Brodie Lockard is an American computer programmer who wrote the first computerized version of
Mahjong solitaire on the
PLATO system
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
.
Early life and education
His parents were Kirby and Dorothy Lockard (née Judge).
Brodie grew up in
Tucson, Arizona
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
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, mapsize = 260px
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and attended
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
, initially majoring in English.
[ He took courses in ]mathematics
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 ...
and computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...
as he realised they might improve his luck in the job market.[ He befriended Jeffrey Chung, a pre-med student, who told him about the PLATO system, which he had seen in Hawaii.][ However, the system was not available in Stanford.][
His father was a professor at the ]University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory.
T ...
, which had access to the PLATO system and Professor Lockard wanted to use the system in his classes.[ Brodie worked for him, creating a tutorial.][ When he returned to Stanford, he made enquiries about renting a terminal, but discovered they were prohibitively expensive.]
Accident
In December 1979 he suffered an accident while dismounting from a trampoline.[ He learned how to type with a mouth-stick and after his father reached out to ]CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency, under the United S ...
, Cindy Poulson of CDC visited Brodie, bringing her personal PLATO terminal for him to use.[
]
Mahjohg Solitaire
During his rehabilitation, Brodie was introduced to a tile-based board game, which was Mahjong solitaire, and implemented it on PLATO.[
Brodie moved to Hawaii in 2000.][
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lockard, Brodie
American computer programmers
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)