Hawkins may refer to:

Places[link]

United States

• Hawkins, Texas
• Hawkins, Wisconsin, a village
• Hawkins (town), Wisconsin, a town
• Hawkins Corner, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community
• Hawkins County, Tennessee

People[link]

Fictional characters

• Hawkins (TV series), American television series starring James Stewart
• D.L. Hawkins, a character on the 2006 American NBC TV Series Heroes
• Jim Hawkins, a character in the book Treasure Island
• Robert Hawkins, a character on the 2006 American CBS TV Series Jericho
• Sadie Hawkins, an Al Capp character responsible for Sadie Hawkins Day

Electical engineering[link]

• Hawkins Electrical Guide

Other uses[link]

• Hawkins grenade

See also[link]

• Hawking

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2010)

Walter Hawkins
Hawkins performs on stage in the East Room of the White House, where he was joined on stage by his brother Edwin, Tuesday, June 17, 2008, in honor of Black Music Month.
Background information
Born	(1949-05-18)May 18, 1949 Oakland, California, United States
Died	July 11, 2010(2010-07-11) (aged 61) Ripon, California
Genres	Gospel
Occupations	Pastor, singer, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Vocals, piano, keyboards
Years active	1960s–2010
Labels	Light
Associated acts	Tramaine Hawkins Edwin Hawkins Andrae Crouch

Walter Hawkins (May 18, 1949 – July 11, 2010) was an American gospel music singer, and a pastor. Hawkins was consecrated to the bishopic in 1992.

Biography[link]

Hawkins was the brother of Edwin Hawkins, Daniel Hawkins (Marcia), Feddie Hawkins Smith, Carol Hawkins and Lynette Hawkins-Stephens. Bishop Hawkins was married to Tramaine Hawkins, they had two children, a son Walter "Jamie" Hawkins, Jr., who is married to Myiia "Sunny" Davis-Hawkins, and a daughter Trystan Hawkins. Bishop Hawkins also had a granddaughter, Jahve Hawkins, and a grandson, Jamie Daniel Hawkins.

Bishop Hawkins started his career in one of his brother's chorales, "The Northern California State Youth Choir" of the Church of God in Christ. Later, he accompanied his brother Edwin and founded The Edwin Hawkins Singers. This collaborative effort produced the hit song "Oh Happy Day", which became one of the first gospel songs to cross over onto mainstream music charts.

Walter Hawkins left The Edwin Hawkins Singers in the early 1970s to establish the Love Center Church in Oakland, California. He and his Love Center Choir had considerable success with their "Love Alive" series of recordings, which sold well over a million copies from the 1970s through the 1990s. "Love Alive IV", released in 1990, was No. 1 on the Billboard Gospel Album charts, where it stayed for 33 weeks. In all, Walter Hawkins produced and/or collaborated on 116 hit songs which were listed on the Billboard Gospel Music charts.

Walter Hawkins and his groups were frequent musical collaborators, and recorded with Van Morrison, Diahann Carroll, Sylvester, Jeffrey Osborne, among many others.

Death[link]

On July 11, 2010, Bishop Walter Hawkins died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 61.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• 1972: Do Your Best (solo album)
• 1975: Love Alive Love Center Choir
• 1977: Jesus Christ Is the Way The Hawkins Family (Light)
• 1978: Love Alive 2 Love Center Choir (Light)
• 1980: The Hawkins Family Live (Light)
• 1982: Gospel (Savoy)
• 1982: I Feel Like Singing (Light)
• 1984: Love Alive 3 Love Center Choir (Light)
• 1988: Special Gift Hawkins Family (Light)
• 1989: Love Alive Reunion (Light)
• 1990: Love Alive 4 Love Center Choir (Malaco)
• 1996: New Dawning Hawkins Family (Bellmark)
• 1997: Ooh Wee Hawkins Family
• 1998: Love Alive, Vol. 5: 25th Anniversary Reunion Love Center Choir (Interscope)
• 2000: Take Courage Hawkins Family (Bellmark)
• 2005: A Song In My Heart (solo) (Coda/Red-Sony)

Compilation albums[link]

