Michael John Lesser (28 September 1943 – 1 July 2015) was a

mathematical Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

philosopher and

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

. He was born in London.

Early life

The youngest member of the Committee of 100, he was sent, aged 16, to

Wormwood Scrubs Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs (or simply Scrubs), is an open space in Old Oak Common located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the borough, ...

Prison along with most of the Committee. He served two spells as contributor to London's

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...

journal '' International Times''. He was active in

May 1968 in France Beginning in May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting some seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, as well as the occupation of universities and factories. At the height of events, which ...

Career

In 1992 he was the co-author, with Pro
A. Wuensche
of the book

', published in the "Santa Fe Institute's Reference Volumes". The book is an atlas of emergent forms evolving from the apparently chaotic product of a set of iterated logical operations. He was assistant to the Directing Professor, P. Allen, at the Institute for Ecotechnological Research at Cranfield University. He is the co-author of several scientific papers on dynamical systems theory with Prof Allen. He worked on super computers at

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

's Goddard Jet Propulsion Lab,

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, United States, and at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories, Oxon, UK. He published papers on Autism with Dr.

Dinah Murray Dinah Karen Crawshay Murray (27 May 1946 - 7 July 2021) was a writer, educator and campaigner for autistic people. She collaborated in developing the theory of monotropism as a way of explaining autism in terms of a tendency to focus intensely o ...

with whom he co-founde
Autism and Computing
a non-profit organization. In 2009 he founde
The International Times Archive
a free archive of every page of ''International Times'' from its first issue in 1966 to its last in 1994. A biographical interview may also be found in the style magazine '' Dazed & Confused''. A more complete autobiography may be found in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

.''

Death

Lesser died in London in 2015 at the age of 71. In December 2015, coroner Andrew Walker at

Barnet Coroners Court The North London Coroner's Court is a municipal building located at 29 Wood Street, Chipping Barnet, London. The building, which served as Barnet Town Hall, is a Grade II listed building. History In the early 20th century Barnet Urban District ...

ruled that Lesser died from asphyxiation. Evidence was given that Lesser had suffered from depression for "many years". He had a heart bypass in 1999 and in June 2015 had been told that he had terminal lung cancer. He left a note for his wife and friends."Philosopher committed suicide after terminal cancer diagnosis"
, Charlie Peat, Times Series, 2 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.

References

External links

A LIFE OF ANARCHY: MIKE LESSER INTERVIEW
Slutever, 18 February 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lesser, Mike 1943 births 2015 deaths British philosophers British activists Cellular automatists People associated with Cranfield University British anarchists