# Stephen Wolfram on Reddit (u/StephenWolfram-Real)

Part of Scientists on Reddit, researched with Autumn (https://www.autumn.ai) from public sources. Updated 2026-11-07. Interactive version: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/scientists-on-reddit/stephen-wolfram

Stephen Wolfram: Scientist, creator of Mathematica and Wolfram|Alpha.

- Reddit account: [u/StephenWolfram-Real](https://www.reddit.com/user/StephenWolfram-Real/) (AMA only)
- How we know it's theirs: [The 2012 r/IAmA AMA, posted from this account](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/qisot/)
- Where they post, in the records we retrieved: r/IAmA (202)
- Known activity in the posts we found: 2012 to 2020
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Wolfram

## Moments

### u/StephenWolfram-Real in r/IAmA, Mar 5, 2012 · Personal story

Replying to a redditor:

> What is the most interesting use of Mathematica and/or Wolfram Alpha you've ever seen?

> There are so many; very hard to pick just one.
>
> An old one for Mathematica: Mike Foale was using it on the Mir space station; there was an accident; the computer it was on got sucked into space; Mike had a backup disk, but needed a password for a different computer; all-time favorite call to customer service ... and finally an in-action solving of equations of motion for a spinning space station.

(Excerpt.)
Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/qisot/comment/c3xyqf7/ · 1,054 points as of Nov 7, 2026

### u/StephenWolfram-Real in r/IAmA, Feb 23, 2016 · Personal story

Replying to a redditor:

> Hi, Thanks for taking time to do this AMA. I have a few questions: 1) What was it like working with Richard Feynman? 2) How did you manage to start legitimate research on quantum field theory when you were only 15? 3) What are your plans and goals for the future?

> Richard Feynman and I had rather different styles of solving problems ... so there was often a certain amount of "I don't understand what you're talking about" on both sides.  We worked on quantum computing back around 1982 or so.  He did hand calculation which I could never believe got the right answer, and I did computer calculations which he could never believe got the right answer... (In retrospect, I think we actually both got the right answers.)

(Excerpt.)
Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/478njk/comment/d0b42om/ · 178 points as of Nov 7, 2026

### u/StephenWolfram-Real in r/IAmA, Feb 23, 2016 · Behind the scenes

Replying to a redditor:

> What's the craziest thing you've seen your Wolfram Alpha engine respond with, and what was the query you used? Are there any easter eggs you'd care to share with us?

> I sometimes think the problem is not the creation of artificial intelligence, but the avoidance of artificial stupidity... I put some of my favorites from the history of Wolfram|Alpha in http://blog.stephenwolfram.com/2012/04/overcoming-artificial-stupidity/
>
> E.g. "all the king's horses"  used to be interpreted as the total horse livestock population of the world, on Elvis's birthday...

Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/478njk/comment/d0b2e9y/ · 352 points as of Nov 7, 2026

### u/StephenWolfram-Real in r/IAmA, Feb 24, 2016 · Normal redditor

Replying to a redditor:

> Hello Stephen, I have a very important question that many of my colleagues wish to have answered: Would you rather fight 100 duck sized horses, or 1 horse sized duck? How might you use Mathematica to answer this intelligently?

> I'm certainly no expert on fighting ... but here's how I might approach the problem.  Basically I would want to make models of these creatures---their mechanics, and if possible their behaviors.  I know Mathematica has been used a bunch to model quadruped mechanics (e.g. for dinosaurs in movies, and real things).  I'd probably start from models of the biomechanics of ducks and horses.  We recently added detailed human anatomy data to the Wolfram Language and Wolfram|Alpha (see e.g. http://www.wolframalpha.com/examples/HumanAnatomy.html ), and I know from that project (which took a long time) that there isn't readily available comparable data for other species.  So one would have to wing it a bit (and, yes, I have no idea about models for the wings...)

(Excerpt.)
Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/478njk/comment/d0bb9u9/ · 365 points as of Nov 7, 2026