The "Famous people you've probably never heard of but should have" thread

[jim360]

Well I couldn't exactly stop them could I?

If you have someone you have in mind, feel free! A lot of the people I post about I have either heard of or are interesting to me - but not necessarily to other people. If there's someoen I have missed that interests you then sure you can write about them. Just don't hijack this thread.

[jim360]

It's perhaps not too surprising that someone with a name like Ghiyath al-Din Abu'l-Fath Umar ibn Ibrahim Al-Nishapuri al-Khayyami has been largely overlooked in popular history. That's why it's usually shortened to Omar Khayyam (1048 - 1131) when people want to write about him.

Omar Khayyam was one of the many Arabian/ persian polymaths (men of many talents) that worked in the sciences and mathematics long before the Western world had come out of its Dark Age. Because of this, in fact, his contribution to the world is less than it should be, since every one of his discoveries or pieces of work was redone later by someone more famous. Copernicus's "the Sun is at the centre of the Solar System"? Nope, Khayyam was first there by some 300 years. The modern Gregorian Calender of the 18th Century? Nope, Khayyam (and others) again by 700 years - and in fact even more accurate. Descartes' work linking algebra and Geometry? Khayyam's first. And so on...

Khayyam is perhaps more famous as a poet than a scientist but since I don't like poetry I won't be going into that.

It's no coincidence, by the way, that words such as "algebra" and "algorithm" are Arabic. The Persians/ Arabians were so advanced over the Western world for such a long time that if anything people such as Newton were just catching the Western world back up.

[Anubis]

i think that Greeks (of antiquity) Found that Sun is the center of solar system. And arabian people read their books ( and improve greeks' knowledges sometimes) when people of europe was under Church's obscurantism. but may be i'm wrong.

[jim360]

It's not quite correct to say that the Greeks said the Sun, or the Earth, was at the centre of the solar system. Instead, both of these were proposed as the basis of models that explained the motions of the stars and planetes. By a model I mean something that can explain things rather than something that is meant to be the complete picture. Of course, Aristotle (who was terrible at maths) didn't recognise this and said that the model was literally true.

[Marty]

It's not quite correct to say that the Greeks said the Sun, or the Earth, was at the centre of the solar system. Instead, both of these were proposed as the basis of models that explained the motions of the stars and planetes. By a model I mean something that can explain things rather than something that is meant to be the complete picture. Of course, Aristotle (who was terrible at maths) didn't recognise this and said that the model was literally true.

I was wondering whether to post this myself, and settled on waiting to see if you posted it. Prophesy ftw!

As three60 said, they're both ways of looking at the motion of the solar system: neither is true, neither is wrong. The only type of motion that exists is relative motion (i.e. moving compared with something). I feel an article on relativity theory being warrented in 'short introduction to...'

[jim360]

Well, yes and no Marty. Even in relativty theory things still have defined coordinates. It's more speed and acceleration that are defined relative to something else. The Sun is at (or near to) of our Solar System. That's fact. What's not entirely true is that the Earth goes absolutely round a stationary Sun. If you change the set-up of the Solar System and put the Earth at the centre again, then every interplanetary satellite ever launched would be in the wrong place right now.

What I mean is that when it came to the Greeks, they didn't have a physical picture as such - just two models that both could be made to fit. And anyway, both of the Greek Models were entirely wrong since at the time they did not (or could not) include ellipses, instead relying on circles. Which doesn't quite work even if you have hundreds of them. In fact one understated conclusion of Ptolemy's model was that ever though the Earth was meant to be at the centre, it wasn't but was slightly to one side.

[BFM_SüprM@ñ]

There was another thing about Tesla that I wanted to mention. His work on the transferring of energy wirelessly, even over long distances. It's the reason he lost all of his funding. He proposed that there was enough electricity flowing through the Earth to power the world, and he'd only need about five or six facilities to transfer the power to everyone. Basically, he would build the Wardenclyffe Tower, which was tall enough to use the air about 5km above ground level as one part of the circuit and he would use the Earth to complete the circuit. there wouldn't be any powerlines, grid, or  electric bill, which is supposedly the reason why J.P. Morgan dropped his funding of the project, and there wouldn't be any power outtages! Hooray for never having to worry about losing your connection should a power line go down. = )

I just wanted to add that simply because it's what interests me the most about Tesla. Keep up the good work Jim. = )

[jim360]

My next profile is of someone who is hardly famous at all and didn't really achieve much, but he did start something. Rather like the proverbial pebble starting an avalanche, Liu Changchun was the first-ever Chinese athlete to represent his country at the Summer Olympic games.

His record, however, is far from impressive. In the 100 metre sprint event, he came last with a time of 11.1 seconds, and in the 200 metre sprint he also came last, with a time somewhere around 25 seconds or more - it's rather too bad, anyway, to appear in official records.

It would not be until the 1960 games that China would win a medal, and not until 1984 Games that China would win a gold, but not, of course, China is one of the top three sporting nations in terms of medals, and in the last Olympics came first in the medals table (or 2nd, if you are in the USA). Liu ChangChun was the first Chinese athlete - but not the last.

