John F. McGowan, Ph.D.

John F. McGowan, Ph.D. solves problems using mathematics and mathematical software, including developing gesture recognition for touch devices, video compression and speech recognition technologies. He has extensive experience developing software in C, C++, MATLAB, Python, Visual Basic and many other programming languages. He has been a Visiting Scholar at HP Labs developing computer vision algorithms and software for mobile devices. He has worked as a contractor at NASA Ames Research Center involved in the research and development of image and video processing algorithms and technology. He has published articles on the origin and evolution of life, the exploration of Mars (anticipating the discovery of methane on Mars), and cheap access to space. He has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He can be reached at jmcgowan11@earthlink.net. This article is copyright © of John F. McGowan, Ph.D.

Applied Math

Genius, Breakthroughs, and the Manhattan Project

In an enterprise such as the building of the atomic bomb the difference between ideas, hopes, suggestions and theoretical calculations, and solid numbers based on measurement, is paramount.…

June 20, 2011John F. McGowan, Ph.D.

Applied Math

But It Worked in the Computer Simulation!

People often assume that theoretical mathematical calculations and computer simulations will work well enough that machines or experiments will work successfully the first time or at most within…

June 6, 2011John F. McGowan, Ph.D.

Applied Math

The Manhattan Project Considered as a Fluke

The Manhattan Project which developed the atomic bomb during World War II is the exemplar of modern Big Science. Numerous mostly unsuccessful modern scientific megaprojects have been promoted…

May 23, 2011John F. McGowan, Ph.D.

Applied Math

The Game of Life in Octave

The Game of Life is a simple cellular automaton invented by mathematician John Conway. The Game of Life consists of a two dimensional grid of cells. Each cell…

May 16, 2011John F. McGowan, Ph.D.

Applied Math

Associative Arrays and Cellular Automata in Octave

An associative array, also known as a dictionary, map, mapping, or hash table, is a powerful data structure that is built into many modern programming languages such as…

May 9, 2011John F. McGowan, Ph.D.

Applied Math

Knowledge Is Power… Maybe

At least since Sputnik in 1957, various tests and reports such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) have asserted that students in the United…

May 2, 2011John F. McGowan, Ph.D.

Applied Math

Plotting and Graphics in Octave

Introduction This is the fourth article in an occasional series of articles about Octave, a free open-source numerical programming environment that is mostly compatible with MATLAB. This series…

April 25, 2011John F. McGowan, Ph.D.

General

Debating Deliberate Practice

Outliers: The Story of Success (USA | UK | CANADA) Malcolm Gladwell Little, Brown, and Company, New York, 2008 309 pages Outliers is the 2008 bestseller written by…

April 18, 2011John F. McGowan, Ph.D.

Applied Math

A Closer Look at Maxima

The primary purpose of software estimation is not to predict a project’s outcome; it is to determine whether a project’s targets are realistic enough to allow the project…

February 21, 2011John F. McGowan, Ph.D.

Applied Math

LAME: A Case Study in Mathematical Programming

Introduction This is the second in a series of articles on mathematical programming starting with The Scope of Mathematical Programming Projects. This article discusses LAME (LAME Ain’t an…

February 15, 2011John F. McGowan, Ph.D.

Software

The Scope of Mathematical Programming Projects

This article discusses the scope of mathematical programming projects using the example of several successful open source/free software projects. In the author’s experience, it is common to encounter…

February 9, 2011John F. McGowan, Ph.D.

Applied Math

Using Maxima Output in Octave

Introduction This is the third in a series of articles on Octave starting with Octave, An Alternative to the High Cost of MATLAB. Octave is a free, both…

January 31, 2011John F. McGowan, Ph.D.

Articles