• 1990: Only The Best (Light)
• 1995: Light Years (Light)
• 1995: The Hawkins Family Collection (Platinum)
• 2002: The Best of Love Alive (Light)
• 2002: Legends of Gospel (Light)
• 2002: Mega 3 Collection: Love Alive (Light)
• 2005: The Very Best of Walter Hawkins and the Hawkins Family (Artemis Gospel)

Appearances on other albums[link]

• 1976: David Soul – David Soul
• 1980: The Lord's Prayer Various artists; duet with Tramaine Hawkins on "Thy Kingdom Come" (Light)
• 1982: Imagine Heaven The Edwin Hawkins Singers
• 1983: The Search Is Over Tramaine Hawkins
• 1986: Hand in Hand The Williams Brothers (producer, keyboards)
• 1986: Just Daryl Daryl Coley (background vocals, keyboards)
• 1987: The Hunger – Michael Bolton (background vocals)
• 1987: Touch the World Earth, Wind & Fire
• 1990: Face to Face Edwin Hawkins
• 1990: Live Tramaine Hawkins (producer, choir director, keyboards)
• 1991: Gospel Music Workshop of America
• 1991: Gentlemen of Gospel, Vol. 2
• 1982: A Salute to The Caravans Various artists (performer on “Where Is Your Faith in God”)
• 1993: It Remains to Be Seen The Mississippi Mass Choir (producer)
• 1994: Choirs En Masse Various artists (performer, producer)
• 1994: Job Bay Area Mass Choir
• 1995: On & On Jennifer Holliday (producer, background vocals, piano)
• 1996: Music in Me Larry Coleman (producer)
• 1996: Be Encouraged Los Angeles Chapter of the G.M.W.A.
• 1997: Jesus Loves Me The Western Michigan Mass Choir
• 1997: Leaning on Jesus Cogic International Mass Choir
• 1997: Live Gospel Experience, Vol. 3 Various artists
• 1997: Live Gospel Experience, Vol. 4 Various artists
• 1997: Keepers Merl Saunders & Friends (background vocals)
• 1998: Love Is the Only Way Edwin Hawkins
• 1998: I Get Lifted Kelli Williams (producer, keyboards)
• 1998: Unconditional Love Darlene Love
• 1999: World Class Gospel Experience, Vol. 1 Various artists
• 2002: Go Get Your Life Back Donald Lawrence
• 2005: Get Thee Behind Me Sacramento Metropolitan GMWA
• 2006: Praise & Worship Daryl Coley (producer)
• 2008: The Sound Mary Mary
• 2010: The Gospel Music Celebration: Tribute to Bishop G.E. Patterson Various artists (“What is This”)
• 2010: The Gospel Music Celebration, Pt. 2: Tribute To Bishop G.E. Patterson Various artists (“I Love You, Lord”)

Video[link]

• 1982: Gospel
• 1983: Oh Happy Day
• 1991: Love Alive, Vol. 4 (Malaco)
• 1998: Walter Hawkins & The Hawkins Family (Monterey Video)
• 1998: Love Alive, Vol. 5: 25th Anniversary Reunion, Vol. 1 (Interscope)
• 1999: Love Alive, Vol. 5: 25th Anniversary Reunion, Vol. 2 (Interscope)
• 2006: Song in My Heart (Coda)

Awards[link]

Hawkins was nominated for nine Grammy Awards, and won the 1981 Grammy for Best Gospel Performance, Contemporary or Inspirational for the special project album "The Lord's Prayer".

Hawkins won three Gospel Music Association Dove Awards:

• 1980: Soul Gospel Album of the Year for Love Alive II; Walter Hawkins and the Love Center Choir
• 1982: Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year for The Hawkins Family Live
• 1991: Traditional Song of the Year for “The Potter’s House” (co-songwriter)

He won two Stellar Awards:

• 2006: Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year
• 2006: Traditional CD of the Year for A Song In My Heart

External links[link]

• Walter Hawkins at Allmusic
• Walter Hawkins biography at the Love Center website accessed July 12, 2010
• Walter Hawkins on the Billboard music charts accessed July 12, 2010
• Walter Hawkins death notice | Music inside

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2010)

Edwin Hawkins (born 18 August 1943, Oakland, California) is a Grammy Award-winning American gospel and R&B musician, pianist, choir master, composer, and arranger. He is one of the originators of the urban contemporary gospel sound. He (and the Edwin Hawkins Singers) are best known for his arrangement of "Oh Happy Day" (1968–69), which was included on the Songs of the Century list. The Edwin Hawkins Singers made a second foray into the charts a year later, backing folk singer Melanie on "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)".

