Gerald Marvin Weinberg (October 27, 1933 – August 7, 2018) was an American
computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who specializes in the academic study of computer science.
Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation. Although computer scientists can also focus their work and research on ...
, author and teacher of the
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
and
anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...
of computer
software development
Software development is the process of designing and Implementation, implementing a software solution to Computer user satisfaction, satisfy a User (computing), user. The process is more encompassing than Computer programming, programming, wri ...
. His most well-known books are ''The Psychology of Computer Programming'' and ''Introduction to General Systems Thinking''.
Biography
Gerald Weinberg was born and raised in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. He attended
Omaha Central High School
Omaha Central High School, originally known as Omaha High School, is a fully accredited public high school located in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It is one of many public high schools located in Omaha. As of the 2023–2024 academi ...
in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1963 he received a PhD in Communication Sciences from the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
.
[Gerald M. Weinberg](_blank)
at dorsethouse.com. Accessed June 5, 2009.[Jerry Weinberg. Author, Teacher, Consultant](_blank)
at linkedin.com. Accessed June 5, 2009.
Weinberg started working in the computing business at
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
in 1956 at the Federal Systems Division Washington, where he participated as Manager of Operating Systems Development in the
Project Mercury
Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Un ...
(1959–1963), which aimed to put a human in orbit around the Earth. In 1960 he published one of his first papers. Since 1969 was consultant and Principal at Weinberg & Weinberg. Here he conducted workshops such as the AYE Conference, The Problem Solving Leadership workshop since 1974, and workshops about the Fieldstone Method. Further Weinberg was an author at Dorset House Publishing since 1970, consultant at
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
since 1988, and moderator at the Shape Forum since 1993.
Weinberg was a visiting professor at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
,
Binghamton University
The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university in Binghamton metropolitan area, Greater Binghamton, New York, United States. It is one of the four uni ...
, and
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
. He was a member of the
Society for General Systems Research
The International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) is a worldwide organization for systems sciences. The overall purpose of the ISSS is: to promote the development of conceptual frameworks based on general system theory, as well as their i ...
since the late 1950s. He was also a Founding Member of the
IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering
The ''IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the IEEE Computer Society. It was established in 1975 and covers the area of software engineering. It is considered the leading journal in ...
, a member of the Southwest Writers and the Oregon Writers Network, and a Keynote Speaker on many
software development
Software development is the process of designing and Implementation, implementing a software solution to Computer user satisfaction, satisfy a User (computing), user. The process is more encompassing than Computer programming, programming, wri ...
conferences.
In 1993 he was the Winner of The J.-D. Warnier Prize for Excellence in Information Sciences, the 2000 Winner of The
Stevens Award
The Stevens Award is a software engineering lecture award given by the Reengineering Forum, an industry association. The international Stevens Award was created to recognize outstanding contributions to the literature or practice of methods for s ...
for Contributions to Software Engineering, the 2010 Software Test Professionals first annual Luminary Award and the European Testing Excellence Award at the
EuroSTAR Conference in 2013.
Weinberg died on August 7, 2018.
Work
His most well-known books are ''The Psychology of Computer Programming'' and ''Introduction to General Systems Thinking'', both of which are considered to be classics, having been re-issued by the publisher in "Silver Editions". He also shared his use of his personal form of the
card file
A (German language, German: 'slipbox', plural ) or card file consists of small items of information stored on (German: 'slips'), paper slips or cards, that may be linked to each other through Index term, subject headings or other metadata such ...
approach to collecting ideas for writing in the book ''Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Method''.
Weinberg's writing calls upon his own humorous aphorisms, such as his Law of Twins, which states that most of the time, no matter how much effort one expends, no event of any great significance will result. He described it in his book ''The Secrets of Consulting'' (1985), in which he explains the origin of its name. He reported that, while riding a bus in New York City, he observed a mother with eight small children embark. She asked the driver the amount of the fare; he told her that the cost was thirty-five cents, but that children under the age of five could ride for free. When the woman deposited only thirty-five cents into the payment slot, the driver was incredulous. "Do you mean to tell me that all your children are under five years old?" The woman explained that she had four sets of twins. The driver replied, "Do you always have twins?" "No," said the woman, "most of the time we don't have any."
In his later years, Weinberg was involved with the SHAPE Forum (Software as a Human Activity Performed Effectively) and working with the AYE Conference. Weinberg's life and work were honored in November 2008 with the publication of ''The Gift of Time'', a collection of essays by a few of his students, colleagues, and friends, describing lessons learned from Weinberg and incorporated in their own consulting and managerial work.
Weinberg has also written and published a number of novels.
Publications
Weinberg has published more than 40 books and more than 400 articles.
[Weinberg's work has been translated into more than ten languages, including Japanese, French, Korean, German, Chinese, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Dutch, Russian, Polish and Portuguese.] A selection:
* 1971. ''The Psychology of Computer Programming''. Silver Anniversary Edition (1998).
* 1975. ''An Introduction to General Systems Thinking''. Silver Anniversary Edition (2001).
* 1982. ''Are Your Lights On?: How to Figure Out what the Problem Really is''. With Donald C. Gause.
* 1986. ''Becoming a Technical Leader: An Organic Problem-Solving Approach''.
* 1986. ''Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully''.
* 1988. ''General Principles of Systems Design''. With Daniela Weinberg.
* 1992. ''Quality Software Management: Anticipating Change. Vol. 1: Systems Thinking''.
* 2002. ''More Secrets of Consulting: The Consultant's Tool Kit''.
* 2005. ''Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Method''.
* 2008. ''Perfect Software: And Other Illusions about Testing''.
* 2010. ''Freshman Murders''.
See also
*
Egoless programming
*
Prefactoring
References
External links
Jerry Weinberg's blog*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weinberg, Gerald
1933 births
2018 deaths
American computer scientists
American systems scientists
Software engineering researchers
University of Michigan alumni
Omaha Central High School alumni
Scientists from Chicago