}
{{Infobox scientist
{{Infobox scientist
|name = Valentin Fyodorovich Turchin
|name = Valentin Fyodorovich Turchin
|native_name = Валентин Фёдорович Турчин
|native_name = {{Nobold|{{lang|ru|Валентин Фёдорович Турчин}}}}
|native_name_lang = Russian
|image = Valentin Toertsjin (1977).jpg
|image = Valentin Toertsjin (1977).jpg
|image_size =
|image_size =
|caption = Turchin in 1977
|caption = Turchin in 1977
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|02|14}}
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|02|14}}
|birth_place = [[Podolsk]], [[USSR]]
|birth_place = [[Podolsk]], Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
|death_date = {{death date and age|2010|04|07|1931|02|14}}
|death_date = {{death date and age|2010|04|07|1931|02|14}}
|death_place = [[Oakland, New Jersey]], U.S.<ref name=Joslyn>{{cite journal|author=Joslyn, Cliff|title=Valentin F. Turchin (1931–2010)|journal=[[International Journal of General Systems]]|date=April 2011|volume=40|issue=3|pages=233–236|doi=10.1080/03081079.2010.550144|s2cid=11028438}}</ref>
|death_place = [[Oakland, New Jersey]]
|residence =
|residence =
|citizenship = * {{Flag|Soviet Union}} (1931–1977)
|citizenship = * {{Flag|Soviet Union}} (1931–1977)
* {{Flag|United States}} (1977–2010)
*{{Flag|United States}} (1977–2010)
|nationality = [[Russians|Russian]]
|nationality = [[Russians|Russian]]
|ethnicity =
|ethnicity =
|field = [[cybernetics]], [[computer science]]
|field = [[cybernetics]], [[computer science]]
|workplaces = * [[Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics]]
|workplaces = * [[Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics]]
* [[Obninsk Institute for Nuclear Power Engineering]]
*[[Obninsk Institute for Nuclear Power Engineering]]
* [[City University of New York]]
*[[City College of New York]]
⚫
*subsidiary of [[Amnesty International]] in the [[Soviet Union]]
* [[City College of New York]]
⚫
* subsidiary of [[Amnesty International]] in the [[Soviet Union]]
|alma_mater = [[Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics]]
|alma_mater = [[Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics]]
|doctoral_advisor =
|doctoral_advisor =
|doctoral_students =
|doctoral_students =
|known_for = * creating [[Refal]], a [[functional programming|functional]] [[programming language]]
|known_for = * Creating [[Refal]], a [[functional programming|functional]] [[programming language]]
* founding the [[Principia Cybernetica Project]]
*Founding the [[Principia Cybernetica Project]]
* human rights activism with participation in [[dissident movement in the Soviet Union]]
*Human rights activism with participation in [[dissident movement in the Soviet Union]]
|author_abbrev_bot =
|author_abbrev_bot =
|author_abbrev_zoo =
|author_abbrev_zoo =
Line 35: Line 34:
|footnotes =
|footnotes =
|spouse =
|spouse =
|children = [[Peter Turchin]]
|children = [[Peter Turchin]]<br/>
Dimitri Turchin
}}
}}


'''Valentin Fyodorovich Turchin''' ({{lang-ru|Валенти́н Фёдорович Турчи́н}}, 14 February 1931 in [[Podolsk]] &ndash; 7 April 2010 in [[Oakland, New Jersey]]<ref name=Joslyn>{{cite journal|author=Joslyn, Cliff|title=Valentin F. Turchin (1931–2010)|journal=[[International Journal of General Systems]]|date=April 2011|volume=40|issue=3|pages=233–236|doi=10.1080/03081079.2010.550144}}</ref>) was a Soviet and American [[cybernetics|cybernetician]] and computer scientist. He developed the [[Refal programming language]], the theory of [[metasystem transition]]s and the notion of [[supercompilation]]. He was as a pioneer in [[Artificial Intelligence]] and a proponent of the [[global brain]] hypothesis.
'''Valentin Fyodorovich Turchin''' ({{langx|ru|Валенти́н Фёдорович Турчи́н}}, 14 February 1931 &ndash; 7 April 2010) was a Soviet and American physicist, [[cybernetics|cybernetician]], and computer scientist. He developed the [[Refal programming language]], the theory of [[metasystem transition]]s and the notion of [[supercompilation]]. He was a pioneer in [[artificial intelligence]] and a proponent of the [[global brain]] hypothesis.


