Donald MacCrimmon MacKay (9 August 1922 – 6 February 1987) was a British

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

, and professor at the Department of Communication and Neuroscience at

Keele University Keele University is a Public university#United Kingdom, public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, it was granted uni ...

in Staffordshire, England, known for his contributions to

information theory Information theory is the mathematical study of the quantification (science), quantification, Data storage, storage, and telecommunications, communication of information. The field was established and formalized by Claude Shannon in the 1940s, ...

and the theory of brain organisation.

Education

MacKay was educated at Wick High School and

St Andrews University The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, following the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, t ...

, and gained a PhD at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. In the late 1940s MacKay was among the first members of the

Ratio Club The Ratio Club was a small British informal dining club from 1949 to 1958 of young psychiatrists, psychologists, physiologists, mathematicians and engineers who met to discuss issues in cybernetics., p. 95. History The idea of the club arose ...

Personal life

Married to Valerie Wood, they had five children. His oldest son is

Robert Sinclair MacKay Robert Sinclair MacKay (born 1956) is a British mathematician and professor at the University of Warwick. He researches dynamical systems, the calculus of variations, Hamiltonian dynamics and applications to complex systems in physics, enginee ...

, a professor of mathematics at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

; his youngest son was David J. C. MacKay, a professor of physics at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. He died within a year of giving the 1986

Gifford Lectures The Gifford Lectures () are an annual series of lectures which were established in 1887 by the will of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford at the four ancient universities of Scotland: St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Their purpose is to "pro ...

at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

Quotes

In our age, when people look for explanations, the tendency more and more is to conceive of any and every situation that we are trying to understand by analogy with a machine.

God's way of working has been slow and gradual (the bodies of higher animals coming into being through descent with modification from earlier species), is all that is meant by the term 'evolution' as used in science. In this technical, scientific sense the idea is theologically neutral, and is widely accepted by biologists who are also biblical Christians. Nothing in the Bible rules it out.Mackay, Donald M. (1997 edition). ''Clockwork Image: Christian Perspective on Science''. Inter-Varsity Press. p. 51.

Selected publications

MacKay authored several publications. A selection: * MacKay, Donald MacCrimmon
A high-speed electronic function generator
''Nature'' 159 (4038): 406–407. 1947 * Deeley, E. M., MacKay, D. M.

''Nature'' 163 (4147): 650-650. 1949 * MacKay, Donald MacCrimmon
Moving visual images produced by regular stationary pattern
''Nature'' 180 : 849–850. 1957 * MacKay, Donald MacCrimmon
III. On the logical indeterminacy of a free choice.
''Mind'', LXIX(273):31-40, 01 1960. * MacKay, Donald MacCrimmon
Visual effects of non-redundant stimulation
''Nature'' 192 (4804): 739-740. 1961 * MacKay, Donald MacCrimmon, and Michael Ellis Fisher. ''Analogue Computing at Ultra-High Speed: An Experimental and Theoretical Study''. London: Chapman & Hall, 1962. * MacKay, Donald MacCrimmon.
Information, Mechanism, and Meaning
'. Cambridge: MIT Press. 1970. * MacKay, Donald MacCrimmon.
The Clockwork Image: A Christian Perspective on Science
' InterVarsity Press. 1974. * MacKay, Donald MacCrimmon. ''Brains, Machines, and Persons''. Collins, 1980. * MacKay, Donald MacCrimmon, and Valerie Mackay (ed). ''Behind the Eye''. Basil Blackwell, 1991. ;About MacKay * MacKay, Prof. Donald MacCrimmon, ''Who's Who 2009'' online, Dec 2007

''PSCF''. 44 (March 1992): 49–54.

''PSCF''. 44 (March 1992): 55–61.

J. A. CRAMER. ''PSCF''. 37 (September 1985): 142–148.
Donald MacCrimmon MacKay
Gifford Lectures bio

D. M. MacKay. '' PSCF''. 38 (March 1986): 62–63.
"Donald MacKay and Semi-materialism"
Oliver R. Barclay. PSCF 43 (June 1991): 141–142.

* ttp://www.asa3.org/ASA/articles/MacKay_bib.html A comprehensive list of works by Donald MacCrimmon MacKay

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacKay, Donald MacCrimmon 1922 births 1987 deaths Academics of Keele University Alumni of King's College London Alumni of the University of St Andrews British Christian writers British physicists British systems scientists Theistic evolutionists

Education

Personal life

Quotes

Selected publications

See also

References