Roger Needham, a computer-science pioneer who founded and managed Microsoft's research division in Cambridge, England, died Friday (Feb. 28) of cancer. Mr. Needham, 68, was known for his thoughtful speaking style, dry sense of humor and witty wordplay that gave even the most arcane computer-science lectures some sparkle. "Serendipity is looking for a needle in a haystack and finding the farmer's daughter," he sometimes said about his knack for hitting on the right idea.
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