Thomas Callister Hales

Infobox_Scientist
name = Thomas Callister Hales


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field = Mathematician
work_institution = University of Pittsburgh
alma_mater = Princeton University
known_for = Kepler Conjecture

Thomas Callister Hales is an American mathematician who, while on faculty at the University of Michigan, provided a computer-aided proof of the Kepler Conjecture that the most efficient way to pack spheres was in a pyramid shape.

Hales, the University of Pittsburgh Mellon Professor of mathematics, advocates the formalization of mathematics to ensure rigor in an era where proofs are becoming increasingly complex and computers are becoming necessary to perform verification.

Hales's current project, called Flyspeck, seeks to formalize his proof of the Kepler Conjecture in the computer theorem prover HOL Light.

Hales received his Ph.D. from Princeton University.

Hales is a Latter-day Saint. [ [http://eyring.hplx.net/Eyring/Eyring-l_Scientists.html Famous LDS Scientists ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.math.pitt.edu/~thales/ Hales's page] at the University of Pittsburgh Math Department
* [http://code.google.com/p/flyspeck/ Flyspeck Project]
* [http://www.umich.edu/~urecord/9899/Sep16_98/hales.htm Hales solves oldest problem in discrete geometry]

Persondata
NAME= Hales, Thomas Callister
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SHORT DESCRIPTION= American mathematician
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