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Alexander Wissner-Gross

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Alexander D. Wissner-Gross
Alma materMassachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsCO2Stats

Alexander D. Wissner-Gross is an American research scientist and entrepreneur. He is a fellow at the Institute for Applied Computational Science at Harvard University.

Education

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he researched nanotechnology, Wissner-Gross triple-majored in physics, electrical engineering and mathematics. He was awarded the Marshall Scholarship, and was the last student to triple-major at MIT before the option was discontinued. Wissner-Gross also has a Ph.D in physics from Harvard University.

Entrepreneurship

In 2007, Wissner-Gross founded the technology company CO2Stats, which measures the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by using a website. CO2Stats is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and received funding from the seed venture capital firm Y Combinator. The company attracted controversy when Wissner-Gross was reported to have claimed that a single Google search emitted seven grams of CO2, which Google disputed. Wissner-Gross denied making the claim.

Activities

Wissner-Gross co-authored a paper with mathematician Cameron Freer describing a "biophysical model for explaining sophisticated intelligent behavior in human and nonhuman animals", published in the journal Physical Review Letters, which he expected would be useful for artificial intelligence. Researcher Gary Marcus wrote an article in The New Yorker criticizing the paper, saying they were "essentially promising a television set that walks your dog".

References

  1. ^ Marcus, Gary; Davis, Ernest (May 6, 2013). "A Grand Unified Theory of Everything". The New Yorker. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  2. "Alexander Wissner-Gross". Institute for Applied Computational Science at Harvard University. Harvard University. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  3. "Three MIT students win Marshall Scholarships". MIT News. December 4, 2002. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  4. ^ Buderi, Robert (January 14, 2009). "Tempest in a Tea Kettle: CO2Stats Founder Caught in Frenzy Around Environmental Costs of a Google Search". Xconomy. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  5. St. John, Jeff (January 13, 2009). "Google CO2 Claim Throws CO2Stats Into Limelight". Greentech Media. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  6. "'Carbon cost' of Google revealed". BBC News. January 12, 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  7. Wissner-Gross, Alexander D.; Freer, Cameron E. (April 19, 2013). "Causal Entropic Forces" (PDF). Physical Review Letters. 110 (16): 168702. Bibcode:2013PhRvL.110p8702W. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.168702. PMID 23679649. Retrieved 4 April 2016.

External links

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