It's written in the first person, and he's describing the findings. How else should he have written it?
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Wolfram is known for this. He's clearly a bright fellow but he is not even close to being the only or the first person to work on stuff like cellular automata, computational theories of physics, or complexity. He did not invent everything he claims to have invented and while he does footnote he's definitely not drawing attention to any of the others in the area.
It's tragic really. A New Kind of Science is full of brilliant ideas but the narcissism that drips from every page ruins it and probably prevents some of these ideas from getting the reception they deserve.
That is exactly the reason I stopped reading halfway through. I couldn't take any more of his narcissism.
I heard once that the book originally lacked many footnotes and they were added later after an outcry from the scientific community. I don't know if that's true but I can believe it.
Like I said the subject area is fascinating and merits a much warmer reception than this book got. Tragic.
Correct, the first edition didn't have the footnotes.