John McCarthy coined the term artificial intelligence (AI) and is recognized as the father of AI research. He founded two of the most important AI laboratories in the world and wrote the primary computer programming language for AI research, LISP (List Processing Language). While his quest for an intelligent machine has yet to be fulfilled, his work in computers has produced a number of other important advances, including interactive time-sharing, computer semantics, and one of the first proposals to link home computers to a public network.

The oldest of two brothers, McCarthy was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on September 4, 1927. His father, John Patrick McCarthy, was an Irish immigrant and working-class militant. His mother, Ida Glatt, was a Jewish Lithuanian active in the suffrage movement. Both were members of the Communist party in the 1930s, so McCarthy is what is known among political activists as a "red diaper" baby...