Leonard Adleman was a great computer scientist that lives at the age of 77. He was born on December 31, 1945, and was raised in San Francisco, California. His parents were working in technical sales and banking. Adleman first had dreams of becoming a chemist, then a doctor but found a passion in computer science. He obtained a Bachelor Degree of Science in mathematics at the University of California. He also earned a Doctoral Degree and a PHD in Computer Science at Berkley. Leonard Adleman’s main contribution to computer science was his discovery of DNA computing. Adleman had figured out that DNA can be utilized to calculate things that are computable by silicon-based computers. He analytically solved the 20 variable SAT problem using DNA computing. He was known as the Father of DNA computing. He was also one of the creators of the RSA encryption algorithm. This is a secure line which very important/classified information can be communicated without interception. He impacted computer science by creating the technology for DNA computers, which are much faster and more compact than any other computer. DNA computing has helped computer science advance in technology greatly. There were a few interesting facts I learned about Adleman such as he was the mathematical consultant for the Sneakers movie and was also an amateur boxer and has boxed with several professionals. Adleman also worked at MIT as a professor and created a paper called “Molecular Computation of Solutions to Combinatorial Problems” which had explained the original successful example of DNA computing. Leonard Adleman was an exceptional man and has changed computer science in amazing ways.

Sources:
Leonard Adleman Biography    Leonard Adleman History    Leonard Adleman Britannica