1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:17,119 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. I bet it's a 4 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:19,319 Speaker 1: safe bet that most people listening have heard of a 5 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:24,959 Speaker 1: Venn diagram. Seems likely, yeah, But the creator of the 6 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 1: concept of the Venn diagram, whose name was John Vin, 7 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: actually developed a much more complex set of relational diagrams 8 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 1: than the simplified ones that we often reference casually or 9 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: even see used in like, you know, newscasts or whatever, 10 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 1: but perhaps even more interesting. Although he is an important 11 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: figure in the fields of mathematics and logic, he eventually 12 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: left that work behind to write historical accounts of the 13 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,080 Speaker 1: places and people that were important in his life. I 14 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: love this about him. He was also an inventor, not 15 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,200 Speaker 1: of a lot of stuff, but of something really interesting. 16 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 1: So he's just a fun person to talk about. So 17 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:06,839 Speaker 1: he is in the spotlight today. John Vin was born 18 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:10,880 Speaker 1: on August fourth, eighteen thirty four, to parents the Reverend 19 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: Henry Vin and Martha Sykes Ven. He was their first child. 20 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,480 Speaker 1: He was born at Kingston upon hull Port in the 21 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:25,080 Speaker 1: East Riding of Yorkshire. In northeastern England. Martha died when 22 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 1: John was pretty young, and at the age of twelve 23 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: he attended Sir Roger Chumley's School in London, which is 24 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: known more commonly as the Highgate School. This was a 25 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 1: really interesting time to attend Highgate, as the headmaster at 26 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:43,679 Speaker 1: the time, the Reverend John Bradley Dine, significantly expanded the 27 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: course offerings there to start, including mathematics and modern languages. 28 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: Since then would eventually become well known as a mathematician. 29 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: He seems to have benefited from this newer course of study. 30 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: John went to secondary school at City of London Academy, Islington. 31 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 1: Reverend Henry Ven, John's father, was rector of the Drypool 32 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 1: Parish when John was born, and he was also secretary 33 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 1: to the Society for Missions in Africa and the East. 34 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: And he was not the only activist Anglican priest in 35 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: the family. Henry's father, the Reverend John Vin, a lot 36 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:21,080 Speaker 1: of John Ven's were trying to separate him out. Was 37 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: very influential in the church and had been the leader 38 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: of a group called the Clapham Sect which lobbied for 39 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:30,919 Speaker 1: progressive causes and change within the church, as well as 40 00:02:30,919 --> 00:02:34,640 Speaker 1: without and the Clapham sect supported the abolition of slavery 41 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:39,080 Speaker 1: and advocated for prison reform, among other causes. In John 42 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 1: Ven's obituary in the Royal Society's Proceedings publication, it was written, quote, 43 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 1: no one could have had a more uncompromisingly clerical ancestry 44 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:52,639 Speaker 1: and upbringing than had Ven his five or six immediate ancestors, 45 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: whose lives he gave in his notable book The Annals 46 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 1: of a Clerical Family were vicars or rector's, occupying positions 47 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,200 Speaker 1: of importance in the Church. When it was time to 48 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:07,240 Speaker 1: move on to higher education, Ben attended Gonvillin Keys College 49 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:10,520 Speaker 1: at the University of Cambridge, so often simply referred to 50 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: as Keyes. There he earned a degree in math and 51 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 1: ranked sixth among his fellow students in the final exam 52 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifty seven, but it was just the beginning 53 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: of a long relationship with the school. Ben went on 54 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:27,399 Speaker 1: to a fellowship at Keys, and when that was completed 55 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,400 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty two, he was hired as a lecturer. 56 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:35,720 Speaker 1: But Ben wasn't only a mathematician. During that same time period, 57 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: he became ordained as a priest in the Church of England. 58 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: Just like his father and grandfather and forebears. Starting in 59 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty nine. After becoming a clergyman, he worked for 60 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 1: a brief period exclusively in the church at Chesnent, Herstfordshire 61 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,360 Speaker 1: and Mortlake, Surrey, but then he decided to go back 62 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: to keyes and mathematics, although he did retain his clergy status. 63 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: As a lecturer, Ben taught an the discipline known as 64 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: moral science, meaning he talked about logic and probability. This 65 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: led to him serving as an examiner for the Moral 66 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 1: History Tripos. Tripos Is are academic exams, and Cambridge is 67 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 1: often cited as the place this term started. The origin 68 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: of the word isn't known with certainty, but it might 69 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:23,599 Speaker 1: have come from the tripod stool that examiners used sitting 70 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 1: on them during the test. Ven's own works would inform 71 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:31,039 Speaker 1: these exams later, a guide for students preparing for exams 72 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 1: that was written in eighteen ninety one recommended reading several 73 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: of Ven's books for the logic and methodology section of 74 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,239 Speaker 1: the test. But even when he was lecturing and serving 75 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:45,280 Speaker 1: as examiner himself, he said to have shifted the tripos 76 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 1: in developing the exam to reflect developing concepts in probability theory. 