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arXiv · 2506.08588

Martin Davis: An Overview of his Work in Logic, Computer Science, and Philosophy

Liesbeth De Mol·Yuri V. Matiyasevich·Eugenio G. Omodeo·Alberto Policriti·Wilfried Sieg·Elaine J. Weyuker
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Abstract

In his autobiographic essay written in 1999, ``From logic to computer science and back'', Martin David Davis (3/8/1928--1/1/2023) indicated that he viewed himself as a logician \emph{and} a computer scientist. He expanded the essay in 2016 and expressed a new perspective through a changed title, ``My life as a logician''. He points out that logic was the unifying theme underlying his scientific career. Our paper attempts to provide a consistent vision that illuminates Davis' successive contributions leading to his landmark writings on computability, unsolvable problems, automated reasoning, as well as the history and philosophy of computing.

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Liesbeth De Mol, Yuri V. Matiyasevich, Eugenio G. Omodeo, Alberto Policriti, Wilfried Sieg, Elaine J. Weyuker. 2025-06-10. Martin Davis: An Overview of his Work in Logic, Computer Science, and Philosophy. https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.08588

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