#54 - The Goal of Science is to Communicate Ideas! - Philip Wadler

Philip Wadler discusses his research career, the origins of monads and type classes, and the importance of clear communication in computer science.

Philip Wadler is a well known, celebrated and recognized researcher in the field especially for his unique ability to explain complex ideas in a simple and elegant way. He got his Bachelor in 1977 at Stanford, his Masters in 1979 and his PhD in 1984 both at CMU. In 2023, he was awarded the distinguished honor of being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, joining the ranks of scientific greats such as Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. Wadler describes himself as someone who likes to bring theory into practice, and practice into theory. In this episode, we talk about his prolific research, the story behind Monads and Type Classes, Category Theory and Homotopy Type Theory. Throughout our conversation, in response to my eagerness to understand the philosophy and method behind his remarkable papers, he repeatedly emphasizes that the whole point of science is clearly communicating ideas so that others can build upon them. # Links [Wadler's Website](homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/wadler/) [Ullman's Advising Students For Success](cacm.acm.org/opinion/advising-students-for-success/?utm_sour…) [Grad School Mentorship](typetheoryforall.com/mentorship) [Consider contributing to this show through our ko-fi!](ko-fi.com/M4M5F71UK) 0:00 Introduction to Philip Wadler 1:14 Graduate mentorship program 3:16 Early career and influences 5:28 History of functional language 10:58 Importance of scientific history 16:11 Communication in research 19:20 Origin of type classes 23:53 Propositions as types 28:05 Tips for new researchers 34:09 The story of monads 38:01 Semantics and interpreters 42:54 Future of programming languages 48:58 Evolution of programming tools 53:35 Learning category theory 58:56 Research impact and writing 1:03:48 AI and ethical obligations 1:10:00 Academic writing and humor 1:16:56 The value of theory 1:21:51 Writing process and drafts 1:27:16 Current state of academia