Abstract
David MacKay was a true polymath who made pioneering contributions to information theory, inference and learning algorithms. He was a founder of the modern approach to information theory, combining Bayesian inference with artificial neural network algorithms to allow rational decision making by computer. His major achievements include reliable computation with unreliable hardware, in particular in approaching the Shannon limit using enhancements of Gallager codes. He developed communication systems for the disabled, including the Dasher code which he made freely available. He was the author of the influential book Sustainable Energy: Without the Hot Air . In 2009 he was appointed Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Energy and Climate Change. From 2003 he was Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, and in 2013 he was appointed to the first Regius Professorship of Engineering in the Engineering Department of Cambridge University. He was appointed Knight Bachelor in the 2016 New Year's Honours List ‘for services to Scientific Advice in Government and Science Outreach’, but lost his battle with stomach cancer soon afterwards at the age of 48.
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