==Biography==
==Biography==
Turchin was born in 1931 in [[Podolsk]], [[Soviet Union]]. In 1952, he graduated from Moscow University in Theoretical Physics, and got his Ph.D. in 1957. After working on neutron and solid-state physics at the Institute for Physics of Energy in Obninsk, in 1964 he accepted a position at the [[Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics]] in [[Moscow]]. There he worked in statistical regularization methods and authored REFAL, one of the first AI languages and the AI language of choice in the Soviet Union.
Turchin was born in 1931 in [[Podolsk]], [[Soviet Union]]. In 1952, he graduated from Moscow University with a degree in Theoretical Physics and got his Ph.D. in 1957. After working on neutron and solid-state physics at the Institute for Physics of Energy in Obninsk, in 1964 he accepted a position at the [[Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics]] in Moscow. There he worked on statistical regularization methods and authored REFAL, one of the first AI languages and the AI language of choice in the Soviet Union.


⚫
In the 1960s, Turchin became politically active. In the Fall of 1968, he wrote the pamphlet ''The Inertia of Fear'', which was quite widely circulated in [[samizdat]], the writing began to be circulated under the title ''The Inertia of Fear: Socialism and Totalitarianism'' in Moscow in 1976.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Sandzdat News|journal=[[A Chronicle of Current Events]]|date=1979|issue=40–42|page=270|url=https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/204000/eur460221979eng.pdf}}</ref> Following its publication in the underground press, he lost his research laboratory.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Phenomenon of Science|author=Valentin F. Turchin|pages=11|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|date=1977|isbn=978-0-231-03983-3|url=http://pcp.vub.ac.be/POSBOOK.html}}</ref> In 1970 he authored "The Phenomenon of Science",<ref>{{cite book|title=The Phenomenon of Science|author=Valentin F. Turchin|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|date=1977|isbn=978-0-231-03983-3|url=http://pcp.vub.ac.be/POSBOOK.html}}</ref> a grand cybernetic meta-theory of universal evolution, which broadened and deepened the earlier book. By 1973, Turchin had founded the Moscow chapter of [[Amnesty International]] with [[Andrey Tverdokhlebov]] and was working closely with the well-known physicist and Soviet dissident [[Andrei Sakharov]]. In 1974 he lost his position at the Institute and was persecuted by the [[KGB]]. Facing almost certain imprisonment, he and his family were forced to emigrate from the Soviet Union in 1977.
In the 1960s, Turchin became politically active. In Fall 1968, he wrote the pamphlet ''The Inertia of Fear'', which was
⚫
quite widely circulated in [[samizdat]], the writing began to be circulated under the title ''The Inertia of Fear: Socialism and Totalitarianism'' in Moscow from 1976.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Sandzdat News|journal=[[A Chronicle of Current Events]]|date=1979|issue=40-42|page=270|url=https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/204000/eur460221979eng.pdf|publisher=Amnesty International Publications|location=London}}</ref> Following its publication in the underground press, he lost his research laboratory.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Phenomenon of Science|author=Valentin F. Turchin|pages=11|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|date=1977|isbn=978-0-231-03983-3|url=http://pcp.vub.ac.be/POSBOOK.html}}</ref> In 1970 he authored "The Phenomenon of Science",<ref>{{cite book|title=The Phenomenon of Science|author=Valentin F. Turchin|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|date=1977|isbn=978-0-231-03983-3|url=http://pcp.vub.ac.be/POSBOOK.html}}</ref> a grand cybernetic meta-theory of universal evolution, which broadened and deepened the earlier book. By 1973, Turchin had founded the Moscow chapter of [[Amnesty International]] with [[Andrey Tverdokhlebov]] and was working closely with the well-known physicist and Soviet dissident [[Andrei Sakharov]]. In 1974 he lost his position at the Institute, and was persecuted by the [[KGB]]. Facing almost certain imprisonment, he and his family were forced to emigrate from the [[Soviet Union]] in 1977.


