IP: John Cocke, Chip Wizard From I.B.M.'s Research Labs, Dies at 77

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/19/obituaries/19COCK.html?todaysheadlines

John Cocke, Chip Wizard From I.B.M.'s Research Labs, Dies at 77
By STEVE LOHR

John Cocke, a leading computer scientist whose inventions spanned an
uncommon range of computing technology from software to microprocessors,
died on Tuesday at a hospital in Valhalla, N.Y. He was 77.

The cause was a long illness, including a series of strokes, said his nephew
Norman Cocke.

Mr. Cocke (rhymes with "sock") was the principal designer of the type of
microprocessor that serves as the engine of most of today's large, powerful
computers and the Apple Macintosh personal computers. Machines using his
chip design ‹ a simplification of the hardware, which opened the door to
faster computation ‹ are reduced instruction-set computers, or RISC.

Throughout his long career as a researcher for I.B.M., Mr. Cocke was also
responsible for a host of other innovations. He was a leader in the arcane
but vital field of designing more efficient software compilers ‹ the
software that translates instructions written in a programming language
understood by human programmers into the vernacular of all computers, the
1's and 0's of digital code. Mr. Cocke also came up with ideas that helped
advance fields as diverse as speech-recognition technology and data storage.

In computer science circles, Mr. Cocke was renowned for the breadth of his
intellect, his energy, his insights and his unconventional working methods.

A former colleague, Paul M. Horn, who had joined I.B.M.'s research labs
after a career as a physics professor at the University of Chicago, recalled
that when he worked on weekends, Mr. Cocke was invariably in the labs. The
senior researcher, Mr. Horn recalled, would drop by and engage the newcomer
in long discussions of the finer points of unification theory in physics.
"John Cocke knew as much about high-energy physics as I did, and it wasn't
even his field," said Mr. Horn, who is the director of I.B.M.'s research
division.

Even after he retired in 1992, Mr. Cocke always displayed "a wonderful
childlike curiosity ‹ he was interested in everything," recalled R. Andrew
Heller, who collaborated with Mr. Cocke on the RISC technology, beginning in
the late 1960's.

The RISC chip design, experts say, was a striking example of Mr. Cocke's
defining attribute. His deep understanding of both the computer hardware and
software, and their interaction, often enabled Mr. Cocke to pierce through
the complexity of computer problems with fresh insights.

"No matter how hard a problem appeared, he always assumed there was a
simpler solution, and usually this led him to finding one," said Marvin
Minsky, a computer scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Mr. Cocke, who was seldom in his office, worked by roaming the halls. He was
a chain smoker for much of his life, and the best way to find him in the
I.B.M. labs, colleagues say, was to follow the trail of cigarette butts in
the ashtrays of the offices he had visited, with the freshest ones
indicating where he had visited most recently.

With his eclectic intellect and itinerant working style, Mr. Cocke often
kept dialogues going with people on different subjects that spanned months,
even years. "He would start up a conversation with you on some detailed
technical subject, plunging right in where he left off the last time he saw
you a couple of months earlier," recalled Frances Allen, an I.B.M.
researcher who collaborated with Mr. Cocke on compiler research. "It was one
of John's traits that took a little getting used to."

Within I.B.M., Mr. Cocke's eccentric ways were legend, especially his
periodic disregard for paychecks and stock certificates. His assistants,
colleagues say, routinely combed through his trash to make sure he had not
inadvertently discarded things of value. Before he was married in 1989 to
Anne Holloway, Mr. Cocke, a longtime bachelor, would often wear the same
clothes for a week or so, friends say.

Mr. Cocke is survived by his wife, three nephews and a niece.

Born on May 30, 1925, Mr. Cocke was raised in Charlotte, N.C. His father,
Norman Cocke, was the president of the Duke Power Company and a trustee of
Duke University. John Cocke's curiosity, which would prove so valuable later
in his life, was evident early. As an adult, Mr. Cocke once recalled that
when he was given his first bicycle at the age of 6, he dismantled it within
a few hours, much to the chagrin of his mother, Mary. Mr. Cocke joined
I.B.M.'s research labs in 1956 after he received a doctorate in mathematics
from Duke, and he remained with the company until he retired.

Mr. Cocke rarely published research papers, but that did little to prevent
him from gaining widespread recognition in the field. In 1987, he received
the Turing Award, which has been called the Nobel prize of computer science.
Among other prizes, he was also awarded the National Medal of Technology, in
1991, and the National Medal of Science, in 1994.