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Boffin

Boffin is a British slang term for a scientist, engineer, or other person engaged in technical or scientific research and development. A "boffin" was viewed by some in the regular military or government services as odd, quirky or peculiar, though quite bright and essential to helping in the war effort through having and developing the key ideas leading to transformative military capabilities.

Civil
The origins and etymology of boffin are obscure. A link to the mathematician and evolutionary theorist Buffon has been proposed. Alternatively, linguist Eric Partridge proposed the term derived from Nicodemus Boffin, the good-hearted 'golden dustman' character who appears in the novel Our Mutual Friend (1864/5) by Charles Dickens, described there as a "very odd-looking old fellow indeed". In the novel, Mr Boffin pursues a late-life education, employing Silas Wegg to teach him to read.

William Morris also has a man called Boffin, based on Charles Dickens and said to be a variant of 'Biffin', meet the newly arrived time traveller in his novel News from Nowhere (1890). Dickens had referred to a 'Miss Biffins', an artist with only vestigial arms and legs, in Martin Chuzzlewit (1843). Thus at this time a 'Boffin' is a good-hearted person who has suffered from 'hard times', been ill-regarded, taken an opportunity to better themselves and done well, demonstrating remarkable social mobility. Possibly ill-favoured in appearance, possibly artistic.

In 1894 Augustine Birrell invented a fictional character – Rev. Boffin B.A. –  to epitomize those who bothered fellow Liberal politician Sir Frank Lockwood with seeming trifles. Sir Frank turned the joke on Birrell by writing letters to the papers and critical of him as if from Boffin, later published a popular book of cartoons on the affair and was only then identified as the author, as described in Birrell's humorous biography of Sir Frank.

J. R. R. Tolkien also had a police sergeant called Boffin in his children's tale Mr. Bliss (written around 1932, published 1982), but he is said to have derived the name from an Oxford family of bakers and confectioners rather than Dickens (as confirmed by his daughter Priscilla Tolkien). He later used Boffin as a surname for a family in The Hobbit (1937). This family provides the main heroes, who meet Dicken's mould and are also small, like Sarah Biffen.

Military
The Oxford English Dictionary quotes use in The Times in September 1945 based on a Ministry of Aircraft Production press release: "1945 Times 15 Sept. 5/4 A band of scientific men who performed their wartime wonders at Malvern and apparently called themselves 'the boffins'."

Malvern was home to both the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) and the Radar Research and Development Establishment (RRDE), who were later merged into the Radar Research Establishment (RRE). It developed RADAR in support of all the services. The then superintendent of TRE, A.P. Rowe used the term 'boffin' to refer to earlier R.A.F. usage and by 1942 an RAF training film (School for Secrets) cited 'boffin' as armed-forces slang for an RAF technician or research scientist. Post war, Sir Robert Watson-Watt, the British radar pioneer, cited Robert Hanbury Brown, who had been at RAF Bawdsey (later part of TRE), as the prototypical boffin, noting: "It is quite wrong to use the word ‘boffin’ simply to describe a scientist or technician; a boffin is essentially a middleman, a bridge between two worlds ...".

Sir Robert cites Air Vice-Marshal G. P. Chamberlain, who played a vital part in the use of radar to defeat night-bombers, as the source of the word. Chamberlain himself claimed that 'A Puffin, a bird with a mournful cry, got crossed with a Baffin, a mercifully obsolete Fleet Air Arm aircraft. Their offspring was a Boffin, a bird of astonishingly queer appearance, bursting with weird and sometimes inopportune ideas, but possessed of staggering inventiveness, analytical powers and persistence. Its ideas, like its eggs, were conical and unbreakable. You push the unwanted ones away, and they just roll back.'". A naval origin is supported by reports of an anti-submarine trial by HM Signal School April 1, 1941 based on equipment from TRE. Eric Partridge, in his dictionary of slang, noted that the word had been used in the Royal Navy as "an unkind term for any officer over forty", but this usage seems to have been overshadowed by that referred to by the OED, above.

Of its etymology Sir Robert himself wrote: “I am not quite sure about the true origins of this name of Boffin. ... I am sure it has nothing at all to do with that first literary “Back Room Boy,” the claustrophiliac Colonel Boffin, who as you remember never overtly emerged from his back room, although his voice was clearly audible from it. It is the very essence of the Boffin that he should emerge frequently and almost aggressively from the Back Room to which, however, he must return on his missions of interpretation and inspiration.”

The origin of the term appears to be Naval, rather than Air, but its main usage seems to have originated with Naval officers working with civilian radar 'boffins' and quickly adapted by other servicemen and boffins themselves.

A key innovation at TRE was Rowe's 'Sunday Soviets'. These reflected the lessons identified from the Great War as reflected in the Haldane principle, but adapted to suit the operational challenges. They allowed the boffins both to contribute more, and to be more recognized.

World War II
World War II was regarded by many as a 'Wizard War'. War-time and immediate post-war reference to scientists was particularly associated with radar, either Malvern or Farnborough. Alternatively, Lindemann noted that Mervyn O'Gorman had inaugurated the use of scientific methods in aeronautical development at the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough, developing a cadre of 'leaders and explorers' who have retrospectively been termed 'boffins'. Some "have been careful to differentiate between the true boffin and the 'nark', who was a member of the scientific staff of the Experimental Flying Section at Farnborough.' Similarly, the Secretary of State for War cites the contribution of an operational analyst to the U-boat war in 1943. ”

The radar pioneer Robert Watson-Watt provided the following definition: "The Boffin is a researcher, of high scientific competence, who has learned that a device of great technical elegance, capable of a remarkable performance in the hands of a picked crew, is not necessarily a good weapon of war . He (sic) is the instrument for building into the design provisions which depend on close analysis of the vehicle in which the device is to operate, the field conditions in which it is to operate and above all things, the competence of those who are to operate, maintain, and repair it. He alone can save us from the danger of engendering electronic dinosaurs; he alone can provide on the one hand the knowledge on which the machine can be measured to the man and on the other, the knowledge on which can be based the selection, training, and (this is important) the inspiration of the normal human beings on whom its successful use, in the end, must rest. He must have an understanding and an appreciation of these normal human beings. He can reach these only through having their confidence. He is a middleman, but he is a middleman who can effect enormous economies and enormous increases in efficiencies. He is a rare bird, but he should be free to flit over the whole field of defense science, its origins, and its applications ." He also noted that “It is a term of respect, and admiration, but particularly a term of affection—an affection which is expressed, as is the English way, in a slightly outside-in, jocular way so that the affection and admiration may not be regarded as too demonstrative.”

Thus a Boffin seems the type of person described by Isaac Newton (1642–1726/7), who, in his advice to the Admiralty, made an important distinction when he said that 'if, instead of sending observations of seamen to able mathematicians on land, the land would be able to send able mathematicians to sea, it would signify much more to the improvement of navigation and the safety of men's lives and estates on that element.'

Watson-Watt stated that 'the bill of the boffin has two separate functions. One is to poke into other people's business and the other is to puncture 'the more highly coloured and ornate eggs of the "Lesser Back Room Bird", which are quite inappropriate to the military scene.' Henry Tizard has also been regarded as the prototypical boffin.

According to the Daily Herald, "backroom boys known throughout the services of the United Nations [were known] as `Boffins`. [It] should be considered a badge of honour."

On VJ Day the Daily Herald reported: ”This is `Boffins Day` because for the first time it is permissible to tell something of the war saga of the backroom boys known throughout the services of the United Nations as `Boffins`. It is a dramatic and romantic story of a battle of wits, brains and inventive genius between the scientists of the United Nations and those of the enemy and the United Nations Team won hands down. … Theirs was the best kept secret of the war they were conducting what had been aptly described as the very heart of the United Nations war effort.”