He went to New York, where he joined the faculty of the [[City University of New York]] in 1979. In 1990, together with [[Cliff Joslyn]] and [[Francis Heylighen]], he founded the [[Principia Cybernetica Project]], a worldwide organization devoted to the collaborative development of an evolutionary-cybernetic philosophy. In 1998, he co-founded the software start-up SuperCompilers, LLC. He retired from his post of Professor of Computer Science at [[City College of New York|City College]] in 1999. A resident of [[Oakland, New Jersey]],<ref>[[Andrew Rosenthal|Rosenthal, Andrew]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/05/world/for-the-soviet-emigres-gorbachev-stirs-both-optimism-and-skepticism.html?pagewanted=all "For the Soviet Emigres, Gorbachev Stirs Both Optimism and Skepticism"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', December 5, 1987. Accessed May 25, 2016. "Valentin Turchin, who teaches computer sciences at the City College of New York and lives in Oakland, N.J., said: 'Both sides of Gorbachev's new era must be stressed. What he says is significant and unprecedented, but at the same time, it should be seen only as a beginning. In addition, we generally have the impression that during the last months, things have started curving down.'"</ref> he died there on 7 April 2010.<ref name=Joslyn/>
He went to New York, where he joined the faculty of the [[City College of New York]] in 1979. In 1990, together with [[Cliff Joslyn]] and [[Francis Heylighen]], he founded the [[Principia Cybernetica Project]], a worldwide organization devoted to the collaborative development of an evolutionary-cybernetic philosophy. In 1998, he co-founded the software start-up SuperCompilers, LLC. He retired from his post as Professor of Computer Science at [[City College of New York|City College]] in 1999. A resident of [[Oakland, New Jersey]],<ref>[[Andrew Rosenthal|Rosenthal, Andrew]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/05/world/for-the-soviet-emigres-gorbachev-stirs-both-optimism-and-skepticism.html?pagewanted=all "For the Soviet Emigres, Gorbachev Stirs Both Optimism and Skepticism"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', December 5, 1987. Accessed May 25, 2016. "Valentin Turchin, who teaches computer sciences at the City College of New York and lives in Oakland, New Jersey, said: 'Both sides of Gorbachev's new era must be stressed. What he says is significant and unprecedented, but at the same time, it should be seen only as a beginning. In addition, we generally have the impression that during the last months, things have started curving down.'"</ref> he died there on 7 April 2010.<ref name=Joslyn/>


His son, [[Peter Turchin]], is a specialist in [[population dynamics]] and [[mathematical modeling]] of historical dynamics.
He has two sons named [[Peter Turchin]] (a specialist in [[population dynamics]] and the [[mathematical modeling]] of historical dynamics) and Dimitri Turchin.


==Work==
==Work==
The philosophical core of Turchin's scientific work is the concept of the [[metasystem transition]], which denotes the evolutionary process through which higher levels of control emerge in system structure and function.
The philosophical core of Turchin's scientific work is the concept of the [[metasystem transition]], which denotes the evolutionary process through which higher levels of control emerge in system structure and function.


Turchin uses this concept to provide a global theory of [[evolution]] and a coherent social systems theory, to develop a complete [[cybernetic]]s philosophical and ethical system, and to build a constructivist foundation for mathematics.
Turchin uses this concept to provide a global theory of evolution and a coherent social systems theory, to develop a complete [[cybernetic]]s philosophical and ethical system, and to build a constructivist foundation for mathematics.


