Paul Lutus
Born (1945-05-16) May 16, 1945 (age 79)
Occupationcomputer programmer
WebsitePersonal website

Paul Lutus (born May 16, 1945) is a computer programmer and former NASA designer. Before becoming a software author, Lutus designed electronics for the NASA Space Shuttle[1] and created a mathematical model of the solar system that was used by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the Viking Mars mission. After working for NASA, in 1976 Lutus moved to a remote location in rural Oregon and started living in a cottage in complete isolation. There, he started writing computer programs on his first personal computer, an Apple II. In the 1980s, he programmed Apple Writer, an international best-seller for the Apple II,[2] and the GraFORTH[3] and TransFORTH II[4] programming environments.

In 1983, Lutus received Reed College's Vollum award for contributions to science and technology, and was named Scientist of the Year by the Oregon Academy of Science in 1986.[5][6]

Between 1988 and 1991 Lutus sailed solo around the world in a 31-foot sailboat. His book about the sail, Confessions of a Long-Distance Sailor is available for free on his website.[7]

One of Lutus's latest software projects is Arachnophilia, a Java Web development workshop available free on his website.[8] The program is released under Lutus's own version of the Careware license.

References edit

  1. ^ "NASA document archive: P. Lutus". Ntrs.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
  2. ^ http://www.atariarchives.org/deli/cottage_computer_programming.php Apple Writer / personal history
  3. ^ GraFORTH review on InfoWorld, April, 1983
  4. ^ TransFORTH review on InfoWorld, January, 1982
  5. ^ "Reed College Vollum Award (see past recipients)". Reed.edu. 2005-08-24. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
  6. ^ "Oregon Academy of Science "Outstanding Oregon Scientist" 1986". Oas.pdx.edu. 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
  7. ^ http://arachnoid.com Personal website
  8. ^ "Arachnophilia (free Web page editor)". Arachnoid.com. Retrieved 2010-12-12.

External links edit


Category:Free software programmers Category:NASA personnel Category:Circumnavigators of the globe Category:1945 births Category:Living people