Bernard Meltzer was initially a reader in the University of Edinburgh Department of Electrical Engineering However an interest in mathematical logic and the possibilities of the use of digital computers to do mathematical reasoning led to a year's Fellowship at the Atlas Computer Laboratory in 1964-65. On returning to Edinburgh he set up an independent research unit to pursue his new interests. Called the Metamathematics Unit, it quickly established an international reputation as a centre for research in artificial intelligence, extending the scope of its work for automatic proof of mathematical theorems to the programming of the other activities such as induction and commonsense reasoning.
Bernard Meltzer died on July 4, 2008
A full obituary is available at the University of Edinburgh School of Informatics.