Using the [[REFAL]] language he has implemented a Supercompiler, a unified method for program transformation and optimization based on a metasystem transition.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter=Supercompilation: Techniques and results|title=Perspectives of System Informatics|pages=227&ndash;248|author=Valentin F. Turchin|series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science|publisher=Springer|location=Heidelberg|url=http://www.supercompilers.com/html/supercompilation.html|date=1996 |issn=0302-9743|isbn=978-3-540-62064-8|postscript=<!--None-->}}</ref>
Using the [[REFAL]] language he has implemented Supercompiler, a unified method for program transformation and optimization based on a metasystem transition.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter=Supercompilation: Techniques and results|title=Perspectives of System Informatics|pages=227&ndash;248|author=Valentin F. Turchin|series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science|publisher=Springer|location=Heidelberg|chapter-url=http://www.supercompilers.com/html/supercompilation.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20011225054544/http://www.supercompilers.com/html/supercompilation.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2001-12-25|date=1996|issn=0302-9743|isbn=978-3-540-62064-8}}</ref>


==Major publications==
==Major publications==
*{{Cite book|title=The Phenomenon of Science|author=Valentin F. Turchin|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|date=1977|isbn=978-0-231-03983-3|url=http://pcp.vub.ac.be/POSBOOK.html}}
*{{Cite book|title=The Phenomenon of Science|author=Valentin F. Turchin|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|date=1977|isbn=978-0-231-03983-3|url=http://pcp.vub.ac.be/POSBOOK.html}}
* {{cite journal|author1=Sakharov, Andrei |author2=Turchin, Valentin |author3=Medvedev, Roy |title=The need for democratization|journal=[[Saturday Review (U.S. magazine)|The Saturday Review]]|date=6 June 1970|pages=26–27|url=http://www.unz.org/Pub/SaturdayRev-1970jun06-00026}}
*{{cite journal|author1=Sakharov, Andrei |author2=Turchin, Valentin |author3=Medvedev, Roy |title=The need for democratization|journal=[[Saturday Review (U.S. magazine)|The Saturday Review]]|date=6 June 1970|pages=26–27}}
* {{cite journal|author1=Sakharov, Andrei |author2=Turchin, Valentin |author3=Medvedev, Roy |title=An open letter|journal=Survey|date=Summer 1970|pages=160–170|url=http://www.unz.org/Pub/Survey-1970q2-00160}}
*{{cite journal|author1=Sakharov, Andrei |author2=Turchin, Valentin |author3=Medvedev, Roy |title=An open letter|journal=Survey|date=Summer 1970|pages=160–170}}
* {{cite journal|author=Valentin F. Turchin|title=Why you should boycott the Russians|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|date=May 1978|volume=273|issue=5660|pages=256–257|doi=10.1038/273256a0|bibcode=1978Natur.273..256T}}
*{{cite journal|author=Valentin F. Turchin|title=Why you should boycott the Russians|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|date=May 1978|volume=273|issue=5660|pages=256–257|doi=10.1038/273256a0|bibcode=1978Natur.273..256T|s2cid=4222713|doi-access=free}}
* {{cite journal|author=Valentin F. Turchin|title=Boycotting the Soviet Union|journal=[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]]|date=September 1978|volume=34|issue=7|pages=7–11|doi=10.1080/00963402.1978.11458530|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00963402.1978.11458530}}
*{{cite journal|author=Valentin F. Turchin|title=Boycotting the Soviet Union|journal=[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]]|date=September 1978|volume=34|issue=7|pages=7–11|doi=10.1080/00963402.1978.11458530|bibcode=1978BuAtS..34g...7T}}
* {{cite book|author=Турчин, Валентин|title=Инерция страха: социализм и тоталитаризм|trans-title=The inertia of fear: socialism and totalitarianism|date=1978|publisher=Khronika|location=New York|edition=2|url=http://www.ihst.ru/projects/sohist/papers/turchin/content.htm|language=Russian}}
*{{cite book|author=Турчин, Валентин|title=Инерция страха: социализм и тоталитаризм|trans-title=The inertia of fear: socialism and totalitarianism|date=1978|publisher=Khronika|location=New York|edition=2|url=http://www.ihst.ru/projects/sohist/papers/turchin/content.htm|language=Russian}}