At the age of seven Hawkins was already the keyboardist to accompany the family's gospel choir. Together with Betty Watson, he was the co-founder of the Northern California State Youth Choir of the Church of God in Christ, which included almost fifty members.^[1] This ensemble recorded its first album Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord at the Ephesian Church of God in Christ in Berkeley, California privately (on the Century 70 custom label), hoping to sell 500 copies. "Oh Happy Day" was just one of the eight songs on the album.

When radio stations of the San Francisco Bay area started playing "Oh Happy Day", it became very popular. Featuring the lead vocal of Dorothy Combs Morrison, the subsequently released single (on the newly created Pavillion label distributed by Buddah) rocketed to sales of over a million copies within two months. It crossed over to the pop charts making U.S. #4 and UK #2^[2] and #1 in the German Singles Charts^[3] in 1969. It then became an international success, selling more than 7 million copies worldwide, and Hawkins was awarded his first Grammy for it. Hawkins' arrangement of the song was eventually covered by The Four Seasons on their 1970 album Half & Half.

Altogether Hawkins has won four Grammy Awards:

• 1970: Best Soul Gospel Performance — "Oh Happy Day", performed by the Edwin Hawkins Singers;
• 1971: Best Soul Gospel Performance — "Every Man Wants to Be Free", performed by the Edwin Hawkins Singers;
• 1972: On April 30, 1972, on scene of Oude Rai in Amsterdam, Edwin Hawkins Singers sing " Oh happy day " accompanied with a group of French children " The POPPYS " in front of 5000 persons;
• 1978: Best Soul Gospel Performance, Contemporary — "Wonderful!";
• 1993: Best Gospel Choir or Chorus Album — choir director on Edwin Hawkins Music & Arts Seminar Mass Choir – Recorded Live in Los Angeles, performed by the Music & Arts Seminar Mass Choir.

In 2007, Hawkins was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame and attended the formal awards show in 2009.

Paul Anka's duet partner Odia Coates was also a member of the Edwin Hawkins Singers.

Discography[link]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

• Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord (1968)
• He's A Friend Of Mine (1969)
• Oh Happy Day (1969) (Buddah Records re-issue of previous 1968 LP)
• Jesus, Lover Of My Soul (1969)
• Hebrew Boys (1969)
• Lord Don't Move That Mountain (1969)
• Ain't It Like Him (1969)
• Live at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam (1970)
• Candles In The Rain with Melanie Safka (1970)
• Pray For Peace (1970)
• More Happy Days (1971)
• Try the Real Thing with Melanie Safka (1971)
• Peace Is Blowin' In The Wind (1972)
• Children Get Together (1972)
• I'd Like To Teach the World To Sing (1973)
• New World (1974)
• Edwin Hawkins Presents the Matthews Sisters (1975)
• Wonderful (1976)
• The Comforter (1977)
• Edwin Hawkins Live at the Symphony (1979)
• Imagine Heaven (1982)
• Edwin Hawkins presents The Music and Arts Seminar Mass Choir (1983)
• Angels Will Be Singing with the Music and Arts Seminar Mass Choir (1984)
• Have Mercy with the Music and Arts Seminar Mass Choir (1985)
• Give Us Peace with the Music and Arts Seminar Mass Choir (1987)
• That Name with the Music and Arts Seminar Mass Choir (1988)
• 18 Great Songs (1989)
• Face to Face (1990)
• Love Is the Only Way (1998)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Edwin Hawkins at MySpace.com
• Biography at gospel.it

Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Screamin' Jay Hawkins in concert Photo: Jean-Luc Ourlin
Background information
Birth name	Jalacy Hawkins
Born	(1929-07-18)July 18, 1929 Cleveland, Ohio
Died	February 12, 2000(2000-02-12) (aged 70) Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Genres	Rhythm and blues, soul, shock rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, actor, producer
Years active	1946–2000