Cold War
In 1952 the Secretary of State for War noted the need to develop 'Colonel Boffins' at Shrivenham (1952). Notably, Richard Vincent acquired the nickname 'the boffin' after working at Malvern (1960–62) as a Gunnery Staff Captain and, via RMCS Shrivenham, rose to become Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom).

In the 12 January 1953 issue of Life magazine, a short article on Malcolm Compston depicted him testing "the Admiralty's new plastic survival suit" in the Arctic Ocean; the article, entitled "Cold Bath for a Boffin", defines the term for its American audience as "civilian scientist working with the British Navy" and notes that his potentially life-saving work demonstrates "why the term 'boffin', which first began as a sailor's expression of joking contempt, has become instead one of affectionate admiration". By 1956 the US Navy apparently regarded boffins as too influential.

By 1962 Boffins were characterised as 'the man (sic) who could understand the viewpoint of the Services, who worked with them, and who frequently shared their dangers' and R V Jones, wartime head of scientific intelligence, was referred to as a boffin. By the late 60s the term was sometimes being used to include all scientists who had worked at Malvern, irrespective of how closely they worked with the services, even 'backroom' staff.

Post Cold War
Boffin continued, in the immediate postwar period, to carry some of its wartime connotation, as a modern-day wizard who labours in secret to create incomprehensible devices of great power. For example, the comics of the period depicted them as developing imaginative machines. However, their more nuanced wartime role was not reflected in popular culture, such as the 1951 Festival of Britain and the term was used in the UK parliament (1953) to refer to boffins as either narrow academics or the catalyst for growth.

The image of the technical hero was popularised by Nevil Shute's novel No Highway (1948), Paul Brickhill's non-fiction book The Dambusters (1951) and Shute's autobiography Slide Rule (1954). The Dambusters film (1954) also featured boffins as heroes, as did stand-alone films such as The Man in the White Suit (1951) and The Sound Barrier (1952).

John Wyndham's novel The Kraken Wakes (1953) includes a song called "The Boffin's Lament" or "The Lay of the Baffled Boffin", with Naval Boffins. By 1958 sound engineers such as Shute and Frank Cordell were being referred to as ‘Pop Boffins’. More recently, the term 'boffin' has been used to cover all of Churchill's war-winning Wizards, including atomic scientists, aeronautical engineers and the scientists of the Department of Miscellaneous Weapons Development (including Shute). By the late 60s the term boffins was being used for any research scientists who were making a difference. Alan Turing has been described as a 'boffin' both for his cryptanalytic wizardry and his backroom work on computers, as have some 'Pop' architects.

However, while the main characters in the semi-autobiographical films The Small Back Room (1948) and No Highway in the Sky (1948) came good in the end, many scientists were presented as figures of fun, including those working with computers, in bomb disposal and on aircraft. Moreover the films (unlike the books) used the term 'Boffin' to apply to any Back-Room Boy, with unfortunate connotations. By 1959 a biography refers to 'muzzle-headed boffins in cob-webby small backrooms'.

Moreover between 1968 and 1972 a series of English language primers portraying a 'mad professor', reinforced by a British TV children's comedy Bright's Boffins (1970–72), became the stereotype for children's literature. By the 1980s boffins were relegated, in UK popular culture, to semi-comic supporting characters such as Q, the fussy armourer-inventor in the James Bond films, and the term itself gradually took on a negative connotation within society at large. Thus, by the late 1990s, while the need for 'high-calibre' research staff with 'intimate knowledge' of users and their potential needs was well recognized by potential employers, the term 'boffin' was no longer used in its original sense, lest it conjure up images of 'mad scientists'.

This negative view changed after 2003, with Backroom Boys: The Secret Return of the British Boffin, but without making the original distinction between 'back-room boys' and boffins. By 2009 a popular history noted how enthusiastic 'home-taught boffins' and academics contributed to both world wars, and came to have 'key positions in directing the war effort' and a nostalgic popular book to accompany the Science Museum's 'Dan Dare and the Birth of High-Tech Britain' Exhibition described the optimism as the war-time boffins turned their attention to turning Britain into 'a place of ingenious, and beautifully crafted home-spun technology and design', until thwarted by the consumerist policies of Harold Macmillan. Norman Foster is cited as carrying forward the spirit of the boffin.

Popular culture
The term 'boffin' has become widely used in the UK popular media to refer to any scientist or scientific expert, especially those engaged in research. The Institute of Physics is running a campaign to limit this usage, due to the negative image.

In its July 1984 edition, Road and Track commented: "Peter Wright, formerly aerodynamic engineer for Team Lotus Research and Development, is known there as 'The Boffin' for his scientific wizardry." This Boffin would go on to pioneer active suspension in Formula-One.

The term is used frequently in the sketches of comedy duo  Mitchell & Webb , particularly in the reoccurring sketch Big Talk.

title: Boffin


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Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/July 1

 * 1690 - Battle of the Boyne as reckoned under Julian calendar.
 * 1966 - First colour television transmission in Canada, from Toronto.
 * 1968 - Nuclear non-proliferation treaty signed by about sixty countries in Geneva Switzerland
 * 1991 - The Warsaw Pact is officially dissolved in Prague.
 * 1996 - Version 1.0 of PNG, an open source competitor to the GIF image format, is finalised.

The TV and non-proliferation events don't seem to have good reference articles

A good candidate to bump off the St.Louis Olympics: -- PFHLai 11:48, 3 May 2006 (UTC)
 * 1569 - The Union of Lublin was signed, merging the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into a single state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Hong Kong handover?
Pretty significant compared to other events featured. DHN 10:55, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
 * This was posted on Selected anniversaries/June 30, because the ceremony and the official handover occurred at 30 June, 4:00 PM UTC. In fact, the Transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong article currently also has 30 June date as its primary date. If possible, all events on the Selected Anniversary pages are based on the Gregorian calendar and UTC. Thanks. Zzyzx11 (Talk) 15:43, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

International Criminal Court
How about this one? Sideshow Bob Roberts (talk) 12:39, 13 March 2008 (UTC)
 * 2002 - The International Criminal Court was established to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.
 * This article already has been posted this year on Selected anniversaries/March 11, the date of its inaugural session. Would you like it on this date next year? Zzyzx11 (Talk) 14:32, 13 March 2008 (UTC)
 * On the other hand, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court article has never been featured yet AFAIK, so that is a possibility. Zzyzx11 (Talk) 14:35, 13 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Oh, right. I didn't realise an article could only be featured once a year.  If that's the case, I'd prefer to feature International Criminal Court on 1 July next year.  11 March 2003 was the date the court held its first session but 1 July 2002 is hugely significant: it's the date the ICC officially came into existence, and the court can only prosecute crimes committed on or after that date.  Maybe we could feature Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on 17 July, the date the treaty was adopted in 1998.  Sideshow Bob Roberts (talk) 18:24, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

Publication of Darwin's theory
As it happens, today is the 150th anniversary of the reading of Darwin's and Wallace's theories On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection - discussed here. . dave souza, talk 23:56, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

2012 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 20:13, 30 June 2012 (UTC)
 * New articles (unused): Battle of Malvern Hill; Agadir Crisis; Kwame Nkrumah
 * Omitted: Lexell's Comet; Sholes and Glidden typewriter; Kim Philby; Scottish Parliament; Überlingen mid-air collision; 2008 riot in Mongolia
 * Included: Canadian Confederation/John A. Macdonald (3rd appearance, last in 2008 for Confederation; first appearance for Macdonald); Kurt Wintgens (first appearance); Grant Park Music Festival (first appearance); Tokyo City/Tokyo (first appearance for both); Qinghai–Tibet Railway (first appearance)

