Editing David Wheeler (computer scientist)

{{short description|British computer scientist (1927–2004)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = David Wheeler
| honorific_suffix   = {{postnominals|FRS}}
| birth_name        = David John Wheeler
| image             = EDSAC (14) (cropped).jpg
| caption           = 
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1927|2|9|df=y}}<ref>{{Cite ODNB | first = Martin| last = Campbell-Kelly| authorlink = Martin Campbell-Kelly| title =  Wheeler, David John (1927–2004)| volume = 1| doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/94633 | year = 2004 }}</ref>
| birth_place       = [[Birmingham]], England
| death_date        = {{death date and age|2004|12|13|1927|2|9|df=y}}
| death_place       = [[Cambridge]], England
| residence         = 
| nationality       = [[United Kingdom|British]]
| field             = [[Computer Science]]
| work_institution  = [[University of Cambridge]]<br/>[[Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge|Computer Lab, Cambridge]]<br />[[Darwin College, Cambridge]]
| education         = [[University of Cambridge]] (MA, PhD)
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Maurice Wilkes]]<ref name=mathgene>{{MathGenealogy|id=16946}}</ref>
| doctoral_students = {{Plainlist|
* [[Michael Burrows (computer scientist)|Michael Burrows]]<ref name=mathgene/>
* [[Li Gong (computer scientist)|Li Gong]]<ref name="gongwheeler1990">{{Cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Gong |last2=Wheeler |first2=David J. |title=A matrix key-distribution scheme |journal=Journal of Cryptology |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=51–59 |doi=10.1007/bf02252869|year=1990 |citeseerx=10.1.1.51.1279 |s2cid=30468228 }}</ref>
* [[Andy Hopper]]<ref name="hopperphd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Andy|last=Hopper |title=Local Area Computer Communication Networks |publisher=University of Cambridge |date=1978 |url=http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.459643}}</ref>
* [[Mathai Joseph]]<ref name=mathgene/>
* [[Roger Needham]]<ref name=mathgene/>
* [[Bjarne Stroustrup]]<ref name=mathgene/>
}}
| thesis_title      = Automatic Computing With EDSAC
| thesis_year       = 1951
| known_for         = inventing [[subroutines]]<br/> [[Burrows–Wheeler transform]] (BWT)<ref>{{Burrows Wheeler 1994}}</ref><br/>[[Tiny Encryption Algorithm]] (TEA)<ref name="tea">{{Cite book | last1 = Wheeler | first1 = D. J. | last2 = Needham | first2 = R. M. | chapter = TEA, a tiny encryption algorithm | doi = 10.1007/3-540-60590-8_29 | title = Fast Software Encryption | series = Lecture Notes in Computer Science | volume = 1008 | pages = 363 | year = 1995 | isbn = 978-3-540-60590-4 }}</ref><br/>[[Wheeler Jump]]<ref name="goto">{{Cite conference |last1=Wheeler |first1=D. J. |author-link1=David Wheeler (computer scientist) |chapter=The use of sub-routines in programmes |doi=10.1145/609784.609816 |title=Proceedings of the 1952 ACM national meeting (Pittsburgh) on - ACM '52 |pages=235 |year=1952 |chapter-url=http://www.laputan.org/pub/papers/wheeler |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150628022047/http://www.laputan.org/pub/papers/wheeler |archive-date=28 June 2015|doi-access=free }}</ref><br/>[[WAKE (cipher)|WAKE]]<br/>[[EDSAC]]<ref name="edsac">{{Cite journal |last=Wheeler |first=D. J. |year=1992 |title=The EDSAC programming systems |journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=34–40 |doi=10.1109/85.194053|s2cid=23064533 }}</ref>
| prizes            = [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] (1981)<br/>[[Computer Pioneer Award]] (1985)<br/>Fellow, Computer History Museum (2003)<ref name=museum>{{cite web|url=https://computerhistory.org/profile/david-john-wheeler/?alias=bio&person=david-wheeler|title=David John Wheeler: 2003 Fellow|website=Computer History Museum|access-date=15 May 2020}}</ref>
}}
'''David John Wheeler''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRS}} (9 February 1927 – 13 December 2004)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Campbell-Kelly |first=M. |author-link=Martin Campbell-Kelly |year=2006 |title=David John Wheeler. 9 February 1927 -- 13 December 2004: Elected FRS 1981 |journal=[[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] |volume=52 |pages=437–453 |doi=10.1098/rsbm.2006.0030|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/misc/obituaries/wheeler/ |publisher=Cambridge Computer Laboratory |department= Obituaries|title= David Wheeler, 1927–2004 |access-date=2011-07-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/professor-david-wheeler-698355.html |title=Professor David Wheeler |department= Obituaries|newspaper= The Independent  |access-date=2011-07-21 |location=London |date=22 December 2004}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> was an English [[computer scientist]] and professor of computer science at the [[University of Cambridge]].<ref name="microsoft">{{AcademicSearch|10222390}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | last1 = Wheeler | first1 = D. J. | chapter = A bulk data encryption algorithm | doi = 10.1007/3-540-58108-1_16 | title = Fast Software Encryption | series = Lecture Notes in Computer Science | volume = 809 | pages = 127–134 | year = 1994 | isbn = 978-3-540-58108-6 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hopper |first1=A. |last2=Wheeler |first2=J. |date=October 1979 |title=Binary Routing Networks |journal=IEEE Transactions on Computers |volume=C-28 |issue=10 |pages=699–703 |doi=10.1109/tc.1979.1675237 |s2cid=20076347 |issn=0018-9340}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hopper |first1=A. |last2=Wheeler |first2=D. |date=April 1979 |title=Maintenance of Ring Communication Systems |journal=IEEE Transactions on Communications |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=760–761 |doi=10.1109/tcom.1979.1094451 |issn=0090-6778}}</ref>