Jalacy Hawkins (July 18, 1929, Cleveland, Ohio – February 12, 2000, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France), best known as Screamin' Jay Hawkins was an American musician, singer, and actor. Famed chiefly for his powerful, operatic vocal delivery and wildly theatrical performances of songs such as "I Put a Spell on You", Hawkins sometimes used macabre props onstage, making him one of the few early shock rockers.^[1]

Early career[link]

Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Hawkins studied classical piano as a child and learned guitar in his twenties.^[2] His initial goal was to become an opera singer (Hawkins has cited Paul Robeson as his musical idol in interviews),^[3] but when his initial ambitions failed he began his career as a conventional blues singer and pianist.

He served in the United States Army Air Force in the Pacific theater during World War II,^{[verification needed]} primarily as an entertainer. Although he claimed to have been tortured for some time as a prisoner of war, stories of the circumstances of his actual capture vary. According to the documentary I Put a Spell on Me, upon liberation he blew his chief tormentor's head off by taping a hand-grenade into his mouth and pulling the pin. Hawkins was an avid and formidable boxer.^{[citation needed]} In 1949, he was the middleweight boxing champion of Alaska.^{[citation needed]}

In 1951, Hawkins joined guitarist Tiny Grimes's band, and was subsequently featured on some of Grimes's recordings.^[3] When Hawkins became a solo performer, he often performed in a stylish wardrobe of leopard skins, red leather and wild hats.

"I Put a Spell on You"[link]

His most successful recording, "I Put a Spell on You" (1956), was selected as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. According to the AllMusic Guide to the Blues, "Hawkins originally envisioned the tune as a refined ballad."^[3] The entire band was intoxicated during a recording session where "Hawkins screamed, grunted, and gurgled his way through the tune with utter drunken abandon."^[3] The resulting performance was no ballad but instead a "raw, guttural track" that became his greatest commercial success and reportedly surpassed a million copies in sales,^[4][5] although it failed to make the Billboard pop or R&B charts.^[6][7]

The performance was mesmerizing, although Hawkins himself blacked out and was unable to remember the session.^[5] Afterward he had to relearn the song from the recorded version.^[5] Meanwhile the record label released a second version of the single, removing most of the grunts that had embellished the original performance; this was in response to complaints about the recording's overt sexuality.^[5] Nonetheless it was banned from radio in some areas.

Soon after the release of "I Put a Spell on You", radio disc jockey Alan Freed offered Hawkins $300 to emerge from a coffin onstage.^[4] Hawkins accepted and soon created an outlandish stage persona in which performances began with the coffin and included "gold and leopard skin costumes and notable voodoo stage props, such as his smoking skull on a stick – named Henry – and rubber snakes."^[4] These props were suggestive of voodoo, but also presented with comic overtones that invited comparison to "a black Vincent Price."^[2][5]

Later career[link]

Hawkins' later releases included "Constipation Blues", "Orange Colored Sky", and "Feast of the Mau Mau". Nothing he released, however, had the monumental success of "I Put a Spell on You". In fact, "Constipation Blues" has been described as "gross".^[8] In Paris in 1999 and at the Taste of Chicago festival, he actually performed the song with a toilet onstage.^[9]

He continued to tour and record through the 1960s and 1970s, particularly in Europe, where he was very popular. He appeared in performance (as himself) in the Alan Freed bio-pic American Hot Wax in 1978. Subsequently, filmmaker Jim Jarmusch featured "I Put a Spell on You" on the soundtrack – and deep in the plot – of his film Stranger Than Paradise (1983) and then Hawkins himself as a hotel night clerk in his Mystery Train and in roles in Álex de la Iglesia's Perdita Durango and Bill Duke's adaptation of Chester Himes' A Rage in Harlem.