2013 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 05:51, 30 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Omitted: Lexell's Comet; Canadian Confederation; Kurt Wintgens; Grant Park Music Festival; Qinghai–Tibet Railway
 * Included: The Watchtower (first appearance); Agadir Crisis (first appearance); Kwame Nkrumah (first appearance); Kim Philby (2nd appearance, last in 2011; 50th anniversary)
 * Repeats: Tokyo City/Tokyo (both: 2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

2014 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 08:44, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
 * New articles (unused): Great Railroad Strike of 1922
 * Omitted: The Watchtower; Agadir Crisis; Tokyo City/Tokyo; Kim Philby
 * Included: Westminster Assembly (first appearance); Raid on Lunenburg, Nova Scotia (1782) (first appearance); Battle of Albert (1916) (first appearance; rescued from Ineligible); Überlingen mid-air collision (2nd appearance, last in 2011)
 * Repeats: Kwame Nkrumah (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

2014 anniversary
Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of the death of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the chabad rebbe. There have been a number of books and biographies published recently in connection with the anniversary as well as media coverage and book reviews, etc. (one of the books made it to the top 15 on amazon and the NYT bestsellers list). They are expecting at least 50000 people tomorrow visiting his grave in queens.

I've never done this before so I don't know the guidelines or how to put it up, if anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated.

Just to note: it is the Jewish date of the anniversary, which corrosponds this year to July 1st, not every year is it the same date.

Larryyr (talk) 21:15, 30 June 2014 (UTC)

 * The long-standing rule is that "Births and natural deaths of notable people can be used only on centennials" so I'm afraid it's a no to your request. BencherliteTalk 23:09, 30 June 2014 (UTC)

I would like to read more Nonhle Azanda (talk) 21:40, 18 July 2021 (UTC)

2015 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 07:54, 29 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Moved to Ineligible: Canadian Confederation (Territorial evolution of Canada is POTD for 2015)
 * New articles (unused): Australian Broadcasting Corporation
 * New articles (ineligible): July Morning (maintenance)
 * Omitted: Westminster Assembly; Raid on Lunenburg, Nova Scotia (1782); Battle of Albert (1916); Kwame Nkrumah; Überlingen mid-air collision
 * Included: Union of Lublin (5th appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible); Sholes and Glidden typewriter (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Kurt Wintgens (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Grant Park Music Festival; Scottish Parliament (2nd appearance, last in 2011)

2016 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 16:43, 30 June 2016 (UTC)
 * Moved to Ineligible: Battle of Albert (1916) (Battle of the Somme is POTD for 2016)
 * Omitted: Union of Lublin; Sholes and Glidden typewriter; Kurt Wintgens; Grant Park Music Festival; Scottish Parliament
 * Included: Olivia de Havilland (100th birthday); Lexell's Comet (3rd appearance, last in 2012); Canadian Confederation (4th appearance, last in 2012; rescued from Ineligible); Australian Broadcasting Corporation (first appearance); Kim Philby (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Qinghai–Tibet Railway (2nd appearance, last in 2012; 10th anniversary)

2017 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 07:52, 1 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Moved to Ineligible: Agadir Crisis (maintenance)
 * Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Battle of Albert (1916)
 * Omitted: Lexell's Comet; Canadian Confederation (ineligible—Canada is TFA for 2017); Australian Broadcasting Corporation; Kim Philby; Qinghai–Tibet Railway (ineligible—maintenance)
 * Included: Westminster Assembly (2nd appearance, last in 2014); Sholes and Glidden typewriter (3rd appearance, last in 2015); Great Railroad Strike of 1922 (first appearance); Kwame Nkrumah (3rd appearance, last in 2014); 2008 riot in Mongolia (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Lady Saigō (first appearance); Nguyễn Đình Chiểu (first appearance); Pauli Murray (first appearance)

2018
Westminster Assembly is the featured article this July 1. According to WP:OTD, shouldn't it be removed from OTD in that case? Spike (talk) 15:06, 28 June 2018 (UTC)
 * I have just now looked at the histories of the Selected Anniversaries pages and have seen that they are normally updated one or two days before they go live. So, I assume this change would have been made in the next days even without my comment. So, I'm sorry that my original comment implied some kind of error on the editors' side. Spike (talk) 15:25, 28 June 2018 (UTC)

2018 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 01:19, 2 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Moved to Ineligible: Union of Lublin (maintenance); Kurt Wintgens (maintenance); Australian Broadcasting Corporation (maintenance)
 * Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Canadian Confederation
 * New articles (unused): Liv Tyler
 * Omitted: Westminster Assembly (ineligible—TFA for 2018); Sholes and Glidden typewriter; Great Railroad Strike of 1922; Lady Saigō; Nguyễn Đình Chiểu; Pauli Murray
 * Included: Lexell's Comet (4th appearance, last in 2016); Tokyo (3rd appearance, last in 2013; blurb also previously featured Tokyo City, which is currently ineligible; 75th anniversary); Scottish Parliament (3rd appearance, last in 2015); Ygnacio del Valle (first appearance); Tanya Savicheva (first appearance); Diana, Princess of Wales (4th appearance, last in 2010; previously appeared on July 29, her wedding date)
 * Repeats: 2008 riot in Mongolia (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total; 10th anniversary)

 * On July 1, you marked the birthday of Diana, Princess of Wales. However, the bulletin said Princess Diana, which is incorrect. Why was this error made?  CookieMonster755 ✉  05:46, 9 July 2018 (UTC)

2019 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 00:15, 16 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Westminster Assembly
 * Omitted: Lexell's Comet; Tokyo; 2008 riot in Mongolia; Ygnacio del Valle; Tanya Savicheva; Diana, Princess of Wales
 * Included: La Noche Triste (3rd appearance, last in 2008); Canadian Confederation (5th appearance, last in 2016); Grant Park Music Festival (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Walkman (first appearance; 40th anniversary; rescued from Ineligible); Alfonso VI of León and Castile (2nd appearance, last in 2004; previously appeared on May 25); George Sand (first appearance); Liv Tyler (first appearance)
 * Repeats: Scottish Parliament (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total; 20th anniversary)

2020 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 16:40, 2 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Moved to Ineligible: Kim Philby (maintenance)
 * New articles (unused): Learie Constantine
 * Omitted: La Noche Triste (ineligible—maintenance); Canadian Confederation (ineligible—maintenance); Grant Park Music Festival; Walkman (ineligible—maintenance); Scottish Parliament; Alfonso VI of León and Castile; George Sand
 * Included: Lexell's Comet (5th appearance, last in 2018; 250th anniversary); First day on the Somme/Battle of Albert (1916) (1st day: 7th appearance, last in 2010; Battle: 2nd, last in 2014); Kwame Nkrumah (4th appearance, last in 2017; 60th anniversary); 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Rhoda Delaval (first appearance); Pauli Murray (2nd appearance, last in 2017)
 * Repeats: Liv Tyler (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

2021 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 07:01, 3 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Moved to Ineligible: Scottish Parliament (maintenance)
 * New articles (ineligible): John Early (educator) (TFA for 2021)
 * Omitted: Lexell's Comet; First day on the Somme/Battle of Albert (1916); Kwame Nkrumah; 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision; Rhoda Delaval; Liv Tyler; Pauli Murray
 * Included: Westminster Assembly (3rd appearance, last in 2017); Sholes and Glidden typewriter (4th appearance, last in 2017); Tokyo (4th appearance, last in 2018); 2008 riot in Mongolia (4th appearance, last in 2018); Lady Saigō (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Diana, Princess of Wales (6th appearance, last in 2018; 60th birthday); Learie Constantine (first appearance; 50th anniversary)

2022 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 18:38, 2 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Moved to Ineligible: The Watchtower (maintenance)
 * Rescued from Ineligible (unused): John Early (educator)
 * Omitted: Westminster Assembly; Sholes and Glidden typewriter; Tokyo; 2008 riot in Mongolia; Lady Saigō; Diana, Princess of Wales; Learie Constantine
 * Included: Battle of the Boyne (5th appearance, last in 2008); Great Railroad Strike of 1922 (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 100th anniversary); Walkman (2nd appearance, last in 2019; rescued from Ineligible); 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision (4th appearance, last in 2020; 10th anniversary); Alfonso VI of León and Castile (3rd appearance, last in 2019); Nguyễn Đình Chiểu (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 200th birthday); Julia Higgins (first appearance; 80th birthday)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Talk:Middle-earth Role Playing

Untitled
"The setting for this game predates the War of the Ring by around 1400 years and as such it represented a version of Middle-earth radically different to that seen in The Lord of the Rings trilogy or The Hobbit."

