The Author was born in Louisville, Kentucky, during the depths of the Great Depression. He received a B.S. in Physics from Wheaton College (Illinois), an M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Ohio State University and the University of Maryland. He joined the United States Space Program before Sputnik, and, while still a student at Wheaton College, designed the antennas and radio-frequency feed network for the Vanguard I "Grapefruit" satellite that is still in orbit. During fifteen years with NASA, Dr. Albus designed electronic systems-for over 15 spacecraft, conducted research in advanced computer technology, directed the NASA Artificial Intelligence Program, and studied the information-processing and computational capabilities of that most sophisticated of all computers, the human brain. He has published more than 20 papers in various scholarly journals, the most notable of which are "A Theory of Cerebellar Function" (Mathematical Biosciences, 10, 1971) and "A New Method of Manipulator Control" based on this theory of the cerebellum (Transactions of ASME, September, 1975). In recognition of this work, he was elected a Fellow of the Washington Academy of Sciences and, in 1975, was awarded the Departmental Silver Medal by the U.S. Government.
As a scientist, Dr. Albus is concerned about the economic, social, and political impact of the rapidly approaching advent of superautomation. He has recently coauthored a review of worldwide advances in robot technology (Scientific American, February, 1976), and in the book, Peoples´ Capitalism, he presents his vision of how these exciting new developments could become the means for liberating humankind from poverty and oppression.
[** More recent information about the author can be found at http://www.james-albus.org**]