His 1957 single "Frenzy" (found on the early 1980s compilation of the same name) was included in the compilation CD, Songs in the Key of X: Music from and Inspired by the X-Files, in 1996.^[10] This song was featured in the show's Season 2 episode "Humbug". It was also covered by the band Batmobile.^{[citation needed]} "I Put a Spell on You" was featured during the show and over the credits of Episode 303 of The Simpsons.^[11]

In 1983, Hawkins relocated to the New York area. In 1984 and 1985, Hawkins collaborated with garage rockers The Fuzztones, resulting in "Screamin' Jay Hawkins and The Fuzztones Live" album recorded at Irving Plaza in December 1984. They perform in the 1986 movie Joey^[12]

In July 1991, Hawkins released his album Black Music for White People.^[13] The record features covers of two Tom Waits compositions: "Heart Attack and Vine"^[14] (which, later that year, was used in a European Levi's advertisement without Waits' permission, resulting in a lawsuit),^[15] and "Ice Cream Man" (which, contrary to popular belief,^{[citation needed]} is a Waits original, and not a cover of the John Brim classic).^[16] Hawkins also covered the Waits song, "Whistlin' Past the Graveyard", for his album Somethin' Funny Goin' On. In 1993, his version of "Heart Attack and Vine" became his only UK hit, reaching # 42 on the UK singles chart.^[17]

When Dread Zeppelin recorded their "disco" album, It's Not Unusual in 1992, producer Jah Paul Jo asked Hawkins to guest. He performed the songs "Jungle Boogie" and "Disco Inferno".

Hawkins also toured with The Clash and Nick Cave during this period, and not only became a fixture of blues festivals, but appeared at many film festivals as well.^{[citation needed]}

Hawkins died on February 12, 2000 after surgery to treat an aneurysm.^[18] He left behind many children by many women; an estimated 55 at the time of his death, and upon investigation, that number "soon became perhaps 75 offspring".^[19]

Influence[link]

Although Hawkins was not a major success as a recording artist, his highly theatrical performances from "I Put a Spell On You" onward earned him a steady career as a live performer for decades afterward, and influenced subsequent acts.^[2] He opened for Fats Domino, Tiny Grimes and the Rolling Stones.^[2] This exposure in turn influenced rock groups such as The Cramps, Screaming Lord Sutch, Black Sabbath, Arthur Brown, Dread Zeppelin, The Horrors, Marilyn Manson, Alice Cooper and Glenn Danzig.^[2]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• 1958 At Home with Screamin' Jay Hawkins (Okeh/Epic) - other editions entitled Screamin' Jay Hawkins and I Put a Spell on You
• 1965 The Night and Day of Screamin' Jay Hawkins (Planet/52e Rue Est) - also entitled In the Night and Day of Screamin' Jay Hawkins
• 1969 What That Is! (Philips)
• 1970 Because Is in Your Mind (Armpitrubber) (Philips)
• 1972 Portrait of a Man and His Woman (Hotline) - also entitled I Put a Spell on You and Blues Shouter
• 1977 I Put a Spell on You (Versatile—recordings from 1966–76)
• 1979 Screamin' the Blues (Red Lightnin'--recordings from 1953–70)
• 1983 Real Life (Zeta)
• 1984 Screamin' Jay Hawkins and The Fuzztones Live (Midnight Records) - live
• 1988 At Home with Jay in The Wee Wee Hours (Midnight Records) - live
• 1988 Live & Crazy (Blue Phoenix) - live
• 1990 The Art of Screamin' Jay Hawkins (Spivey)
• 1991 Black Music For White People (Bizarre/Straight Records/Planet Records)
• 1991 I Shake My Stick at You (Aim)
• 1993 Stone Crazy (Bizarre/Straight/Planet)
• 1994 Somethin' Funny Goin' On (Bizarre/Straight/Planet)
• 1993 Rated X (Sting S) - live
• 1998 At Last (Last Call)
• 1999 Live at the Olympia, Paris (Last Call) - live with one new studio recording

Singles[link]