* {{cite journal|author1=Turchin, Valentin |author2=Handle, Philip |title=Boycott Helsinki meeting|journal=[[Physics Today]]|date=January 1980|volume=33|issue=1|page=11|doi=10.1063/1.2913894|bibcode=1980PhT....33a..11T}}
*{{cite journal|author1=Turchin, Valentin |author2=Handle, Philip |title=Boycott Helsinki meeting|journal=[[Physics Today]]|date=January 1980|volume=33|issue=1|page=11|doi=10.1063/1.2913894|bibcode=1980PhT....33a..11T}}
* {{cite journal|author=Turchin, Valentin|title=From Helsinki to Hamburg|journal=[[Science (magazine)|Science]]|date=4 January 1980|volume=207|issue=4426|page=8|doi=10.1126/science.207.4426.8|jstor=1683174|bibcode=1980Sci...207....8T}}
*{{cite journal|author=Turchin, Valentin|title=From Helsinki to Hamburg|journal=[[Science (magazine)|Science]]|date=4 January 1980|volume=207|issue=4426|pages=8|doi=10.1126/science.6444253|jstor=1683174|bibcode=1980Sci...207....8T}}
*{{Cite book|title=The Inertia of Fear and the Scientific Worldview|author=Valentin F. Turchin|publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York|date=1981|isbn=978-0-231-04622-0}}
*{{Cite book|title=The Inertia of Fear and the Scientific Worldview|author=Valentin F. Turchin|publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York|date=1981|isbn=978-0-231-04622-0}}
* {{cite journal|author=Turchin, Valentin|title=Orlov in exile|journal=[[Physics Today]]|date=July 1985|volume=38|issue=38|page=9|doi=10.1063/1.2814623|bibcode=1985PhT....38g...9T}}
*{{cite journal|author=Turchin, Valentin|title=Orlov in exile|journal=[[Physics Today]]|date=July 1985|volume=38|issue=7|page=9|doi=10.1063/1.2814623|bibcode=1985PhT....38g...9T}}
*{{Cite journal|title=The concept of a supercompiler|author=Valentin F. Turchin|publisher=ACM|location=New York|journal=ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems|volume=8|issue=3|date=July 1986|pages=292&ndash;325|doi=10.1145/5956.5957|postscript=<!--None-->}}
*{{Cite journal|title=The concept of a supercompiler|author=Valentin F. Turchin|journal=ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems|volume=8|issue=3|date=July 1986|pages=292&ndash;325|doi=10.1145/5956.5957|s2cid=8403840|doi-access=free}}
*{{Cite journal|title=A constructive interpretation of the full set theory|author=Valentin F. Turchin|journal=Journal of Symbolic Logic|date=March 1987|pages=172&ndash;201|volume=52|issue=1|doi=10.2307/2273872|publisher=Association for Symbolic Logic|jstor=2273872}}
*{{Cite journal|title=A constructive interpretation of the full set theory|author=Valentin F. Turchin|journal=Journal of Symbolic Logic|date=March 1987|pages=172&ndash;201|volume=52|issue=1|doi=10.2307/2273872|jstor=2273872|s2cid=2205937 }}
* {{cite journal|author=Valentin F. Turchin|title=On cybernetic epistemology|journal=[[Systems Research]]|date=1993|volume=10|issue=1|pages=1–28|doi=10.1002/sres.3850100102}}
*{{cite journal|author=Valentin F. Turchin|title=On cybernetic epistemology|journal=[[Systems Research]]|date=1993|volume=10|issue=1|pages=1–28|doi=10.1002/sres.3850100102|s2cid=60953576 }}
*{{Cite journal
*{{Cite journal
| doi = 10.1108/eb005960
| doi = 10.1108/eb005960
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| date = 1993
| date = 1993
| url=http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/Papers/Turchin/Cybernetic_Ontology.pdf
| url=http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/Papers/Turchin/Cybernetic_Ontology.pdf
| citeseerx = 10.1.1.359.6176}}
}}
*{{Cite journal
*{{Cite journal
| doi = 10.1080/02604027.1995.9972553
| doi = 10.1080/02604027.1995.9972553
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| date = 1995
| date = 1995
|url=http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/Papers/Turchin/dialog.pdf
|url=http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/Papers/Turchin/dialog.pdf
| citeseerx = 10.1.1.214.9001}}
}}
*Refal-5: Programming Guide and Reference Manual, New England Publishing Co. Holyoke MA, 1989
*Refal-5: Programming Guide and Reference Manual, New England Publishing Co. Holyoke MA, 1989
*[http://pcp.vub.ac.be/ Principia Cybernetica Web] (as editor, together with F. Heylighen and C. Joslyn) (1993–2005)
*[http://pcp.vub.ac.be/ Principia Cybernetica Web] (as editor, together with F. Heylighen and C. Joslyn) (1993–2005)
Line 104: Line 103:


