Denaming Science
- snoozeofreason
- Snowbonk
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Denaming Science
UCL has recently denamed some of its buildings, including the Pearson Building and Pearson Lecture Theatre (named after statistician and eugenicist Karl Pearson), which set me thinking about names in science. I doubt that many people outside UCL are aware that it has a Pearson Building (I didn't, and I worked at UCL for a while), but most mathematically inclined schoolboys of a certain age will remember the Pearson Correlation Coefficient. I had a quick look at younger son's A-Level Maths text books and discovered that this seems to have been quietly denamed as well. It's now just the Product-Moment Coefficient (at least as far as Edexcel is concerned, I'm not sure about other boards). I imagine that there are other coefficients, theorems, numbers, equations, and effects that are ripe for the same treatment - anything named after William Shockley for example. How much of this has already quietly happened, as with Pearson, and how much should happen?
In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them. The human body was knocked up pretty late on the Friday afternoon, with a deadline looming. How well do you expect it to work?
- snoozeofreason
- Snowbonk
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Re: Denaming Science
And schoolgirls of course. I went to an all boys school in the late Cretaceous period, but I think there were schoolgirls.snoozeofreason wrote: ↑Sat Jun 20, 2020 5:01 pmmost mathematically inclined schoolboys of a certain age will remember the Pearson Correlation Coefficient
In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them. The human body was knocked up pretty late on the Friday afternoon, with a deadline looming. How well do you expect it to work?
Re: Denaming Science
I didn't know about the Pearson Correlation Coefficient until I had to help our daughter with her AS Level maths stats homework.
Mind you, my own A level syllabus really didn't do any stats.
Mind you, my own A level syllabus really didn't do any stats.
My avatar was a scientific result that was later found to be 'mistaken' - I rarely claim to be 100% correct
ETA 5/8/20: I've been advised that the result was correct, it was the initial interpretation that needed to be withdrawn
Meta? I'd say so!
ETA 5/8/20: I've been advised that the result was correct, it was the initial interpretation that needed to be withdrawn
Meta? I'd say so!
- bob sterman
- Dorkwood
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Re: Denaming Science
As I just wrote in another thread - maybe it's time to rename the correlation coefficient as Bravais' r ???
https://www.york.ac.uk/depts/maths/histstat/bravais.htm
https://www.york.ac.uk/depts/maths/histstat/bravais.htm
- Little waster
- After Pie
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Re: Denaming Science
I did my PhD at UCL. Recall the Galton lecture hall dont recall the Pearson building but then again I was drinking heavily at the time.
I worked with a Professor Pearson whose biggest contribution to science was making beer out of algae*.
I reckon we should just shift the honour to him.
*I imagine he did some other stuff too.
I worked with a Professor Pearson whose biggest contribution to science was making beer out of algae*.
I reckon we should just shift the honour to him.
*I imagine he did some other stuff too.
This place is not a place of honor, no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here, nothing valued is here.
What is here was dangerous and repulsive to us.
This place is best shunned and left uninhabited.
What is here was dangerous and repulsive to us.
This place is best shunned and left uninhabited.
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- Fuzzable
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Re: Denaming Science
In general I would prefer to see more things given descriptive names, rather than being named after people anyway. I think it just makes communication and pedagogy easier, avoiding the need to associate a bunch of arbitrary names with the concept. So yes please do get rid of names of people who actively did bad sh.t.