• 1956 "I Put a Spell On You" / "Little Demon" [OKeh 7072]
• 1957 "You Made Me Love You" / "Darling, Please Forgive Me" [OKeh 7084]
• 1957 "Frenzy" / "Person to Person" [OKeh 7087]
• 1958 "Alligator Wine" / "There's Something Wrong With You" [OKeh 7101]
• 1958 "Armpit #6" / "The Past" [Red Top 126]
• 1962 "I Hear Voices" / "Just Don't Care" [Enrica 1010]
• 1962 "Ashes" / "Nitty Gritty" w/ Shoutin' Pat (Newborn) [Chancellor 1117]
• 1966 "Poor Folks" / "Your Kind of Love" [Providence 411]
• 1970 "Do You Really Love Me" / "Constipation Blues" [Philips 40645]
• 1973 "Monkberry Moon Delight" / "Sweet Ginny" [Queen Bee 1313]

Multi-artist samplers and budget compilations[link]

• 1962 Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Lillian Briggs (Coronet)
• 1963 A Night at Forbidden City (Sounds of Hawaii)
• 1988 Screamin' Jay Hawkins- I Put A Spell On You (Elvira Presents: Haunted Hits LP)
• 1990 Screamin' Jay Hawkins- I Put A Spell On You (Elvira Presents: Haunted Hits CD Re-Release)
• 1994 Screamin' Jay Hawkins- Little Demon (Elvira Presents: Monster Hits CD)
• 1996 Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Frenzy (Songs in the Key of X - The X Files)

Filmography[link]

• American Hot Wax (As himself, 1978)
• Mystery Train (Jim Jarmusch, 1989)
• A Rage in Harlem (As Himself, 1991)
• Perdita Durango, also known as Dance with the Devil (Álex de la Iglesia, 1997)
• Peut-être (As club singer, Cedric Klapish 1999)
• Screamin' Jay Hawkins: I Put a Spell On Me (Nicholas Triandafyllidis, 2001)^[20]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Podcast of an interview with Screamin' Jay Hawkins, recorded in 1987.
• Screamin' Jay Hawkins at the Internet Movie Database
• Detailed web site on Hawkins
• Reviews on Hawkins' records
• Screamin' Jay Hawkins at Allmusic
• Transcription of 1983 interview on British radio
• Screamin' Jay Hawkins discography, Singles, EP's, LP/CD
• Screamin' Jay Hawkins Guest Appearance With Dread Zeppelin

Jeff Hawkins

Jeffrey Hawkins (born June 1, 1957, in Huntington, New York) is the founder of Palm Computing (where he invented the Palm Pilot)^[1] and Handspring (where he invented the Treo).^[2] He has since turned to work on neuroscience full-time, founded the Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience (formerly the Redwood Neuroscience Institute) in 2002, and published On Intelligence describing his memory-prediction framework theory of the brain. In 2003 he was elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering "for the creation of the hand-held computing paradigm and the creation of the first commercially successful example of a hand-held computing device."

Hawkins also serves on the Advisory Board of the Secular Coalition for America and offers advice to the coalition on the acceptance and inclusion of nontheism in American life.^[3]

Early life and career[link]

Hawkins grew up with an inventive family on the north shore of Long Island. They developed a floating air cushion platform that was used for waterfront concerts. He attended Cornell University, where he received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1979. He went to work for Intel, and then moved to GRiD Systems in 1982 where he developed Rapid Application Development (RAD) software. Hawkins' interest in pattern recognition for speech and text input to computers led him to enroll in the biophysics program at the University of California, Berkeley in 1986. While there he patented a "pattern classifier" for hand written text, but his PhD proposal was rejected, apparently because none of the professors there were working in that field. The setback led him back to GRiD, where, as vice president of research, he developed their pen-based computing initiative that in 1989 spawned the GRiDPad, one of the first tablet computers.

Hawkins desired to move on with the development of a smaller, hand-held device, but executives at GRiD were reluctant to take the risk. Tandy Corporation had acquired GRiD in 1988, and they were willing to support Hawkins in a new venture company. Palm Computing was founded in January, 1992. Their first product was the Zoomer, a collaboration with Palm applications, GeoWorks OS, Casio hardware, and Tandy marketing. The Apple Newton came out about the same time, late 1993, but both products failed, partly due to poor character recognition software. Hawkins responded with Graffiti, a simpler and more effective recognition product that ran on both the Zoomer and the Newton. They also developed HotSync synchronization software for Hewlett Packard devices.