== Education ==
Wheeler was born in [[Birmingham]], England, the second of the three children of (Agnes) Marjorie, ''née'' Gudgeon, and Arthur Wheeler, a press tool maker, engineer, and proprietor of a small shopfitting firm.<ref name=":0">{{Cite ODNB|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-94633|title=Wheeler, David John (1927–2004), computer scientist|last=Campbell-Kelly|first=Martin|date=2008-01-03|volume=1|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/94633}}</ref> He was educated at a local primary school in Birmingham and then went on to [[King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys|King Edward VI Camp Hill School]] after winning a scholarship in 1938. His education was disrupted by [[World War&nbsp;II]], and he completed his sixth form studies at [[Hanley High School, Stoke-on-Trent|Hanley High School]].<ref name=":0" /> In 1945 he gained a scholarship to study the [[Cambridge Mathematical Tripos]] at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], graduating in 1948.<ref name="dblp">{{DBLP|name=David J. Wheeler}}</ref> He was awarded the world's first<ref name="HeyAndPapay2015">{{cite book|last1=Hey|first1=Tony|author1-link=Tony Hey|last2=Pápay|first2=Gyuri|page=47|chapter=The Software Is In The Holes|title=The Computing Universe: A Journey through a Revolution|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=9780521766456|date=2015}}</ref> PhD in computer science in 1951.<ref name="HeyAndPapay2015"/><ref>The Preparation of Programs for an Electronic Digital Computer by [[Maurice Wilkes]], David Wheeler, and [[Stanley Gill]]; (original 1951); reprinted with new introduction by Martin Campbell-Kelly; 198 pp.; illus; biblio; bios; index; {{ISBN|0-262-23118-2}}</ref>

==Career==
Wheeler's contributions to the field included work on the [[Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator]] (EDSAC) in the 1950s<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wilkes |first1=M.V. |last2=Renwick |first2=W. |last3=Wheeler |first3=D.J. |year=1958 |title=The design of the control unit of an electronic digital computer |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224590504 |journal=Proceedings of the IEE - Part B: Radio and Electronic Engineering |volume=105 |issue=20 |pages=121–128 |doi=10.1049/pi-b-1.1958.0267 |via=ResearchGate}}</ref> and the [[Burrows–Wheeler transform]] (published 1994). Along with [[Maurice Wilkes]] and [[Stanley Gill]], he is credited with the invention around 1951 of the [[subroutine]] (which they referred to as the ''closed subroutine''), and gave the first explanation of how to design software libraries;<ref name="goto"/> as a result, the ''jump to subroutine'' instruction was often called a [[Wheeler Jump]]. Wilkes published a paper in 1953 discussing relative [[Addressing mode|addressing]] to facilitate the use of subroutines.<ref>Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, Vol 49, Pt 1, pgs 84-9</ref> (However, [[Alan Turing|Turing]] had discussed subroutines in a paper of 1945 on design proposals for the NPL [[Automatic Computing Engine|ACE]], going so far as to invent the concept of a return address stack.<ref>{{Citation | last = Turing | first =Alan M. | author-link = Alan Turing | title = Report by Dr. A.M. Turing on proposals for the development of an Automatic Computing Engine (ACE): Submitted to the Executive Committee of the NPL in February 1946 | year = 1945 }} reprinted in {{Citation | editor-last = Copeland | editor-first = B. J. | editor-link = Jack Copeland | title = Alan Turing's Automatic Computing Engine | location = Oxford | publisher = Oxford University Press | publication-date = 2005 | isbn = 0-19-856593-3 | year = 2005  | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/alanturingsautom0000unse |page=383}}</ref>)

He was responsible for the implementation of the [[CAP computer]], the first to be based on security capabilities. In [[cryptography]], he was the designer of [[WAKE (cipher)|WAKE]] and the co-designer of the [[Tiny Encryption Algorithm|TEA]] and [[XTEA]] encryption algorithms together with [[Roger Needham]]. In 1950, with Maurice Wilkes, he used EDSAC to solve a [[differential equation]] relating to [[allele frequency|gene frequencies]] in a paper by [[Ronald Fisher]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fisher |first=R. A. |date=December 1950 |title=Gene Frequencies in a Cline Determined by Selection and Diffusion |journal=Biometrics |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=353–361 |doi=10.2307/3001780 |jstor=3001780|url=https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/15146/1/238.pdf |pmid=14791572 |hdl=2440/15146 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> This represents the first use of a computer for a problem in the field of [[biology]].

