[Sad news :(. I had access to a copy of Society of Mind from the age of 12 or so, and it had a huge influence on my understanding of the brain — and of myself — that remains to this day. -egg]

Marvin Minsky, who combined a scientist’s thirst for knowledge with a philosopher’s quest for truth as a pioneering explorer of artificial intelligence, work that helped inspire the creation of the personal computer and the Internet, died on Sunday night in Boston. He was 88.

NYT: Marvin Minsky, Pioneer in Artificial Intelligence, Dies at 88