Visionary scientist and pioneer of artificial intelligence provided an example of intellectual exploration, paving way to discoveries in computer science, robotics, drones, and more.

On Sunday, January 24, esteemed scientist, mathematician, and father of artificial intelligence, Marvin Minsky, died in Boston. Best known for his role in the development of AI, Minsky began studying the relationship between man and machine—how machines could become intelligent—back in the 1950's, long before the widespread use of computers.

Significant contributions:
Minsky studied at Harvard, Princeton, and MIT. He created a wired neural network learning machine, called "Snarc," while at Princeton in 1951. Minsky also co-founded the MIT Artificial Intelligence Project—now the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)—in 1959.

But, he may be most famous for The Society of Mind, published in 1985, a seminal and wide-ranging book exploring the role of thought in machines.

Minsky's explorations into mental processes continued with his last book, The Emotion Machine: Commonsense Thinking, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future of the Human Mind, published in 2006 as an attempt to break down the natural workings of the mind.

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