Stanford Ovshinsky and the Genesis of the Cognitive Computer

Abstract

Stanford Ovshinsky (1922-2012) was a prolific independent inventor who ended up with more than 400 patents.1 Many of his inventions were motivated by his strong social concerns. His commitment to replacing fossil fuels, which began before 1960 and continued to the end of his life, resulted in important alternative energy technologies, including a system for massproducing thin-film solar panels and the nickel metal hydride battery, still in use today. However, another dimension of his career now seems even more important: his contributions to areas of advanced information technology that are only now coming to fruition. The most remarkable of these, begun over 60 years ago, established the basis for creating a cognitive computer.