He became a [[Fellow]] of [[Darwin College, Cambridge]] in 1964 and formally retired in 1994, although he continued to be an active member of the [[University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory]] until his death.

== Personal life ==
On 24 August 1957 Wheeler married astrophysics research student Joyce Margaret Blackler, who had used EDSAC for her own mathematical investigations as a research student from 1955. Together they had two daughters and a son.

Wheeler died of a [[heart attack]] on 13 December 2004 while cycling home from the Computer Laboratory.<ref name=":0" />

== Recognition and legacy ==
Wheeler:
* In 1981 was elected a fellow of the [[Royal Society]]
* In 1985 received a [[Computer Pioneer Award]] for his contributions to [[assembly language]] programming
* In 1994 was inducted as a Fellow of the [[Association for Computing Machinery]]
* In 2003 was named a [[Computer History Museum]] Fellow Award recipient "for his invention of the closed subroutine, and for his architectural contributions to ILLIAC, the Cambridge Ring, and computer testing"<ref name=museum />

The Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge annually holds the "Wheeler Lecture", a series of distinguished lectures named after him.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/seminars/wheeler/ |title=Computer Laboratory:Wheeler Lectures |access-date=15 October 2013}}</ref>

== Quotes ==
Wheeler is often quoted as saying "All problems in computer science can be solved by another level of [[indirection]]."<ref>
{{Cite book |title=Beautiful code |last=Spinellis |first=Diomidis |publisher=O'Reilly |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-596-51004-6 |editor-last=Oram |editor-first=Andy |location=Sebastopol, CA |chapter=Another level of indirection |editor-last2=Wilson |editor-first2=Greg |chapter-url=http://www.dmst.aueb.gr/dds/pubs/inbook/beautiful_code/html/Spi07g.html}}
</ref> or "All problems in computer science can be solved by another level of indirection, except for the problem of too many layers of indirection."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bjarne|first=Stroustrup|title=The C++ Programming Language - 4th edition|language=en|page=Preface}}</ref> This has been called the [[fundamental theorem of software engineering]].

Another quotation attributed to him is "[[backward compatibility|Compatibility]] means deliberately repeating other people's mistakes."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xRLqGKY8axwC&q=compatibility+is+deliberately+repeating+the+mistakes+of+others&pg=PA73|title=Trust, Complexity and Control: Confidence in a Convergent World|last=Cofta|first=Piotr|date=2007-09-27|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9780470517840|language=en}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|David Wheeler (computer scientist)}}
{{wikiquote}}
* [http://purl.umn.edu/107711 Oral history interview with David Wheeler, 14 May 1987]. [[Charles Babbage Institute]], University of Minnesota. Wheeler discusses projects that were run on EDSAC, user-oriented programming methods, and the influence of EDSAC on the [[ILLIAC]], the [[ORDVAC]], and the [[IBM 701]]. He also notes visits by [[Douglas Hartree]], Nelson Blackman (of ONR), [[Peter Naur]], [[Adriaan van Wijngaarden|Aad van Wijngarden]], Arthur van der Poel, [[Friedrich L. Bauer|Friedrich Bauer]], and [[Louis Couffignal]].
* [http://purl.umn.edu/107335 Oral history interview with Gene H. Golub]. [[Charles Babbage Institute]], University of Minnesota. Golub discusses the construction of the [[ILLIAC]] computer, the work of Ralph Meager and David Wheeler on the ILLIAC design, British computer science, programming, and the early users of the ILLIAC at the University of Illinois.
* {{Citation | editor-last = Copeland | editor-first = B. J. | editor-link = Jack Copeland | title = Alan Turing's Automatic Computing Engine | location = Oxford | publisher = Oxford University Press | publication-date = 2005 | isbn = 0-19-856593-3 | year = 2005 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/alanturingsautom0000unse }}

{{FRS 1981}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, David}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:British computer scientists]]
[[Category:British information theorists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the British Computer Society]]
[[Category:Fellows of Darwin College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:History of computing in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Members of the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory]]
[[Category:Modern cryptographers]]
[[Category:People educated at Hanley High School]]
[[Category:People from Birmingham, West Midlands]]
[[Category:1994 fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery]]