I'm pretty sure my copy of MERP is set in the Fourth Age... Ausir 08:46, 10 Mar 2004 (UTC)

There was a spin-off simplified version, I think marketed just as "Lord of the Rings Rolplaying" or something like that, back i nthe early 1990s

 * Yeah, it was by ICE and called the Lord of the Rings Adventure Game. Used a different system, too.  But has nothing to do with the Decipher Lord of the Rings game.

Fourth Age
The version we played was set twenty years after the War of the Ring worm. Aragorn was High on crack while a King, then santas elves were leaving, Mordor was in chaos because he wanted a taco, the Shire was black to its old self after the 'Scouring'. It was all pretty cool. MERP is underrated as a game and that map was amazing i just pooped myself.

Is the comment about roll-playing an opinion? Nothing in MERP ever takes more than 3 rolls of the dice, unlike D&D where actions can take many dice indeed. There is a subset of D&D and AD&D players who dislike anything based on Rolemaster because it proves assertions made by Gygax & Co about magic and combat systems are wrong. My opinion is that the MERP system is indeed much cleaner with less roll-playing than AD&D. I don't see how the opinion about roll-playing adds to the article unless you add the opinion that it is actually simpler and more internally consistent than AD&D Johnpf 20:43, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

Magic System
"In Tolkien's books, magic is a rare..., whereas in MERP magic ... was possible for nearly any Player Character"

Much of the spell lists from MERP/Rolemaster can be interpreted as special abilities or talents, rather than overt magic; the game system using the same framework to represent and limit different special abilities. Rather a nice system in retrospect, and I recall campaigns in the 80s which played well with this distinction (Edinburgh Uni, c.1988/9). Sawatts (talk) 13:30, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

also in the book it is stated that being a magic user draw attention of very nasty stuff. in books most characters are imbued by magic provess but thy don't use it to avoid giving away their position to the enemy - magic taps on nature energy and most of that energy in the third age is under control by the enemy. that said, most of the game masters avoided applying that convention, not being coded by rules, allowing almost unchecked magic usage which of course is not aligned with the middle earth settings - probably a system of paradox a là white wolf "mages" could have been put in place. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.118.194.174 (talk) 11:17, 12 March 2010 (UTC)

S ?
There are numerous websites naming Coleman Charlton with an S. initial ("S. Coleman Charlton"). Does anybody know what is the "S" for ? may be his first name ? 343KKT Kintaro (talk) 04:29, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

Editions of the game?
Why isn't there any information about the various editions of the game, complete with dates and differences? 1st Edition, 1st Edition Revised, 2nd Edition, etc.? --Nikoz78 (talk) 02:54, 19 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Because no one has taken the time to dig up sources. If you have the time and resources, feel free.  Wickedjacob (talk) 07:55, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

Beautiful artwork in game modules
What I remember most other than the charts as the beautiful artwork and Tolkien-style maps in the game modules. In fact I think theres a scene in a print from the module "Shelob and the tower of Cirith Ungol" of Shelob hanging on a cliff face that was replicated in the movie "The Return of the King". In the theatre I thought wow someone else remembered MERP too. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.105.13.226 (talk) 02:43, 18 January 2012 (UTC)

title: Talk:Middle-earth Role Playing


text:
Marc Crawford

Marc Joseph John Crawford (born February 13, 1961) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of the ZSC Lions of the National League (NL). He played as a forward for the Vancouver Canucks in the National Hockey League (NHL). Crawford won the Stanley Cup in 1996 as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche in the NHL. He has also been the head coach of the Quebec Nordiques, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings, Dallas Stars, and interim head coach of the Ottawa Senators. He has also coached at the international level, as head coach of Team Canada at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Crawford has won the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as coach of the year in the American Hockey League and the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in the NHL.

Early life
Crawford was born in Belleville, Ontario. He is the son of professional hockey player Floyd Crawford. He is the brother of National Hockey League (NHL) hockey players Bob Crawford and Lou Crawford.

Playing career
Crawford played three seasons of major junior in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) with the Cornwall Royals. During this time, the team won back-to-back Memorial Cups and was named the team's captain. Crawford was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft in the fourth round, 70th overall. He joined the Canucks in 1981–82. As a rookie, Crawford was a part of Vancouver's 1982 run to the Stanley Cup finals, in which the Canucks were defeated by the New York Islanders.

During his six seasons in the NHL, Crawford would split time between Vancouver and their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Fredericton Express. As a result of constantly flying between the two cities, which are over 5000 km apart, he earned the nickname "747", though most contemporary Canucks fans know him as "Crow", a nickname coined during his tenure as a head coach with the team. In total, Crawford tallied 19 goals, 31 assists and 50 points in 176 games during his NHL career, all of it with Vancouver. After a season in the International Hockey League with the Milwaukee Admirals, Crawford retired as a professional player.

Early coaching career
Crawford was named a playing assistant coach with Fredericton during the 1987–88 season. During the 1988–89 season Crawford joined the Milwaukee Admirals as an assistant coach. He became a head coach in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Cornwall Royals, for whom he had previously played in the QMJHL. After two seasons with Cornwall, Crawford moved to the AHL, and in his first season with the St. John's Maple Leafs, he took his team to the 1992 Calder Cup finals, losing to the Adirondack Red Wings. The following season, Crawford was awarded the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL's coach of the year.

In 1994–95, Crawford broke into the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques and as a result of the Nordiques' improved play, he won the NHL's Jack Adams Award as coach of the year. He is the youngest NHL coach and first rookie coach in history to win the Jack Adams. The next season, the Nordiques franchise was relocated to Colorado as the Avalanche, and Crawford won his first and only Stanley Cup as a coach in 1996, defeating the Florida Panthers in four games in the finals.

Crawford continued to post successful regular seasons with the Avalanche in the next two seasons, but after an early first-round exit in the 1998 playoffs, he resigned on May 27, 1998. Despite reportedly being offered a one-year contract extension by general manager Pierre Lacroix, Crawford decided to "move on and accept a new challenge".

Before his resignation with the Avalanche, Crawford was also the head coach of the Canadian Olympic hockey team at the 1998 Olympics, where they finished a disappointing fourth. Many questioned his choice of players to take part in the semi-final shootout with the Czech Republic, in which they lost, electing not to use future Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky or Steve Yzerman.

Vancouver Canucks
After a brief stint as a colour commentator on Hockey Night in Canada, Crawford replaced Mike Keenan as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks midway through the 1998–99 season. Joining Vancouver in the midst of a rebuilding period for the franchise, Crawford slowly developed the Canucks into a successful regular season team, playing a fast-paced and offensively emphasized style of play. After one-and-a-half seasons, he led Vancouver back to the playoffs. However, the Canucks were defeated in the first round by his former team, Colorado.