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://asf.prime-task.com/cgi/ASFdbs.pl?&action=Linkview&pass=&link_name=doc&link_type_doc=file&main_page=http://asf.prime-task.com/&main_page_title=ASF+Home+Page&layout=frame&database=asfdocs_n_first_sprivat&link_res_doc=turchin-kline.1271258936.html Valentin Turchin, eulogy] by Edward Kline, President of The Andrei Sakharov Foundation
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110715112828/http://asf.prime-task.com/cgi/ASFdbs.pl?&action=Linkview&pass=&link_name=doc&link_type_doc=file&main_page=http%3A%2F%2Fasf.prime-task.com%2F&main_page_title=ASF+Home+Page&layout=frame&database=asfdocs_n_first_sprivat&link_res_doc=turchin-kline.1271258936.html Valentin Turchin, eulogy] by Edward Kline, President of The Andrei Sakharov Foundation
*[http://pcp.vub.ac.be/TURCHIN.html Turchin's home page] on Principia Cybernetica web
*[http://pcp.vub.ac.be/TURCHIN.html Turchin's home page] on Principia Cybernetica web
*[http://www.goertzel.org/benzine/turchin.htm Profile of Valentin Turchin] by [[Ben Goertzel]]
*[http://www.goertzel.org/benzine/turchin.htm Profile of Valentin Turchin] by [[Ben Goertzel]]
*[http://www.ets.ru/turchin/index.htm Russian edition. The Phenomenon of Science] The Phenomenon of Science. A cybernetic approach to human evolution. ETS Publishing House. Moscow - 2000, 398 pp, ISBN 5-93386-019-0
*[http://www.ets.ru/turchin/index.htm Russian edition. The Phenomenon of Science] The Phenomenon of Science. A cybernetic approach to human evolution. ETS Publishing House. Moscow - 2000, 398 pp, {{ISBN|5-93386-019-0}}
*[http://www.refal.ru/ refal.ru - REFAL and Supercompilation community]
*[http://www.refal.ru/ refal.ru - REFAL and Supercompilation community]


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[[Category:Soviet human rights activists]]
[[Category:Soviet human rights activists]]
[[Category:Superorganisms]]
[[Category:Superorganisms]]
[[Category:Systems scientists]]
[[Category:American systems scientists]]
[[Category:Complex systems scientists]]
[[Category:Complex systems scientists]]
[[Category:People from Oakland, New Jersey]]
[[Category:People from Oakland, New Jersey]]
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[[Category:Soviet dissidents]]
[[Category:Soviet dissidents]]
[[Category:Soviet emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Soviet emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:City University of New York faculty]]
[[Category:City College of New York faculty]]
[[Category:Amnesty International people]]
[[Category:Amnesty International people]]
[[Category:Moscow State University alumni]]
[[Category:Moscow State University alumni]]
[[Category:Soviet mathematicians]]
[[Category:Soviet mathematicians]]
[[Category:Soviet physicists]]
[[Category:Soviet physicists]]
[[Category:20th-century physicists]]
[[Category:Programming language designers]]
[[Category:Russian scientists]]

