Topic: Biography (Page 26)
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π Edward Tufte
Edward Rolf Tufte (; born March 14, 1942) is an American statistician and professor emeritus of political science, statistics, and computer science at Yale University. He is noted for his writings on information design and as a pioneer in the field of data visualization.
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- "Edward Tufte" | 2009-12-26 | 12 Upvotes 2 Comments
π Thomas Harriot
Thomas Harriot (Oxford, c. 1560 β London, 2 July 1621), also spelled Harriott, Hariot or Heriot, was an English astronomer, mathematician, ethnographer and translator who made advances within the scientific field. Thomas Harriot was recognized for his contributions in astronomy, mathematics, and navigational techniques. Harriot worked closely with John White to create advanced maps for navigation. While Harriot worked extensively on numerous papers on the subjects of astronomy, mathematics, and navigation the amount of work that was actually published was sparse. So sparse that the only publication that has been produced by Harriot was The Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia. The premise of the book includes descriptions of English settlements and financial issues in Virginia at the time. He is sometimes credited with the introduction of the potato to the British Isles. Harriot was the first person to make a drawing of the Moon through a telescope, on 26 July 1609, over four months before Galileo Galilei.
After graduating from St Mary Hall, Oxford, Harriot travelled to the Americas, accompanying the 1585 expedition to Roanoke island funded by Sir Walter Raleigh and led by Sir Ralph Lane. Harriot was a vital member of the venture, having learned and translating the Carolina Algonquian language from two Native Americans: Wanchese and Manteo. On his return to England, he worked for the 9th Earl of Northumberland. At the Earl's house, he became a prolific mathematician and astronomer to whom the theory of refraction is attributed.
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- "Thomas Harriot" | 2014-05-25 | 12 Upvotes 2 Comments
π Sraffa asks Wittgenstein: βWhat is the logical form of that?β
Piero Sraffa (5 August 1898 β 3 September 1983) was an influential Italian economist who served as lecturer of economics at the University of Cambridge. His book Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities is taken as founding the neo-Ricardian school of economics.
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- "Sraffa asks Wittgenstein: βWhat is the logical form of that?β" | 2023-02-03 | 13 Upvotes 1 Comments
π Greg Packer has been quoted in hundreds of articles as a βman on the streetβ
Gregory F. Packer (born December 18, 1963), is a retired American highway maintenance worker from Huntington, New York, best known for frequently being quoted as a "man on the street" in newspapers, magazines and television broadcasts from 1995 to the present. He has been quoted in hundreds of articles and television broadcasts as a member of the public (that is, a "man on the street" rather than a newsmaker or expert). Although he always gives his real name, he has admitted to making things up to get into the paper.
Packer's status as a frequent interviewee is due to a number of factors, including seeking out members of the press and appearing friendly, although mostly it is due to his hobby of attending public appearances of celebrities and other media events and attempting to be first in line on such occasions. This has led to him being dubbed a professional line sitter. It has also led to Packer's other claim to fame: being the first person in the world to buy an iPhone, on June 29, 2007 at Apple Fifth Avenue in New York City, after having camped out for five days in front of the store. (He tried to similarly be the first to buy an iPad in 2010, but was bumped from the first position in line due to not having a reservation.) His efforts to be first in line have also allowed him to meet people including Mariah Carey, Garth Brooks, Dennis Rodman and Ringo Starr, as well as at least four presidents of the United States: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and (before he became president) Donald Trump.
Discussed on
- "Greg Packer has been quoted in hundreds of articles as a βman on the streetβ" | 2021-05-05 | 13 Upvotes 1 Comments
π Religious Views of Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton (4 January 1643 β 31 March 1727) was considered an insightful and erudite theologian by his Protestant contemporaries. He wrote many works that would now be classified as occult studies, and he wrote religious tracts that dealt with the literal interpretation of the Bible. He kept his heretical beliefs private.