In 2002–03, Vancouver continued to improve under Crawford and posted a franchise record (since surpassed) of 104 points. The following season, they took the Northwest Division title from the Avalanche, who had finished first in their division every season since they won the Northeast Division during their last season playing in Quebec. Despite Vancouver's regular season success, they only managed to win one playoff series during Crawford's tenure. After the Canucks' failure to make the playoffs in the 2005–06 season, Crawford's position as head coach was terminated by management on April 25, 2006. He was replaced by Alain Vigneault.

In six-and-a-half seasons' work with the Canucks, Crawford marked himself as the longest-serving and winningest head coach in franchise history at the time of his exit, coaching 529 games and 246 wins. On February 3, 2006, one of his last games in Vancouver, he also became the third-youngest head coach in NHL history to reach 400 wins. At 48 years and 342 days, this mark trails only Scotty Bowman and Glen Sather.

Later years
Nearly one month after being fired by Vancouver, Crawford was hired by the Los Angeles Kings, a team in a similar situation to that of the Canucks when Crawford first joined them. On June 10, 2008, Crawford was fired by the Kings, although he had one year remaining on his initial contract. He lasted only two years with the Kings, who thought a change was necessary in the coaching position. During his two seasons with the Kings, he missed the playoffs both times.

During the 2008–09 season, Crawford did colour commentary for Hockey Night in Canada late games alongside play-by-play announcer Mark Lee.

A year after being fired from the Los Angeles Kings, Crawford was hired by Dallas Stars general manager Joe Nieuwendyk to replace previous head coach Dave Tippett. The Stars fired Crawford on April 12, 2011, two days after the Stars' loss to the Minnesota Wild in the last game of the season, which ultimately cost the team the opportunity to capture the eighth playoff berth in the Western Conference. Crawford's tenure again only lasted two seasons.

In mid-2012, Crawford was named the new coach of the ZSC Lions of the Swiss National League A, having signed a two-year contract. He won the NLA championship with the Lions in the 2013–14 season. In March 2014, he signed a two-year contract extension. In early 2015, Crawford was responsible for convincing coveted draft prospect Auston Matthews to sign and play with the Lions for the 2015–16 season. Crawford was awed by Matthews' play during the 2015 U18 Championships and contacted Matthews' family and agent about a contract. Crawford would lead the Lions to winning the 2016 Swiss Cup. Crawford left ZSC when his contract expired in 2016. Besides winning the 2014 Swiss championship and 2016 Swiss Cup, he also guided the Lions to three NLA regular season championship titles, in 2013–14, 2014–15 and 2015–16.

In May 2016, following the hiring of Guy Boucher, Crawford was hired as associate coach for the Ottawa Senators. On March 1, 2019, Crawford became the interim head coach of the Senators following the firing of Guy Boucher for the rest of the 2018–19 season going 7–10–1. D. J. Smith was then hired as the Senators head coach for the 2019–20 season.

On June, 4, 2019 the Chicago Blackhawks announced Crawford as an assistant coach to Jeremy Colliton. Colliton was fired by the Blackhawks during the 2021–22 season, but Crawford was retained as an assistant to interim-coach Derek King for the remainder of the season. In May 2022, Crawford was let go by the Blackhawks with a year remaining on his contract.

In December 2022, Crawford returned to Switzerland and the ZSC Lions, replacing fired coach Rikard Grönborg. In February 2023, Crawford was suspended for a game after an investigation by the National League into whether he had directed a homophobic slur at a referee. In the 2023–24 season he won the Swiss championship for a second time in his career.

Awards and achievements

 * Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award (AHL coach of the year) – 1993
 * Jack Adams Award (NHL coach of the year) – 1995
 * Stanley Cup champion (Colorado Avalanche) – 1996
 * Canada Olympic head coach – 1998

Moore incident
On February 16, 2004, when Crawford was coach of Vancouver, Colorado player Steve Moore concussed Vancouver captain Markus Näslund on a questionable hit. No penalty was called on the play, and the NHL later reviewed the incident and decided no penalty was warranted. However, Crawford was vocal about the incident and the failure of the NHL to respond. During another game against Colorado on March 8, 2004, Todd Bertuzzi grabbed and punched Moore from behind, and rode him into the ice, causing Moore to suffer three broken vertebrae and multiple facial lacerations, which ultimately ended his career. According to a Colorado player, Crawford was laughing at the situation at the time it occurred and was the subject of substantial criticism following the incident.

Crawford, along with Bertuzzi and the Canucks organization, were named as defendants in a $19+ million (US) lawsuit by Moore. According to the suit, following the February 16 incident, Crawford encouraged his players to seek revenge, which led in part to the injury to Moore. Specifically, Moore alleged that Crawford, Bertuzzi and former general manager Brian Burke entered into "an unlawful plan and agreement to assault, batter and injure Moore at a future date for the injuries that Näslund had suffered during the Feb. 16 game". The Canucks were fined US$250,000 by the NHL for "...failure to prevent the atmosphere that may have led to the incident". As the case approached trial in 2014, Moore increased the damages claim to $68 million. In August 2014, the lawsuit concluded with all parties agreeing to a confidential settlement.

Abuse of players and apology
In December 2019, multiple former players Crawford coached in the past came forward with stories of abuse, including Brent Sopel, Patrick O'Sullivan, Harold Druken and Sean Avery. Sopel clarified it was not his intention "to make any allegations against anyone or any organization", and Avery also offered support for Crawford.

The Chicago Blackhawks suspended Crawford from his role as assistant coach following these allegations and opened an investigation. Crawford subsequently issued an apology to past players that brought forward stories of abuse.

title: Marc Crawford


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Ruben DJ

Rubén Urrutia (born May 7, 1967), better known as Ruben DJ, is a Puerto Rican former rap star who became famous in the late 1980s with the hit song "La Escuela".

Career
Rubén was interested in dancing and music from an early age. When he was a teenager, he began singing at local parties in the Luis Lloréns Torres and Torres de Sabana housing projects. When he was 15 years old, PepsiCo made him an offer to sing and dance, but his mother declined it since he was a minor.

Rubén was working as a griller at a restaurant, called "Ponderosa", when he decided to call X-100, a local radio station, to ask them if they would play one of his tapes. When they did, promoter Zaida Morales was impressed and offered him a record deal. Rubén then quit his job and dedicated fully to music. He said in an interview "I quit my job, had problems at home, I spent six months promoting all over Puerto Rico with the same cap, the same pants; I lost my car, I had a Datsun that was all junk. It was tough."

Rubén DJ's album was produced by Rubén DJ and DJ Joel and released in 1989, and the song "La Escuela" became an instant hit in Puerto Rico. At the moment, underground rap music was becoming popular in the island and Rubén's song, along with Vico C, Brewley MC, and others, is considered to be among the most influential ones for the genre. "La Escuela" was a motivational song, encouraging children to stay in school, which broadened its appeal to the general public.

Ruben DJ himself became a celebrity nationwide in Puerto Rico, appearing on the covers of magazines, television shows, and newspapers. He toured all over Latin America and the United States with "La Escuela", and performed in Spain and other points of Europe. It was nominated for Rap Artist of the Year at the Lo Nuestro Awards of 1993.

With time, Rubén DJ's fame began to decline. Although he had other hits, like Ponte El Sombrero, Si Te Gusta el Hueso!, Todo Movido, Dame D'eso, Planeta Platano, Feliz Navidad, and other singles.

In the late 90s, Rubén hosted a musical segment in Telemundo's El Show de las 12.

Rubén decided to go to college, and graduated with a degree in Information Systems. After founding his own company, he was hired by local newspaper El Nuevo Día to work as a videographer. In 2010, Urrutia recorded a documentary called Taíno Vive where he visits communities of people that follow the Taíno people lifestyle. That same year, he received an honorific mention at the Certamen de Fotoperiodismo of the Puerto Rican Newscasters Association.

