Posts Tagged ‘2016’
“I go to seek a Great Perhaps”*…
As we’ve noted before, 2016 seemed a bumper year for the Grim Reaper. Jason Crease tested that perception against the data…
It’s become cliché that unusually many prominent people died in 2016. Is this true?…
Find out at “Was 2016 especially dangerous for celebrities? An empirical analysis.“
[Image above: source]
* François Rabelais
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As we usher in the new, we might spare a thought for the first woman in the Western world considered to be a mathematician: Maria Gaetana Agnesi, she died this date in 1799. While she thought and wrote broadly about natural science and philosophy, she is best remembered for her work in differential calculus– perhaps most particularly for her work on the cubic curve now know as the “witch of Agnesi.”
“Remembrance and reflection how allied!”*…
Via @christhebarker, an update of an iconic photo collage… what a year. (Larger here)
* Alexander Pope, Essay on Man and Other Poems
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As we count the days, we might send thoughtful birthday greetings to Naguib Mahfouz; he was born on this date in 1911. A prolific writer– he published 34 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of movie scripts, and five plays over a 70-year career– he was one of the first writers in Arabic to explore Existentialist themes (e.g., the Cairo Trilogy, Adrift on the Nile). He was awarded the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature.
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