I. J. Good
Also known as Irving John Good, Jack Good
Irving John "Jack" Good was a statistician who originated the concept of an intelligence explosion. Joining Bletchley Park in 1941, he worked in Hut 8 alongside Alan Turing. His 1950 book Probability and the Weighing of Evidence stands among his major works, and after the war he worked on Bayesian statistics. In 1965 he wrote Speculations Concerning the First Ultraintelligent Machine, and in 1968 he published a Five-Year Plan for Automatic Chess. At Virginia Tech he became professor of statistics in 1967, and he died in Radford, Virginia, in 2009.
- Works
- 739
- Citations
- 28,611
- h-index
- 62
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.
Timeline
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1938–1941
A Cambridge doctorate
In 1938 he graduates in mathematics from Jesus College, Cambridge, and in 1941 he completes a doctorate under G. H. Hardy.
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1941
Codebreaking in Hut 8
Hut 8 at Bletchley Park becomes his workplace in 1941, alongside Alan Turing, Hugh Alexander and Max Newman.
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1950
Probability and the Weighing of Evidence
After the war he works on Bayesian statistics, and his 1950 book Probability and the Weighing of Evidence is one of his major books.
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1965
The intelligence explosion
In 1965 he publishes Speculations Concerning the First Ultraintelligent Machine, and he originates the concept of an intelligence explosion.
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1967–1969
Professor at Virginia Tech
At Virginia Tech he becomes professor of statistics in 1967, and in 1969 he is appointed University Distinguished Professor.
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1968
A five-year plan for chess
He publishes his Five-Year Plan for Automatic Chess in 1968, and excerpts are reprinted in David Levy's Computer Chess Compendium.
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2009
Death in Radford, Virginia
He dies in 2009 of natural causes in Radford, Virginia.
Sources and credits
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