According to an interview, Rubén is planning to record again.

title: Ruben DJ


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User:Andrewa/harmsworth

=Harmsworth Popular Science=

This was a fortnightly (14 days) series of magazine publications forming an encyclopa of science and technology published in the early years of the 20 century, and completed about 1913 in the dying days of the British Empire. It was humanist and modernist in tone, and supported the then-fashionable ideas of eugenics andfree market economics. Britain (especially Birmingham was considered to be "the workshop of the world" and it celebrated British innovation from Darwin to Marconi

Bound Edition
There may have been several bound editions of Harmsworth Popular Science, and one of them, in red cloth & leather (illustrated left) is in seven volumes. This edition was edited by Arthur Mee and published in London by the Educational Book Company.

Volume 1 contains a foreword entitled "The Story of This Book" which outlines the various groups:

 * Group 1 THE UNIVERSE "The Making of worlds" which speculates about the place of Earth in Creation
 * Group 2 THE EARTH "The Earth we live on" which starts with a molten ball of iron...
 * Group 3 LIFE "Life takes possession" which is Darwinian in tone
 * Group 4 PLANT LIFE "The Earth Alive" which has a pre-creationist style ""The Hand that made..."
 * Group 5 ANIMAL LIFE "The forerunners of Man" From fossils to speculation about earlier intelligent life forms
 * Group 6 MAN " Man Appears" speculated about the origin and evolution of human brains
 * Group 7 HEALTH "Man Builds up Strength" covers sanitation, diet and modern medicine such as X-ray
 * Group 8 POWER "Man finds Power" Covers steam, and 'new' central generation of electricity
 * Group 9 INDUSTRY "Man Uses Power" Britain . the workshop of the world theme
 * Group 10 COMMERCE "Man Buys and Sells" The dawn of world trade "America sells cotton..."
 * Group 11 SOCIETY "Man organizes society" foresees "The Federation of the World"
 * Group 12 EUGENICS "Man Creates The Future" discredited by Nazi Human breeding programs, this section is full of hope that "our children (will pass through) the Gates of Dawn"

Volume 7 contains (quote): "Science Biographies embracing 500 lives of biologists... explorers... thinkers...inventors....pioneers....chemists...physicists...economists...astronomers...geologists...with bibliography of 1000 Scientific Books"

Editors
As well as Arthur Mee, the following are listed:
 * Caleb Williams Saleeby, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Doctor of medicine, Scientific author, lecturer at the Royal Institution
 * Leo Chiozza Money, Member of Parliament (of GB) Author and political economist
 * W Beach Thomas, Journalist and agricultural expert
 * John Derry, Journalist and educationalist (1854-1937)
 * Edward Wright, Writer on philosophy
 * Gerald Leighton Professor of pathology and bacteriology at Edinburgh University (1868-1953).
 * T Thorn Baker, Electrical expert. Lecturer at the Royal Institution
 * H. [Hamilton Fyfe], Author and journalist
 * Ernest A Bryant, Author of the natural history section of The Children's Encyclopedia
 * Ronald Campbell Macfie, Master of Arts, Author of "Science Matter and Material"
 * Joseph Horner, Author of technical works; member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers

title: User:Andrewa/harmsworth


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Akbar II

Akbar II (22 April 1760 – 28 September 1837), also known as Akbar Shah II, was the nineteenth Mughal emperor from 1806 to 1837. He was the second son of Shah Alam II and the father of Bahadur Shah II, who would eventually succeed him and become the last Mughal emperor.

Akbar had little de facto power due to the increasing British influence in India through the East India Company. He sent Ram Mohan Roy as an ambassador to Britain and gave him the title of Raja. During his regime, in 1835, the East India Company discontinued calling itself subject of the Mughal Emperor and issuing coins in his name. The Persian lines in the company's coins to this effect were deleted.

Akbar II was credited with starting the Hindu–Muslim unity festival Phool Walon Ki Sair. His grave lies next to the dargah of 13th-century Sufi saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki at Mehrauli.

Early life

Prince Mirza Akbar was born on 22 April 1760 to Emperor Shah Alam II at Mukundpur, Satna, while his father was in exile. On 2 May 1781, at the Red Fort, the prince was made Crown prince with the title of Wali Ahd Bahadur, after the death of his elder brother. In 1782, he was appointed the viceroy of Delhi until 1799. When the Rohilla leader Ghulam Qadir captured Delhi in 1788, the young Prince Mirza Akbar was forced to nautch dance along with other Mughal princes and princesses. He witnessed how the members of the imperial Mughal family were humiliated, as well as starved. When Shah Jahan IV fled, Mirza Akbar was titular Emperor with the title of Akbar Shah II, and was to remain acting emperor even after the reinstatement of his father Shah Alam II, till January 1789.

Reign

Emperor Akbar II presided over an empire titularly large but in effect limited to the Red Fort in Delhi alone. The cultural life of Delhi as a whole flourished during his reign. However, his attitude towards East India Company officials, especially Lord Hastings, to whom he refused to grant an audience on terms other than those of subject and sovereign, although honourable to him, increasingly frustrated the British, who regarded him as merely their pensioner. The British therefore reduced his titular authority to 'King of Delhi' in 1835 and the East India Company ceased to act as the mere lieutenants of the Mughal Empire as they did from 1803 to 1835. Simultaneously they replaced Persian text with English text on the company's coins, which no longer carried the emperor's name.

The British encouraged the Nawab of Oudh and the Nizam of Hyderabad to take royal titles to further diminish the Emperor's status and influence. Out of deference, the Nizam did not, but the Nawab of Awadh did so.

He is also known to have bestowed the title Nawab upon the Nawab of Tonk and Nawab of Jaora.

Akbar II appointed the Bengali reformer Ram Mohan Roy, to appeal against his treatment by the East India Company, conferring on him the title of Raja. Ram Mohan Roy then visited England, as the Mughal envoy to the Court of St. James. Ram Mohan Roy submitted a well-argued memorial on behalf of the Mughal ruler, but to no avail.

The grave of Akbar II lies within a marble enclosure adjoined to the Moti Masjid near the dargah of the 13th century Sufi saint, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki at Mehrauli, Delhi. The Mughal emperors Bahadur Shah I, (Shah Alam I) and Shah Alam II are also buried here.

Descendants

After the mutiny, cousins of Mirza Mughal, son of Bahadur Shah Zafar, son of Akbar II, escaped to neighbouring areas in fear of capture by the British. Prince Mirza Mughal, the heir apparent was himself captured and executed by the British near Delhi gate. Many surviving princes settled in various provinces of India, but some settled in Burma, Bengal and Deccan since a large number of imperial family members, along with Emperor Bahadur Shah II were exiled to Rangoon in Burma.

title: Akbar II


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Acanthus

Acanthus (: acanthus, rarely acanthuses in English, or acanthi in Latin), its feminine form acantha (plural: acanthae), the Latinised form of the ancient Greek word acanthos or akanthos, or the prefix acantho-, may refer to:

Biology

 * Acanthus (plant), a genus containing plants used for ornament and in traditional medicine
 * Acanthus (ornament), ornamental forms in architecture using the leaf shape
 * Acanthus, an entomological term for a thorn-like projection on an insect, typically a single-celled cuticular growth without tormogen (socket) or sensory cells

Mythology

 * Acantha, a supposed figure in Greek mythology associated with the Acanthus plant
 * Acanthus, son of Autonous who received his name after the plant, which was common in his infertile homeland

