Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes ProCon History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
Stephen Arthur Cook
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images
Cook, Stephen Arthur
Quizzes
computer chip. computer. Hand holding computer chip. Central processing unit (CPU). history and society, science and technology, microchip, microprocessor motherboard computer Circuit Board
Computers and Technology Quiz
Related Questions
Read Next
bunch of numbers
Unusual Counting Systems
Programming computer abstract
Influential Computer Programming Languages
number zero, 0 balloon
Is Zero an Even or an Odd Number?
Discover
Thanksgiving Turkey with all the sides
Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving?
The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. (Alice in Wonderland)
11 Banned Books Through Time
A Factory Interior, watercolor, pen and gray ink, graphite, and white goache on wove paper by unknown artist, c. 1871-91; in the Yale Center for British Art. Industrial Revolution England
Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Engraving by Cosomo Colombini (d. 1812) after a Leonardo self portrait. Ca. 1500.
10 Famous Artworks by Leonardo da Vinci
Baseball laying in the grass. Homepage blog 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society, sports and games athletics
10 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time
An ancient egyptian hieroglyphic painted carving showing the falcon headed god Horus seated on a throne and holding a golden fly whisk. Before him are the Pharoah Seti and the goddess Isis. Interior wall of the temple to Osiris at Abydos, Egypt.
11 Egyptian Gods and Goddesses
Thumbnail for flags that look alike quiz Russia, Slovenia, Iceland, Norway
Flags That Look Alike
Cook, Stephen Arthur
Cook, Stephen Arthur Stephen Arthur Cook, 2008.

Stephen Arthur Cook

American computer scientist
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Written by
William L. Hosch
William L. Hosch was an editor at Encyclopædia Britannica.
William L. Hosch
Fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Article History
Quick Facts
Born:
Dec. 14, 1939, Buffalo, N.Y., U.S. (age 84)
Awards And Honors:
Turing Award (1982)
Subjects Of Study:
NP-complete problem
See all related content

Stephen Arthur Cook (born Dec. 14, 1939, Buffalo, N.Y., U.S.) is an American computer scientist and winner of the 1982 A.M. Turing Award, the highest honour in computer science, for his “advancement of our understanding of the complexity of computation in a significant and profound way.”

Cook earned a bachelor’s degree (1961) in computer science from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree (1962) and doctorate (1966) in computer science from Harvard University. After leaving Harvard, Cook joined the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1970 Cook moved to the University of Toronto, where in 1985 he was named a University Professor.

In 1971 Cook published “The Complexity of Theorem Proving Procedures,” a seminal paper that laid the foundations for the theory of NP-complete problems—problems for which no efficient solution algorithm is known. The field remains one of the most important in computer science.

computer chip. computer. Hand holding computer chip. Central processing unit (CPU). history and society, science and technology, microchip, microprocessor motherboard computer Circuit Board
Britannica Quiz
Computers and Technology Quiz

Cook was elected to the Royal Society of London, the Royal Society of Canada, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

William L. Hosch