Newton's conception of the physical world provided a model of the natural world that would reinforce stability and harmony in the civic world. Newton saw a monotheistic God as the masterful creator whose existence could not be denied in the face of the grandeur of all creation. Although born into an Anglican family, and a devout but unorthodox Christian, by his thirties Newton held a Christian faith that, had it been made public, would not have been considered orthodox by mainstream Christians. Scholars now consider him a Nontrinitarian Arian.
He may have been influenced by Socinian christology.
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- "Religious Views of Isaac Newton" | 2022-02-11 | 13 Upvotes 1 Comments
π Tree hacker
Axel Erlandson (December 15, 1884 β April 28, 1964) was a Swedish American farmer who shaped trees as a hobby, and opened a horticultural attraction in 1947 advertised as "See the World's Strangest Trees Here," and named "The Tree Circus."
The trees appeared in the column of Robert Ripley's Believe It or Not! twelve times. Erlandson sold his attraction shortly before his death. The trees were moved to Gilroy Gardens in 1985.
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- "Tree hacker" | 2011-09-27 | 12 Upvotes 1 Comments
π Robert Rayford
Robert Rayford (February 3, 1953Β β May 15 or 16, 1969), sometimes identified as Robert R. due to his age, was a teenager from Missouri who has been suggested to represent the earliest case of HIV/AIDS in North America based on evidence published in 1988 in which the authors claimed indicated he was "infected with a virus closely related or identical to human immunodeficiency virus type 1." Rayford died of pneumonia, but his other symptoms baffled the doctors who treated him. A study published in 1988 reported the detection of antibodies against HIV. Results of testing for HIV genetic material were reported once at a scientific conference in Australia in 1999; however, the data have never been published in a peer-reviewed medical or scientific journal.
π Roland the Farter
Roland the Farter (known in contemporary records as Roland le Fartere, Roulandus le Fartere or Roland le Petour) was a medieval flatulist who lived in twelfth-century England. He was given Hemingstone manor in Suffolk and 12 hectares (30 acres) of land in return for his services as a jester for King Henry II. Each year he was obliged to perform "Unum saltum et siffletum et unum bumbulum" (one jump, one whistle, and one fart) for the King's court at Christmas.
Roland is listed in the thirteenth-century English Liber Feodorum (Book of Fees).
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- "Roland the Farter" | 2021-11-29 | 10 Upvotes 3 Comments
π Guthrie's One Trial Theory
Edwin Ray Guthrie (; January 9, 1886 in Lincoln, Nebraska β April 23, 1959 in Seattle, Washington) was a behavioral psychologist. He first worked as a mathematics teacher, and philosopher, but switched to psychology when he was 33. He spent most of his career at the University of Washington, where he became full professor and then emeritus professor in psychology.
Guthrie is best known for his theory that all learning was based on a stimulusβresponse association. This was variously described as one trial theory, non-reinforcement, and contiguity learning. The theory was:
- "A combination of stimuli which has accompanied a movement will on its recurrence tend to be followed by that movement".
One word that his coworkers and students used to describe Guthrie and his theories was "simple", and perhaps he did prefer to use simple terms to illustrate complex ideas. However, "It is undoubtedly true that many reviews of Guthrie in the literature have mistaken incompleteness for simplicity".
His simple nature carried into his teachings where he took great pride in working with and teaching students.
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- "Guthrie's One Trial Theory" | 2020-05-02 | 11 Upvotes 2 Comments
π Atsugiri Jason
Jason David Danielson (born April 9, 1986), known professionally as Atsugiri Jason (εεγγΈγ§γ€γ½γ³, Atsugiri Jeison, lit. "Thick-sliced Jason"), is an American comedian based in Japan and associated with Watanabe Entertainment. Danielson's comedic narrative is based on his confusion with kanji, ending with the punchline, "Why Japanese people?!"
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- "Atsugiri Jason" | 2024-02-11 | 11 Upvotes 2 Comments