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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2015}}

{{Infobox scientist
| name = Mike Lesser
| birth_name = Michael John Lesser
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1943|09|28|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Hampstead]], [[London]], England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2015|07|01|1943|09|28|df=y}}
| death_place = [[London Borough of Barnet|Barnet]], London, England
}}

'''Michael John Lesser''' (28 September 1943 – 1 July 2015) was a [[mathematical]] [[philosopher]] and [[political activist]].

==Early life==
The youngest member of the [[Committee of 100 (United Kingdom)|Committee of 100]], he was sent, aged 16, to [[Wormwood Scrubs (HM Prison)|Wormwood Scrubs]] Prison along with most of the committee. He served two spells as contributor to London's [[Underground press|underground]] journal ''[[International Times]]''.<ref name=Guardian>{{cite news|author=Heathcote Williams|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jul/30/mike-lesser-obituary|title=Mike Lesser obituary|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=30 July 2015|access-date=15 December 2016|archive-date=21 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321085201/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jul/30/mike-lesser-obituary|url-status=live}}</ref>

He was active in [[May 1968 in France]].<ref>R. Tasher, [http://internationaltimes.it "Stop Press Paris 24th May"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103033016/http://www.internationaltimes.it/ |date=3 January 2010 }}, ''International Times'', London, May 1968.</ref>

==Career==
In 1992 he was the co-author, with Prof A. Wuensche, of the book ''The Global Dynamics Of Cellular Automata'', published in the ''[[Santa Fe Institute|Santa Fe Institute's]] Reference Volumes''. The book is an atlas of [[Emergence|emergent]] forms evolving from the apparently chaotic product of a set of iterated logical operations.{{citation needed|date=June 2025}}

He was assistant to the Directing Professor, P. Allen, at the Institute for Ecotechnological Research at [[Cranfield University]]. He is the co-author of several scientific papers on [[dynamical systems]] theory with Allen.<ref>P.Allen & M.Lesser (1991), ''Evolutionary Human Systems: Learning, Ignorance and Subjectivity'', In: ''Evolutionary Theories of Economic Change'', pp. 160–172. Harwood Academic Publishers. Ed. P. P. Saviotti & J. Metcalfe. {{ISBN|3-7186-5078-9}}</ref>

He worked on [[super computer]]s at [[NASA]]'s Goddard Jet Propulsion Lab and at the [[Rutherford Appleton Laboratories]] in Oxon, UK.{{citation needed|date=June 2025}}

He published papers on [[autism]] with [[Dinah Murray]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Murray |first1=Dinah |author-link=Dinah Murray |last2=Lesser |first2=Mike |last3=Lawson |first3=Wenn |date=2005 |title=Attention, monotropism and the diagnostic criteria for autism |url= |journal=[[Autism (journal)|Autism]] |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=139–156 |doi=10.1177/1362361305051398 |pmid=15857859 |s2cid=6476917|doi-access=free }}</ref> with whom he co-founded ''Autism and Computing'', a non-profit organization.

In 2009 he founded ''The International Times Archive'', a free archive of every page of ''International Times'' from its first issue in 1966 to its last in 1994.{{citation needed|date=June 2025}}

A biographical interview may also be found in the style magazine ''[[Dazed & Confused (magazine)|Dazed & Confused]]''.<ref>[[Karley Sciortino]], "Anti-Authoritarian Mike Lesser on His Life of Anarchy", ''Dazed and Confused'', December 2009.</ref> A more complete autobiography may be found in ''[[The Times]].''<ref>{{Cite news|date=10 September 2005|title=Give me a break|language=en|work=[[The Times]]|location=London|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/give-me-a-break-5bsfppblcx6|access-date=2021-06-19|issn=0140-0460|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624204309/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/give-me-a-break-5bsfppblcx6|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Death==
Lesser died in London in 2015 at the age of 71.<ref name=Guardian /> In December 2015, coroner Andrew Walker at [[Barnet Coroners Court]] ruled that Lesser died from [[asphyxiation]]. Evidence was given that Lesser had suffered from depression for "many years". He had a [[heart bypass]] in 1999 and in June 2015 had been told that he had terminal [[lung cancer]]. He left a note for his wife and friends.<ref>[http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/14118604.Philosopher_committed_suicide_after_terminal_cancer_diagnosis/? "Philosopher committed suicide after terminal cancer diagnosis"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151214101523/http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/14118604.Philosopher_committed_suicide_after_terminal_cancer_diagnosis/ |date=14 December 2015 }}, Charlie Peat, Times Series, 2 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [http://slutever.com/a-life-of-anarchy-mike-lesser-interview/ A LIFE OF ANARCHY: MIKE LESSER INTERVIEW]. Slutever, 18 February 2010

{{UK underground}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lesser, Mike}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:2015 deaths]]
[[Category:British philosophers]]
[[Category:British activists]]
[[Category:Cellular automatists]]
[[Category:People associated with Cranfield University]]
[[Category:British anarchists]]

Mike Lesser - Revision history

imported>Grnrchst: Tagged where citations are needed.