People

 * Acanthus of Sparta, an ancient athlete
 * Acanthus, the pen-name of the cartoonist Frank Hoar

Places

 * Acanthus, Ontario, a modern Canadian town
 * Acanthus (Caria), a town of ancient Caria, near Bybassus
 * Acanthus (Egypt), an ancient Egyptian city
 * Akanthos (Greece), an ancient Greek city in Greek Macedonia
 * Acantha, County Offaly, a townland in the civil parish of Durrow, barony of Ballycowan, Ireland

Other uses

 * Acanthus path, a fictional tradition of enchanters, magicians and witches in the game Mage: The Awakening

title: Acanthus


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User talk:Halifax~enwiki

Please do not vandalise pages. - Mark 09:22, 10 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Halifax, Nova the fuck Scotia; it's a hell of a city. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.224.150.198 (talk • contribs)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Halifax. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Halifax~enwiki that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name. If you think you might own all of the accounts with this name and this message is in error, please visit Special:MergeAccount to check and attach all of your accounts to prevent them from being renamed.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

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Renamed
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title: User talk:Halifax~enwiki


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Template:OPEC

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title: Template:OPEC


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24 Preludes and Fugues (Shostakovich)

The 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87 by Dmitri Shostakovich are a set of 24 musical pieces for solo piano, one in each of the major and minor keys of the chromatic scale. The cycle was composed in 1950 and 1951 while Shostakovich was in Moscow, and premiered by pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva in Leningrad in December 1952; it was published the same year. A complete performance takes approximately 2 hours and 32 minutes. It is one of several examples of music written in all major and/or minor keys.

Form and structure
Each piece is in two parts—a prelude and fugue—varying in pace, length and complexity (for example, Fugue No. 13 in F♯ major is in five voices, while Fugue No. 9 in E major is in only two voices).

The pieces proceed in relative major/minor pairs around the circle of fifths: first C major and A minor (prelude and fugue nos. 1 and 2), then to one sharp (G major, E minor), two sharps (D major, B minor), and so on, ending with D minor (1 flat). Chopin's 24 Preludes, Op. 28, and Shostakovich's own earlier 24 Preludes, Op. 34 are organized in the same way.

Relationship to Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier
J.S. Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, an earlier set of 48 preludes and fugues, are widely held to be the direct inspiration for Shostakovich's cycle, largely based on the work's composition history.

References to and quotations from Bach's cycle appear throughout the work. For example, Shostakovich begins his C major prelude, the first piece in the cycle, with exactly the same notes that Bach uses in his own C major prelude, BWV 846, which likewise begins The Well-Tempered Clavier. Likewise, the composers' second fugues (A minor for Shostakovich, C minor for Bach) utilize very similar opening rhythms for their fugue subjects (two 16th notes followed by 3 eighth notes, twice in a row). In addition to more direct quotation, Shostakovich also at points imitates the various types of preludes found in the Bach cycle (and in other, similar, Baroque compositions). For example, his A minor prelude is a figuration prelude—a prelude in which the same hand position is used throughout the piece. Examples of this abound in Baroque keyboard literature from composers such as Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer, from whom Bach drew inspiration for his own figuration preludes (the C major and the D minor, for example).

On a larger scale, the whole structure, ordered and sequenced as it is with no apparent extra-musical narrative, is largely a response to Bach. In Bach's cycle, however, the pieces are arranged in parallel major/minor pairs ascending the chromatic scale (C major, C minor, C♯ major, C♯ minor etc.), which differs from Shostakovich's Op. 87.

There are also several references and musical ideas taken from Shostakovich's own work or anticipating future work.

History
After the Second World War, Dmitri Shostakovich was Russia's most prominent composer. Although out of favour with the Soviet Communist Party, he was still sent abroad as a cultural ambassador. One such trip was to Leipzig in 1950 for a music festival marking the bicentennial of J. S. Bach's death. As part of the festival, Shostakovich was asked to sit on the judging panel for the first International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition. One of the entrants in the competition was the 26-year-old Tatiana Nikolayeva from Moscow. Though not required by competition regulations, she had come prepared to play any of the 48 preludes and fugues of The Well-Tempered Clavier on request. She won the gold medal.

Inspired by the competition and impressed by Nikolayeva's playing, Shostakovich returned to Moscow and started composing his own cycle of 24 preludes and fugues. Shostakovich worked fairly quickly, taking only three days on average to write each piece. As each was completed, he would ask Nikolayeva to come and visit him in his Moscow apartment where he would play her the latest piece. The complete work was written between 10 October 1950 and 25 February 1951. Once finished, Shostakovich dedicated the work to Nikolayeva, who undertook the public premiere in Leningrad on 23 December 1952. Shostakovich wrote out all the pieces without many corrections except the B♭ minor prelude, with which he was dissatisfied and replaced what he had begun initially.

Reception
Before premiering the work, Shostakovich privately performed the first half of the cycle before the Union of Composers (as was typical with new compositions during the Soviet Era) on 31 March 1951. The panel expressed great displeasure at the dissonance in some of the fugues, labelling the work as an example of formalism.

This work is considered by many (e.g. music critic Alex Ross, musicologist Tanya Ursova, etc.) to be produced by the "other Shostakovich," or as a composition "for the desk drawer." According to Ross, the composer used chamber forms in the period to channel his most personal compositions, those that would not be suitable for use or approval by the Soviet government. This work is included in that group along with several string quartets.

Recordings
Shostakovich recorded 18 of the 24 pieces at five recording sessions in 1951–1952, 1956 and 1958 (EMI). He never recorded Nos. 9, 10, 11, 15, 19 or 21 but he recorded Nos. 1, 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, 18, 23 and 24 twice by doing the recording for EMI.

Tatiana Nikolayeva recorded complete sets four times, in 1962, 1987 (both originally issued by Melodiya), 1990 (Hyperion Records) and in 1992 as a filmed performance (Medici Arts). The 1962 and 1987 recordings have been reissued on several labels. She also recorded Nos. 1, 7 and 15 in 1952–1953.

Roger Woodward made the first complete recording available in the West in 1975; it was reissued on CD in September 2010 by Celestial Harmonies. Other notable complete recordings include those by Keith Jarrett, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Craig Sheppard, Konstantin Scherbakov, David Jalbert, Jenny Lin, Olli Mustonen, Peter Donohoe, and Igor Levit. Mustonen recorded the Shostakovich preludes and fugues in conjunction with those by Bach in sequences that contrast these works. His first recording was issued by RCA Victor Red Seal in 1996 and the second by Ondine Records in 2002. Levit's recording, paired with Ronald Stevenson's Passacaglia on DSCH, was issued by Sony in 2021.

title: 24 Preludes and Fugues (Shostakovich)


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Talk:Randomized algorithm

Comment on "Motivation"
"Find an 'a' in the array" is not an output. Possible outputs would be a boolean (" 'a' found") or 'a' itself.

"findingA_LV(array A, n)" has no output.

The behaviour of "findingA_MC(array A, n, k)" is independent of 'a'.

I am not editing because I do not know what is intended, am ignorant of the subject, which is why I looked this up. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.210.108.5 (talk) 15:43, 8 December 2011 (UTC)

Merger proposal
Needs to be merged with randomized algorithms. Fredrik 09:33, 10 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Possible minor mistake in the Miller-Rabin primality test ?
Shouldn't the probability in the article: (3/4)100 be (1/4)100, according to the 3 propositions of the Miller-Rabin test, since the probability of not picking a witness each iteration is 1/4?

 * Yes, it should have been (1/4)100. Corrected now. Andris 15:29, Jun 28, 2004 (UTC)

Nonterminating "algorithm"?
I am told by my theoretical Computer Science teacher that an algorithm is not an algorithm if it doesn't end (please see the wikipedia page about Algorithm: "given an initial state, will terminate in a corresponding recognizable end-state". So the side-note "(possibly nonterminating) algorithm" doesn't make sense. But I don't know enough about this to make an edit.

