Oral History of John McCarthy

Interviewed by Nils J. Nilsson on 2007-09-12 in Mountain View CA, X4205.2008
© Computer History Museum

Computer science legend John McCarthy speaks with Stanford University AI researcher and professor of computer science, Nil Nilsson. McCarthy discusses his early academic training and influences at Caltech and Princeton University. He then describes his early work at MIT and Dartmouth College in which he helped organize the highly influential Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence, the seminal first conference in the field. McCarthy then discusses his work at Stanford University and briefly summarizes some of the mathematical underpinnings of the logical models he uses in explaining and understanding computer systems.

* Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - http://www.computerhistory.org/collec...


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Lot number: X4205.2008
Catalog number: 102658125