Latest revision as of 17:00, 2 November 2024

Valentin Fyodorovich Turchin
Валентин Фёдорович Турчин
Turchin in 1977
Born(1931-02-14)February 14, 1931
Podolsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
DiedApril 7, 2010(2010-04-07) (aged 79)
Oakland, New Jersey, U.S.[1]
NationalityRussian
Citizenship
Alma materInstitute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics
Known for
ChildrenPeter Turchin
Dimitri Turchin
Scientific career
Fieldscybernetics, computer science
Institutions

Valentin Fyodorovich Turchin (Russian: Валенти́н Фёдорович Турчи́н, 14 February 1931 – 7 April 2010) was a Soviet and American physicist, cybernetician, and computer scientist. He developed the Refal programming language, the theory of metasystem transitions and the notion of supercompilation. He was a pioneer in artificial intelligence and a proponent of the global brain hypothesis.

Biography

[edit]

Turchin was born in 1931 in Podolsk, Soviet Union. In 1952, he graduated from Moscow University with a degree in Theoretical Physics and got his Ph.D. in 1957. After working on neutron and solid-state physics at the Institute for Physics of Energy in Obninsk, in 1964 he accepted a position at the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics in Moscow. There he worked on statistical regularization methods and authored REFAL, one of the first AI languages and the AI language of choice in the Soviet Union.

In the 1960s, Turchin became politically active. In the Fall of 1968, he wrote the pamphlet The Inertia of Fear, which was quite widely circulated in samizdat, the writing began to be circulated under the title The Inertia of Fear: Socialism and Totalitarianism in Moscow in 1976.[2] Following its publication in the underground press, he lost his research laboratory.[3] In 1970 he authored "The Phenomenon of Science",[4] a grand cybernetic meta-theory of universal evolution, which broadened and deepened the earlier book. By 1973, Turchin had founded the Moscow chapter of Amnesty International with Andrey Tverdokhlebov and was working closely with the well-known physicist and Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov. In 1974 he lost his position at the Institute and was persecuted by the KGB. Facing almost certain imprisonment, he and his family were forced to emigrate from the Soviet Union in 1977.

He went to New York, where he joined the faculty of the City College of New York in 1979. In 1990, together with Cliff Joslyn and Francis Heylighen, he founded the Principia Cybernetica Project, a worldwide organization devoted to the collaborative development of an evolutionary-cybernetic philosophy. In 1998, he co-founded the software start-up SuperCompilers, LLC. He retired from his post as Professor of Computer Science at City College in 1999. A resident of Oakland, New Jersey,[5] he died there on 7 April 2010.[1]

He has two sons named Peter Turchin (a specialist in population dynamics and the mathematical modeling of historical dynamics) and Dimitri Turchin.

Work

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The philosophical core of Turchin's scientific work is the concept of the metasystem transition, which denotes the evolutionary process through which higher levels of control emerge in system structure and function.

Turchin uses this concept to provide a global theory of evolution and a coherent social systems theory, to develop a complete cybernetics philosophical and ethical system, and to build a constructivist foundation for mathematics.