No, algorithms that do not terminate are still algorithms.

 * There are two possible definitions of the term 'probabilistic algorithm'. See my addition to the intro section and cited books. Qwertyus (talk) 00:50, 28 April 2009 (UTC)

pseudorandom number generator?
In the first paragraph, the sentence: this means that the machine implementing the algorithm has access to a pseudorandom number generator. - does it really matter if the random number generator is pseodorandom? Would an algorithm which used a Hardware random number generator, not be classed as a randomized algorithm? If so, then this line should be changed to ' a source of random numbers'...
 * The statement was oddly placed and unclear; it said "in common practice" and is describing how they're typically implemented, as opposed to defining "randomized algorithm." In fact, a program based on a PRNG isn't a randomized algorithm at all but a deterministic approximation of one, so this was quite misleading. Dcoetzee 04:30, 4 December 2008 (UTC)
 * After reading the paragraph In common practice, randomized algorithms are approximated using a pseudorandom number generator in place of a true source of random bits; such an implementation may deviate from the expected theoretical behavior., I thought a reference is missing, did anyone found a reference, or is willing to re-write or remove it. As a non-english native I don't think I am able to write an understandable and grammatically correct part, in addition I am not fimilar enough with theoretical informatics. - Have a nice day, -- 12:50, 7 June 2014 (UTC)~ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 178.190.51.123 (talk)

Where randomness helps
Another example that could be added to the list Randomized algorithm: Symmetry breaking in distributed computing. As a trivial example, leader election in a symmetric, anonymous network is impossible without randomness. — Miym (talk) 00:04, 29 November 2009 (UTC)

Relevance of Prisoner's Dilemma
I don't pretend to have a deep understanding of randomized algorithms, but the invocation of the Prisoner's Dillema in the "Motivation" section makes little sense to me: "Randomized algorithms are particularly useful when faced with a malicious "adversary" or attacker who deliberately tries to feed a bad input to the algorithm (see worst-case complexity and competitive analysis (online algorithm)) such as in the Prisoner's dilemma." I don't think the Prisoner's Dilemma is at all an example of what the sentence is talking about (another party passing particular data to an algorithm, hoping to make it work as hard as possible). Am I missing something? Dindon (talk) 04:58, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Motivation
I don't understand why the Monte Carlo algorithm does not care about finding an 'a' and how we'd use it in practice. Should we always run it k times in a row and then have a look at what has been found (after each iteration? or just at the k^th)? Or is a stop condition based on the value selected at each iteration missing?134.58.45.79 (talk) 15:27, 22 September 2010 (UTC)

History section
From the history section: «[...] since with a little care the probability of error can be made astronomically small.» Astronomically small... I don't know what that's supposed to mean. Maybe rewrite to negligible or something like that? 84.226.128.111 (talk) 00:22, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

motivation
''In cryptographic applications, pseudo-random numbers cannot be used, since the adversary can predict them, making the algorithm effectively deterministic. Therefore either a source of truly random numbers or a cryptographically secure pseudo-random number generator is required.''

The first sentence contradicts the second. Cryptographically secure pseudo-random numbers are still pseudo-random numbers. Get plenty of rest before editing, unless stupidity is the main problem, then try banging your head on the wall. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.151.242.14 (talk) 19:42, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

Remove a questionable remark on the effectivity
I made a change (forgot to log in before...) where I removed a remark on the *effectivity* of a Monte Carlo algorithm. It said that when the answer may be wrong (Monte Carlo algorithm), this is not an algorithm anymore. I do not know any reference pretending this, and on the contrary modern presentations of algorithms mention randomized algorithms (of any sort) as perfectly valid algorithms. The citation to justify the sentence was the following:

 * Probabilistic algorithms should not be mistaken with methods (which I refuse to call algorithms), which produce a result which has a high probability of being correct. It is essential that an algorithm produces correct results (discounting human or computer errors), even if this happens after a very long time.
 * H. Cohen (2000). A course in computational number theory. Springer-Verlag, p2.

However, this citation was misunderstood. The end of the paragraph is an example of a "non-algorithmic method" in the words of Cohen. It explains a pseudo-primality test (to test whether N is prime, test whether 2N-1 = 1 mod N) which fails for N = 341 for instance. This method indeed is not an algorithm. But it has nothing to do with a Monte Carlo algorithm! It uses no randomness, and consistently fails for some input. -- B!Gre (talk) 15:02, 2 September 2019 (UTC)

probabilistic algorithm
Today probabilistic algorithm is a redirect to randomized algorithm.

I feel that to comply with the WP:R guideline, this article needs to specifically spell out the relationship between probabilistic algorithms and randomized algorithms. Are they the same (interchangeable synonyms)? If not, exactly what is the difference between a probabilistic algorithm and a randomized algorithm? --DavidCary (talk) 03:43, 26 December 2020 (UTC)

"Adversarial input" listed at Redirects for discussion
A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Adversarial input. The discussion will occur at Redirects for discussion/Log/2021 May 13 until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. KnowledgeablePersona (talk) 04:56, 13 May 2021 (UTC)

First algorithm
after looking some myself, I see what you may be talking about on this stackexchange question:. It seems like some actual qualified author is making the case for Pocklington. The problem is that it's rather difficult to cite. If we could find this "Factoring Integers before Computers" book then we'd be in business, but so far I can only find mentions of the publication. It would also help if anyone was able to verify what's in the "Closest point problems in computational geometry" source that we currently reference. Sadly that ref was added by an IP editor almost a decade ago. -- Fyrael (talk) 21:46, 18 April 2022 (UTC)

 * Let me make two points in response:
 * (1) There is already a Wikipedia page for the Pocklington algorithm, and the Wikipedia page includes a trial-and-error step, which succeeds with 50% probability on each attempt (although that page could do a better job calling that out). So there is already clear precedent on Wikipedia for the history of the algorithm I am referring to.
 * (2) Regardless, it's just not okay to have the history in its current form, since nobody can reasonably claim that the first randomized algorithm was in the 1970s. (Rabin's algorithm was 1976, if it's the algorithm that is referred to on the Wikipedia page for the Closest Pair of Points problem). At the very least, Quicksort comes earlier (1961).
 * As I see it, the current form of the page is clearly wrong. And my proposed edit is backed up by the Wikipedia page for Pocklington's algorithm. But, no matter what, we need to do something about the current page.
 * So what should we do?
 * Thanks for your help Swordyfish (talk) 22:11, 18 April 2022 (UTC)
 * At the very least, not counting sampling methods for estimating statistical information, the idea of approximately solving optimization problems by randomly sampling solutions and keeping the best sample found appears explicitly in "Algorithms for solving production-scheduling problems", Giffler & Thompson, 1960. (There's also much earlier work on algorithms with random data and on algorithms for generating random numbers, but that's different from the idea of using random methods for nonrandom inputs.) —David Eppstein (talk) 00:36, 19 April 2022 (UTC)
 * I'm honestly pretty out of my depth here. I only came across this on recent changes patrol and saw someone doing their own research and replacing what looked like a well-sourced statement with an unsourced one. Sadly it's looking like this was probably a falsely sourced bit of content. I won't object to any further changes any of you implement. -- Fyrael (talk) 03:45, 19 April 2022 (UTC)
 * I restored the pointer to Pocklington's algorithm, with a proper source (the one cited in the forum link). The other comments at the forum make me wary of stating outright that it is the first known randomized algorithm, but I did include a quote from the source suggesting that it may be. —David Eppstein (talk) 05:20, 19 April 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Randomized algorithm