Martin Davis (mathematician)

Martin Davis was an American mathematician and computer scientist who worked in computability theory and mathematical logic, living from 1928 until 2023. His work on Hilbert's tenth problem led to the MRDP theorem, which settled that no general algorithm decides whether a polynomial equation has integer solutions. He also advanced the Post-Turing model of computation and co-developed the Davis-Putnam-Logemann-Loveland algorithm, a backtracking search procedure that became foundational for Boolean satisfiability solvers. His honors include the Leroy P. Steele Prize and the Chauvenet Prize, the latter shared with Reuben Hersh, and the Lester R. Ford Award, and he was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the American Mathematical Society.