Using the REFAL language he has implemented Supercompiler, a unified method for program transformation and optimization based on a metasystem transition.[6]

Major publications

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  • Valentin F. Turchin (1977). The Phenomenon of Science. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-03983-3.
  • Sakharov, Andrei; Turchin, Valentin; Medvedev, Roy (6 June 1970). "The need for democratization". The Saturday Review: 26–27.
  • Sakharov, Andrei; Turchin, Valentin; Medvedev, Roy (Summer 1970). "An open letter". Survey: 160–170.
  • Valentin F. Turchin (May 1978). "Why you should boycott the Russians". Nature. 273 (5660): 256–257. Bibcode:1978Natur.273..256T. doi:10.1038/273256a0. S2CID 4222713.
  • Valentin F. Turchin (September 1978). "Boycotting the Soviet Union". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 34 (7): 7–11. Bibcode:1978BuAtS..34g...7T. doi:10.1080/00963402.1978.11458530.
  • Турчин, Валентин (1978). Инерция страха: социализм и тоталитаризм [The inertia of fear: socialism and totalitarianism] (in Russian) (2 ed.). New York: Khronika.
  • Turchin, Valentin; Handle, Philip (January 1980). "Boycott Helsinki meeting". Physics Today. 33 (1): 11. Bibcode:1980PhT....33a..11T. doi:10.1063/1.2913894.
  • Turchin, Valentin (4 January 1980). "From Helsinki to Hamburg". Science. 207 (4426): 8. Bibcode:1980Sci...207....8T. doi:10.1126/science.6444253. JSTOR 1683174.
  • Valentin F. Turchin (1981). The Inertia of Fear and the Scientific Worldview. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-04622-0.
  • Turchin, Valentin (July 1985). "Orlov in exile". Physics Today. 38 (7): 9. Bibcode:1985PhT....38g...9T. doi:10.1063/1.2814623.
  • Valentin F. Turchin (July 1986). "The concept of a supercompiler". ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems. 8 (3): 292–325. doi:10.1145/5956.5957. S2CID 8403840.
  • Valentin F. Turchin (March 1987). "A constructive interpretation of the full set theory". Journal of Symbolic Logic. 52 (1): 172–201. doi:10.2307/2273872. JSTOR 2273872. S2CID 2205937.
  • Valentin F. Turchin (1993). "On cybernetic epistemology". Systems Research. 10 (1): 1–28. doi:10.1002/sres.3850100102. S2CID 60953576.
  • Turchin, Valentin F. (1993). "The Cybernetic Ontology of Action" (PDF). Kybernetes. 22 (2): 10–30. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.359.6176. doi:10.1108/eb005960.
  • Turchin, Valentin F. (1995). "A dialogue on metasystem transition" (PDF). World Futures. 45 (1): 5–57. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.214.9001. doi:10.1080/02604027.1995.9972553.
  • Refal-5: Programming Guide and Reference Manual, New England Publishing Co. Holyoke MA, 1989
  • Principia Cybernetica Web (as editor, together with F. Heylighen and C. Joslyn) (1993–2005)

Most cited publications according to Google Scholar

References

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  1. ^ a b Joslyn, Cliff (April 2011). "Valentin F. Turchin (1931–2010)". International Journal of General Systems. 40 (3): 233–236. doi:10.1080/03081079.2010.550144. S2CID 11028438.
  2. ^ "Sandzdat News" (PDF). A Chronicle of Current Events (40–42): 270. 1979.
  3. ^ Valentin F. Turchin (1977). The Phenomenon of Science. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-231-03983-3.
  4. ^ Valentin F. Turchin (1977). The Phenomenon of Science. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-03983-3.
  5. ^ Rosenthal, Andrew. "For the Soviet Emigres, Gorbachev Stirs Both Optimism and Skepticism", The New York Times, December 5, 1987. Accessed May 25, 2016. "Valentin Turchin, who teaches computer sciences at the City College of New York and lives in Oakland, New Jersey, said: 'Both sides of Gorbachev's new era must be stressed. What he says is significant and unprecedented, but at the same time, it should be seen only as a beginning. In addition, we generally have the impression that during the last months, things have started curving down.'"
  6. ^ Valentin F. Turchin (1996). "Supercompilation: Techniques and results". Perspectives of System Informatics. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Heidelberg: Springer. pp. 227–248. ISBN 978-3-540-62064-8. ISSN 0302-9743. Archived from the original on 2001-12-25.
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