Dear all, I am deeply saddened to have received the news of Niklaus Wirth’s passing and extend my heartfelt condolences to his family and all those who were dear to him. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the profound and positive impact that Niklaus had on my life and career, and to express my gratitude for all that he meant to me. I first encountered Niklaus in the 1980s at ETH Zurich, where I was fortunate enough to be part of the great excitement when Oberon was first created. I recall being in an office located in the Rechenzentrum (data center) building in Zurich, where the computer science department of ETH was located. At the time, Niklaus had just released Oberon, and we, as the first users, were all congratulating him on this important achievement. One particular interaction with Niklaus stands out in my memory. As I was walking by his office, he called me in and, after complimenting my work (on an admittedly modest extension to a Modula-2 compiler for the 68k processor), delivered a biting critique on an opportunity that he believed I should have seized. Despite his direct approach, I always valued his insightful feedback, which was a refreshing contrast to the overly-coddling standards of today. Great teachers and mentors are forthright, astute, and genuine, and Niklaus was undoubtedly one of the best. He had a knack for identifying “the essential” and if he took notice of you, it was sure to redound to your benefit. He was also beyond the slightest doubt one of the most brilliant and phenomenally competent engineering minds that I have ever encountered. But more importantly, it was his way of thinking that had the most profound influence. The “school of Niklaus Wirth”, the art of simplicity and elegance is simply unmatched. I doubt that I will ever encounter anyone quite like him again in my lifetime again.. Over the years, I got to know him personally as well and we have become friends. I discovered a highly educated man in the great humanist tradition. I will miss Niklaus deeply, and I will keep his memory alive in my thoughts. I am grateful for the time we shared, for his great hospitality in Zurich throughout the years, and I am honoured to have been touched by his influence. Sincerely, Andreas
Thank you for taking the time to let us know this sad news. Living so far from Switzerland and never having the option to visit him, I was happy to talk to him more than twenty five years ago when discovering and using Oberon to try his project on Hardware Compilation with his Logic Language LoLa as an HDL. Recently I have the luck that in his last visit to Moscow, Fedor Tkachev and Professor Niklaus Wirth himself want to talk to me to thank me for inform them of errata in the last online version of his book Algorithms and Data Structures for Oberon. I was so pleased to talk to such a giant, so humble as he was. I would borrow the phrase from Andreas: "I am honoured to have been touched by his influence." Sincerely sad, Prof. Pablo Cayuela Argentina El mié, 3 ene 2024 16:16, Andreas Pirklbauer <andreas_pirklbauer@yahoo.com> escribió:
Dear all,
I am deeply saddened to have received the news of Niklaus Wirth’s passing ...
To all in this list: I just read the sad news. Professor Niklaus Wirth will remain one of my mentors, though I never met him in person. Over the years I exchanged a few messages with him. I felt greatly honored by receiving those few precious e-mails. It so happened that before I read the news, just an hour ago I ordered yet another copy of his book (with Martin Reiser) on programming in Oberon, with the idea of loaning it to an intern we are about to hire. I believe spreading his teaching is the best way to express my gratitude and respect for his legacy. I am deeply saddened by him passing away. I wish all the best to his family and to all who were influenced by his great spirit. Wojtek
For your information br Jörg
Am 03.01.2024 um 20:16 schrieb Andreas Pirklbauer <andreas_pirklbauer@yahoo.com>:
Dear all,
I am deeply saddened to have received the news of Niklaus Wirth’s passing and extend my heartfelt condolences to his family and all those who were dear to him. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the profound and positive impact that Niklaus had on my life and career, and to express my gratitude for all that he meant to me.
I first encountered Niklaus in the 1980s at ETH Zurich, where I was fortunate enough to be part of the great excitement when Oberon was first created. I recall being in an office located in the Rechenzentrum (data center) building in Zurich, where the computer science department of ETH was located. At the time, Niklaus had just released Oberon, and we, as the first users, were all congratulating him on this important achievement.
One particular interaction with Niklaus stands out in my memory. As I was walking by his office, he called me in and, after complimenting my work (on an admittedly modest extension to a Modula-2 compiler for the 68k processor), delivered a biting critique on an opportunity that he believed I should have seized. Despite his direct approach, I always valued his insightful feedback, which was a refreshing contrast to the overly-coddling standards of today. Great teachers and mentors are forthright, astute, and genuine, and Niklaus was undoubtedly one of the best. He had a knack for identifying “the essential” and if he took notice of you, it was sure to redound to your benefit. He was also beyond the slightest doubt one of the most brilliant and phenomenally competent engineering minds that I have ever encountered. But more importantly, it was his way of thinking that had the most profound influence. The “school of Niklaus Wirth”, the art of simplicity and elegance is simply unmatched. I doubt that I will ever encounter anyone quite like him again in my lifetime again..
Over the years, I got to know him personally as well and we have become friends. I discovered a highly educated man in the great humanist tradition.
I will miss Niklaus deeply, and I will keep his memory alive in my thoughts. I am grateful for the time we shared, for his great hospitality in Zurich throughout the years, and I am honoured to have been touched by his influence.
Sincerely, Andreas
-- Oberon@lists.inf.ethz.ch mailing list for ETH Oberon and related systems https://lists.inf.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/oberon
The birth date is wrong, or we have the wrong date. On Sun, 7 Jan 2024 at 08:17, Joerg <joerg.straube@iaeth.ch> wrote:
For your information
br Jörg
Am 03.01.2024 um 20:16 schrieb Andreas Pirklbauer < andreas_pirklbauer@yahoo.com>:
Dear all,
I am deeply saddened to have received the news of Niklaus Wirth’s passing and extend my heartfelt condolences to his family and all those who were dear to him. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the profound and positive impact that Niklaus had on my life and career, and to express my gratitude for all that he meant to me.
I first encountered Niklaus in the 1980s at ETH Zurich, where I was fortunate enough to be part of the great excitement when Oberon was first created. I recall being in an office located in the Rechenzentrum (data center) building in Zurich, where the computer science department of ETH was located. At the time, Niklaus had just released Oberon, and we, as the first users, were all congratulating him on this important achievement.
One particular interaction with Niklaus stands out in my memory. As I was walking by his office, he called me in and, after complimenting my work (on an admittedly modest extension to a Modula-2 compiler for the 68k processor), delivered a biting critique on an opportunity that he believed I should have seized. Despite his direct approach, I always valued his insightful feedback, which was a refreshing contrast to the overly-coddling standards of today. Great teachers and mentors are forthright, astute, and genuine, and Niklaus was undoubtedly one of the best. He had a knack for identifying “the essential” and if he took notice of you, it was sure to redound to your benefit. He was also beyond the slightest doubt one of the most brilliant and phenomenally competent engineering minds that I have ever encountered. But more importantly, it was his way of thinking that had the most profound influence. The “school of Niklaus Wirth”, the art of simplicity and elegance is simply unmatched. I doubt that I will ever encounter anyone quite like him again in my lifetime again..
Over the years, I got to know him personally as well and we have become friends. I discovered a highly educated man in the great humanist tradition.
I will miss Niklaus deeply, and I will keep his memory alive in my thoughts. I am grateful for the time we shared, for his great hospitality in Zurich throughout the years, and I am honoured to have been touched by his influence.
Sincerely, Andreas
-- Oberon@lists.inf.ethz.ch mailing list for ETH Oberon and related systems https://lists.inf.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/oberon -- Oberon@lists.inf.ethz.ch mailing list for ETH Oberon and related systems https://lists.inf.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/oberon
participants (4)
-
Andreas Pirklbauer -
Joerg -
Pablo Cayuela -
Skulski, Wojciech