Google Maps, Apple Maps, MapQuest. All these things wouldn't have been possible without Edsger Wybe Dijkstra (DYKE-strəz).

Edsger W. Dijkstra is considered one of the most influential researchers in mathematics and computer science. He's contributed to both the hardware side, like the compiler (a translator for programming languages) construction as well as the theoretical side of computer science, like operating systems.

He was like a man with a light in the darkness. He illuminated virtually every issue he discussed. ' In short, he was a genius. ―J Strother Moore

If you've ever wondered how your computer can run with all the programs and apps you use almost instantly you can thank Mr. Dijkstra for that. He solved what the #1 computer science school in the world couldn't do while living in the small city of Rotterdam.

But Dijkstra is most famously known for creating an algorithm, aptly named Dijkstra's algorithm. The original algorithm was designed to find the shortest path between two points but eventually it gave rise to other, more efficient versions that became the maps algorithm that big tech companies use (for highly trafficked places).

The crazy thing. He thought and wrote the original algorithm in 20minutes on a napkin while sipping some coffee at a cafe while waiting for his fiancé to finish shopping.

But perhaps what made him really genius was his ability to think outside the box.

This is perhaps my favourite quote from him:

“Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes” ― Edsger Wybe Dijkstra