astronomy

Jaap van den Herik

Jaap van den Herik is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Jaap van den Herik rather than just read about it. In short: Hendrik Jacob (Jaap) van den Herik (born 8 October 1947 in Rotterdam) is a Dutch computer scientist, and professor at the University of Leiden, known for his contribution in the fields of computer chess and artificial intelligence. Biography Van den Herik studied mathematics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where he obtained his MA in 1974, cum laude.

Key takeaways

Jaap van den Herik belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Jaap van den Herik to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Jaap van den Herik from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Hendrik Jacob (Jaap) van den Herik (born 8 October 1947 in Rotterdam) is a Dutch computer scientist, and professor at the University of Leiden, known for his contribution in the fields of computer chess and artificial intelligence.

Biography Van den Herik studied mathematics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where he obtained his MA in 1974, cum laude. In 1983 he obtained his PhD at Delft University of Technology with the thesis, entitled "Computer Chess, chess and artificial intelligence", under supervision of Henk Lombaers, Adriaan de Groot and Joop Doorman. After his graduation in 1974 Van den Herik started his academic career at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam as researcher. In 1975 he became assistant professor at the Delft University of Technology. After serving at the School of Computer Science from McGill University in Montreal, Canada from 1987 to 2008, he was appointed professor at the University of Maastricht been. Since 1991 he is also affiliated with the University of Leiden. From 2008 to 2016 he was a professor at the University of Tilburg, and founding director of the Tilburg Center for Cognition and Communication (TiCC). With a number of chess enthusiasts, including Max Euwe, Van den Herik, in 1980, was co-founder of Computer Chess Association Netherlands (CSVN). He is also co-founder of the NVKI (Dutch Association for Artificial Intelligence), and he was their chairman from 1990 to 1995. From 1991 to 1999 he was also president of the JURIX, the international Foundation for Legal Knowledge-Based Systems. From 1983 until 2015, Van den Herik was chief editor of the Journal of the International Computer Games Association (ICGA Journal).

Work Van den Herik's research interests and expertise are in the areas of agents, computer networks, computer systems, information technology, knowledge management, artificial intelligence and game theory. Since the late 1970s Van den Herik had been researching computer chess and legal judgement by computers, which both showed hugh progress over the past decades. Computers can play better chess than many chess grandmaster, and the focus in justice has shifted from cognition to perception. Since the new millennium he also conducted research with Eric Postma to develop expert systems for art experts. Over the years Van den Herik has published multiple books and over 50 articles.

Selected publications Jaap van den Herik. Computerschaak, schaakwereld en kunstmatige intelligentie, 1983. Jaap van den Herik. Kunnen Computers Rechtspreken? Gouda Quint, Arnhem, 1991. Alexander Ollongren, Jaap van den Herik. Filosofie van de informatica. London and New York: Routledge, 1999. ISBN 0-415-19749-X Jaap van den Herik. Chips Challenging Champions. With J. Schaeffer (ed.), Elsevier, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 2002. Jaap van den Herik; Hiroyuki Iida; Ernst A. Heinz, eds. (2004). Advances in Computer Games: Many Games, Many Challenges. Springer. p. 349. ISBN 1-4020-7709-2.

References

External links Jaap van den Herik at the Mathematics Genealogy Project Professor HJ van den Herik (Jaap), Leiden University. Jaap van den Herik at Chess Programming Wiki.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Jaap van den Herik

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Jaap van den Herik claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Jaap van den Herik before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Jaap van den Herik ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Jaap van den Herik

In research: Jaap van den Herik appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Jaap van den Herik in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Jaap van den Herik is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1947 births, Academic staff of Leiden University, Academic staff of Maastricht University, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Jaap van den Herik outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Jaap van den Herik in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Jaap van den Herik means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Jaap van den Herik out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jaap van den Herik in simple terms?

Why does Jaap van den Herik matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Jaap van den Herik?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Jaap van den Herik.