[jim360]

Now for a somewhat liberal interpretation of "person" - my person of the day is Pickles, who was in fact a dog that died some 40 years ago while chasing a cat. So what's so exciting about this dog? Well, in a story that's stayed with me for a while, Pickles found the World Cup Trophy.

Before the tournament in England, 1966, the Jules Rimet Trophy (the old trophy, the new one is just the FIFA World Cup Trophy) was on display when it was stolen! Stolen! Shock! Horror! A national hunt was launched, but Pickles found the trophy in a bush somewhere. This find earned his family a new TV and probably even some tickets to a match, but more importantly it meant that Bobby Moore could lift the Cup for England, and in 1970 for Brazil to win the trophy forever (until it got stolen again, anyway).

Good on you, Pickles, in that Doggy Kennel in the Sky!!!

[Marty]

"I have Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. It has crippled my body and speech, but not my mind."

These words appear upon the back of an album called Perspective by Jason Becker, one of the most talented and determined guitarists of all time.

Becker began playing in his early teens, and at 16 was paired with Marty Friedman to join the super-guitarist group 'Cacophony', which allowed both young guitarists to showcase their skills and launch their musical careers. At 20, Becker was recording the album A Little Ain't Enough for David Lee Roth's band, he complained about a 'lazy limp' in his leg, and was shortly diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease: a disease that gradually paralyzes the body, commonly leading to death. Jason was given 3-5 years to live. This was in 1989.

Jason finished recording the album despite his increasing inability to move his fingers or walk. Eventually he could no longer speak, but his father developed a system whereby he could communicate through moving his eyes. Jason continued composing, his father watching his eyes and translating what he saw onto guitar, communicating with his son until he knew exactly what he wanted. Unable to record them himself, the albums he has recorded since - Raspberry Jams and Blackberry Jams amongst them - have been recorded by other talented guitarists he has met and played with in his career, including Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman, Joe Satriani...

Jason Backer is still alive and composing, 21 years after being given 5 years to live.

[Archer]

It would not be until the 1960 games that China would win a medal, and not until 1984 Games that China would win a gold, but not, of course, China is one of the top three sporting nations in terms of medals, and in the last Olympics came first in the medals table (or 2nd, if you are in the USA). Liu ChangChun was the first Chinese athlete - but not the last.

It depends on how one "counts" the medals.  If you simply add up the gold, silver, and bronze medals, the US would top the list with 110 while China got 100.

If you are only concerned with gold medals, then China is the clear leader with 51 to the 36 gold medals won by Americans.

If you weight the medals [i.e. gold=3, silver=2, bronze=1] evenly, then China again edges out the US, but by a smaller margin.  223 to 220 using the 3/2/1 example.

Regards,
Archer

[jim360]

Yeah, it was a bit tongue-in-cheek. As far as I could make out, at the time only the USA did medal tables by total number overall rather than by gold medals, then silver, then gold, putting the US first. Probably not by coincidence.

[Archer]

Yeah, it was a bit tongue-in-cheek. As far as I could make out, at the time only the USA did medal tables by total number overall rather than by gold medals, then silver, then gold, putting the US first. Probably not by coincidence.

Not that I pay a huge amount of attention to it, but I think that is the way our media traditionally publishes cumulative medal counts.  It wasn't anything particular with 2008.

Regards,
Archer

[jim360]

Probably.

Has to be said there are flaws with any weighting system, e.g. in the UK one gold "beats" 30 silvers, in the US 30 bronzes "beat" 29 golds and other such possibilities that, perhaps, seem unfair. The 3/2/1 system seems best but perhaps harder to follow.

Comparison of tables:

by gold medals won:

G    S   B
13 12 10
11  6  19
5    21  8

by total medals:

G    S   B
11  6  19
13 12 10
5   21  8

by 3/2/1:

G    S   B
13 12 10
5   21   8
11   6  19

I guess the only reason it might matter is if you were the country with 11 gold medals.

[jim360]

John Dee is one of the many early pioneers of Science, though his chief claim to fame now is being overly obsessed with Spiritualism in his later life. He's also, a little strangely, claimed to be the origin of "007" as a code name - now better known as James Bond's Secret Agent number.

More important contributions to the World include John Dee's skill at navigation, and he taught many of the explorers of his day (which was 1527 - 1608, by the way), and his very accurate calendar. This would have been even better than the one we use, but politics got in the way. John Dee's library was also nearly the largest in Europe at the time.

Undoubtedly John Dee's work isn't nearly as important as, say, Tycho Brahe, his contemporary, but his views on the importance of mathematics would influence Newton, Euler and Gauss and indeed the whole world of maths today.

Finally, the whole history of the USA was in a way started when a certain J. Dee laid claim to the New World for the "Brytish Impire".

Because he was heavily involved in politics and supernaturalism in later life, there's little more to be said about John Dee. But sometimes it's not what a man does but what a man starts that is important. Here's one man who got the ball rolling on opening maths to the masses, paving the way for the huge breakthroughs to follow.