A Eulogy for Jack Good

TL;DR

This paper is a tribute to Jack Good, highlighting his influential ideas and the author's personal admiration, along with a mathematical discussion and a Maple package that embodies Good's concepts.

Contribution

The paper provides an extended transcript of a talk honoring Jack Good, including mathematical insights and a Maple package that implements Good's ideas.

Findings

Mathematical ideas of Jack Good are implemented in Maple

The Maple package enhances understanding of Good's concepts

Personal reflections on Jack Good's influence

Abstract

Irving John ("Jack") Good (9 December 1916 - 5 April 2009) was one of my greatest heroes and influencers. On Oct. 25, 2009, I gave a twenty-three minute talk with the present title, and this article is an extended transcript of that talk. As with all my papers, the "accompanying" Maple package is much more important (mathematically, of course, I also talk about the human side of Jack in this article, and this is even more important than any math). In particular, I taught Jack's brilliant ideas to my computer, and now it can do even better than Jack.