Philip Emeagwali

Updated: 12/31/2022 by Computer Hope
Philip Emeagwali

Name: Philip Emeagwali

Born: August 23, 1954, in Akure, Nigeria, Africa

Computer-related contributions

  • Nigerian-born computer scientist, engineer, mathematician, and geologist.
  • Known for his use of a Connection Machine supercomputer to help analyze petroleum fields.
  • Called "Calculus" at age 15 for his early math development and after his 568-page book on "infinitesimal calculus" and his "calculo analog computer."

Significant publications

  • Infinitesimal Calculus.
  • Calculo Analog Computer.

Honors and awards

  • Winner of the IEEE Gordon Bell Prize, for his use of a Connection Machine supercomputer to help analyze petroleum fields (1989).
  • Voted the "35th-greatest African (and greatest African American scientist) of all time" by New African magazine.
  • Quoted in a speech by Bill Clinton as an example of what Nigerians could achieve when given the opportunity.

Quotes

"Briefly, to program it requires an absolute understanding of how all 65,536 processors are interconnected."

"During the week that I arrived in the United States, I saw an airport, used a telephone, used a library, talked with a scientist, and was shown a computer for the first time in my life."

Websites