From sbelknap@uic.edu Wed Feb 16 16:56:31 2000 X-Digest-Num: 366 Message-ID: <44114.366.1992.959273826@eGroups.com> Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 18:56:31 -0600 From: Steven Belknap Subject: Re: Dr. James Cooke Brown I was sorry to hear of Dr. Brown's death. Like Robert McIvor, I learned about Loglan from the 1960 Scientific American article, which I first read in 1968 (my father had all the old Scientific Americans, which I read avidly.) This article was my introduction to linguistics, artificial language, and predicate logic. I have the first edition of the Loglan book, and printouts of a circa 1979 word list. I would have to say that Dr. Brown's work was, and still is, influential in how I think about thinking. I spoke to Dr. Brown by phone on several occasions over the past ten years. I was impressed by his active mind, even at an advanced age. I was saddened by the lojban/Loglan rift. I believe that much was lost by not finding some way to mend this rift, as Dr. Brown was a remarkably creative and intelligent person. The finest tribute to Dr. Brown would be that lojban/Loglan would survive him. The survival of his creation would best be assured by uniting the two communities. Aside from the actual predicates and connecting words, the two languages are essentially identical, as far as I can determine. Whatever the future of the language, I am grateful to Dr. Brown for the audacious breadth of his vision and the depth of his commitment to reason and logic as a means of decreasing human misery. My condolence to his family and friends. -Steven >From: "Robert A. McIvor" > > I was very saddened to hear of the death of Dr. Brown. I was >privileged to have known him personally as a friend and colleague, >and my deepest sympathies >go to his wife and family. I first encountered Loglan in his >original Scientific American >article, and, while I didn't follow it up, I was intrigued enough to keep >looking for further information, and when the first books were announced, >began studying it. This led to programming some "Taste Tests" and the >first attempts at a machine grammar, and, as a result being invited to >visit him in San Diego in 1982. At the time, neither of us had any idea of >what the other looked like, and I remember standing in front of the >bus depot in San Diego holding up a >Loglan publication, wondering if I was going to be chased out for >soliciting! We were using some of the first personal computers, and a >grammar compilation with YACC took about 45 minutes. Today >compiling a considerably larger grammar takes a fraction of a second on >current models. > Subsequently, we spent many mornings together working on the >dictionary during two winters that I spent in a former private school that >he had built himself on his Gainesville property, the memory of which I >cherish deeply. > He had devoted much time in recent years to a book proposing a >computer-based >economic system which had the potential of eliminating involuntary >unemployment, inflation, >and the need of economies to have continued growth at the expense of the >environment. A sketchy version of this was in his futuristic novel >"The Troika Incident". >He had been actively engaged in recent months with potential >publishers. He had also another >book in mind, had nature permitted. > However, in recognition of his declining health, he took a couple >of months off each >year to fulfil ambitions to travel, with trips to Australia, China, Russia, >around North America, >and was engaged in a trip around South America at the time of his death. > He will be greatly missed. > > > >--------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- > >Get your money connected at OnMoney.com - the first Web site that lets >you see, consolidate, and manage all of your finances all in one place. >Click Here > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >To unsubscribe, send mail to lojban-unsubscribe@onelist.com Steven Belknap, M.D. Assistant Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Medicine University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria