Chris Wallace

Who was Chris Wallace?

Professor Christopher Stewart Wallace was an Australian computer scientist notable for having devised:

The minimum message length principle — an information-theoretic principle in statistics, econometrics, machine learning, inductive inference and knowledge discovery which can be seen both as a mathematical formalisation of Occam's Razor and as an invariant Bayesian method of model selection and point estimation,

The Wallace tree multiplier,

a variety of random number generators,

a theory in physics and philosophy that entropy is not the arrow of time,

a refrigeration system,

hardware for detecting and counting cosmic rays,

design of computer operating systems,

and a vast range of other works - see, e.g., "Christopher Stewart WALLACE memorial special issue". Computer Journal 51: 523–607. 5 September 2008. doi:10.1093/comjnl/bxm117. and its ``Foreword re C. S. Wallace, pp 523-560.

He was appointed Foundation Chair of Information Science at Monash University in 1968 at the age of 34, and Professor Emeritus in 1996.