Hawkins searched for partners to build a simple new handheld, but was stymied until modem manufacturer U.S. Robotics stepped in with the financial backing and manufacturing expertise to bring the Palm Pilot to market in early 1996. By the fall of 1998, US Robotics' new owner, 3Com, was hindering his plans, and Hawkins left the company along with Palm co-founders Donna Dubinsky and Ed Colligan to start Handspring, which debuted the Handspring Visor in September 1999. 3Com ended up spinning off Palm in March, 2000, which then merged with Handspring in August, 2003.

Numenta[link]

In March 2005, Jeff Hawkins, together with Donna Dubinsky (Palm's original CEO) and Dileep George, founded Numenta, Inc. The company's goal is to simultaneously create a theory of how the brain works, and a computer algorithm to implement this theory.

They have been using biological information about the structure of the neocortex to guide the development of their theory on how the brain works. So far, they have come up with two major algorithmic frameworks: Hierarchical Temporal Memory and Fixed-sparsity Distributed Representations. The frameworks can find patterns in noisy data, model the latent causes, and make predictions about what patterns will come next.

The company is headquartered in Redwood City, California.

Neuroscience[link]

After graduating from Cornell in June 1979, he read a special issue of Scientific American on the brain in which Francis Crick lamented the lack of a grand theory explaining how the brain functions.^[4] Initially, Hawkins attempted to start a new department on the subject at his employer Intel, but was refused. He also unsuccessfully attempted to join the MIT AI Lab. He eventually decided he would try to find success in the computer industry and then try to use it to support his serious work on brains, as described in his book On Intelligence.

In 2002, after two decades of finding little interest from neuroscience institutions, Hawkins founded the Redwood Neuroscience Institute in Menlo Park, California. As a result of the formation of Hawkins' new company, Numenta, the Institute was moved to the University of California, Berkeley on 1 July 2005, renamed the Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, and is now administered through the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute.

In 2004, Hawkins published On Intelligence (with New York Times science writer Sandra Blakeslee), laying out his "memory-prediction framework" of how the brain works. His unified theory of the brain argues that the key to the brain and intelligence is the ability to make predictions about the world by seeing patterns. (cf. Franz Brentano's theory of intentionality, published in 1874) He argues that attempts to create an artificial intelligence by simply programming a computer to do what a brain does are flawed and that to actually make an intelligent computer, we simply need to teach it to find and use patterns, not to attempt any specific tasks. Through this method, he thinks we can build intelligent machines, helping us do all sorts of useful tasks that current computers cannot achieve. He further argues that this memory-prediction system as implemented by the brain's cortex is the basis of human intelligence.

References[link]

1. ^ Jeff Hawkins, On Intelligence, p.28
2. ^ Jeff Hawkins, On Intelligence, p.1
3. ^ "Secular Coalition for America Advisory Board Biography". Secular.org. http://www.secular.org/bios/Jeff_Hawkins.html. Retrieved 2011-07-20. 
4. ^ F H C Crick, Thinking about the Brain. Scientific American 1979, 241,3:181-188

Books[link]

• Hawkins, Jeff w/ Sandra Blakeslee (2005). On Intelligence, Times Books, Henry Holt and Co. ISBN 0-8050-7456-2

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jeff Hawkins

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jeff Hawkins

• TED Talks: Jeff Hawkins on how brain science will change computing - Jeff Hawkins speaks about his theories at TED in 2003
• Jeff Hawkins hacks the Human Brain article from Business 2.0
• On Intelligence
• Crazy about Brains Cornell Engineering Magazine, Spring 2005
• Jeff Hawkins: The man who almost single-handedly revived the handheld computer industry, Pen Computing
• Jeff Hawkins, creator of the PalmPilot, PalmPower Magazine
• Jeff Hawkins, creator of the PalmPilot (Part 2), PalmPower Magazine
• Video lecture: Can a New Theory of the Neocortex Lead to Truly Intelligent Machines?
• Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience
• Portability, People and Passion, Jeff Hawkins speaks at Stanford Podcast
• RSA 2008 Keynote Speaker on Hierarchical Temporal Memory
• 2008 Interview on the Brain Science Podcast
• 2008 Keynote Speech at the RSA Conference called Hierarchical 'Memory: Computing Beyond Turing'