77 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:54,479 Speaker 1: He eventually stepped aside as examiner because he wanted to 78 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: focus on studying and writing about the school's history. He 79 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:01,920 Speaker 1: also wrote about his own res boots in genealogy, publishing 80 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:05,280 Speaker 1: that previously mentioned book Annals of a Clerical Family, which 81 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:08,440 Speaker 1: traced the Ven family history to Devin, with a likely 82 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:12,719 Speaker 1: earlier origin in Somerset. In his writing, John noted that 83 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 1: the name Ben had first been spelled with an F 84 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: instead of a V, but had changed at some point, 85 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:20,839 Speaker 1: and that the change was most likely to align more 86 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 1: closely with the common pronunciation that was used in the 87 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:28,040 Speaker 1: West Country. A few years into his career teaching at Keys, 88 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 1: Ben published a book titled The Logic of Chance that 89 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 1: was in eighteen sixty six. Economist John Maynard Keynes is 90 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 1: often quoted as praising Ben's book, saying it was quote 91 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: strikingly original and considerably influenced the development of the theory 92 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: of statistics. The book sought to shift the way people 93 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:52,960 Speaker 1: looked at probability, specifically by incorporating the idea of frequency 94 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 1: into mathematical prediction models, meaning how often a thing might happen. 95 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 1: He worked against the assay based probability interpretations that presumed 96 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,160 Speaker 1: causality when looking at effects, which was why he felt 97 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 1: that longer runs of observation would offer greater insight. He 98 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:14,719 Speaker 1: also made the case that the margin of error on 99 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:18,239 Speaker 1: probabilities had to shift in proportion to the data set. 100 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:22,160 Speaker 1: Smaller data sets would have larger margins of error, and 101 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: vice versa. These concepts were applied to scenarios like gambling 102 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: and birth outcomes. In the book, The Logic of Chance 103 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: became an important text in probability, and it had three 104 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:37,279 Speaker 1: editions printed between its original eighteen sixty six published date 105 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: and eighteen eighty eight. This was a paradigm shift in 106 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: its time. We know that, of course having more data 107 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,480 Speaker 1: means you have better models of probability, but prior to 108 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:50,599 Speaker 1: Ven's book, most of probability theory was based on the 109 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:54,880 Speaker 1: idea that the right formulas would be accurate predictors regardless 110 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 1: of the data set, but that of course led to 111 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:02,280 Speaker 1: unpredictable outcomes. Then approach came to be known as frequentism. 112 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 1: And in addition to being a big statement about how 113 00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:09,040 Speaker 1: logic and probability should be applied, Then made another interesting 114 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 1: statement with the book right out of the gate, because 115 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:13,960 Speaker 1: he said in the preface that he wanted the information 116 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 1: in it to be accessible. Writing of probability quote, I 117 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 1: am convinced moreover that it can and ought to be 118 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: rendered both interesting and intelligible to ordinary readers who have 119 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: any taste for philosophy. The year after The Logic of 120 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:34,040 Speaker 1: Chance was released, John Ven got married to Susannah Carnegie Edmondstone. 121 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:38,520 Speaker 1: Susannah was born in Marlborough in eighteen forty three, and 122 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: like John, she was the child of an Anglican priest 123 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:45,280 Speaker 1: that was the Reverend Charles welland Edmondstone. After the two 124 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: of them got married, they settled into married life in Cambridge. 125 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:52,160 Speaker 1: They eventually had a child named John Archibald, but that 126 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 1: wasn't until sixteen years into the marriage, so Susannah would 127 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:58,120 Speaker 1: have been about forty at the time that she gave birth, 128 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: which is an unusual situation for the time. Susannah is 129 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: interesting in her own right because she was hardly idle 130 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:08,040 Speaker 1: in her time as a wife. Before John Archibald was born. 131 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:11,680 Speaker 1: She was in fact a novelist. As her husband was 132 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: publishing books on probability, she was penning titles like The 133 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: Gwillians of Bryn Gwillian, which was published in eighteen seventy six, 134 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: and that told the story of a family of children 135 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: who are raised by their father and governess after their 136 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 1: mother dies. She wrote several more novels, and she also 137 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:31,120 Speaker 1: worked with John on some of his historical writing. All 138 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:35,000 Speaker 1: of her novels except the last, were initially published anonymously. 139 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 1: Her last work of fiction, The Husband of One Wife, 140 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:42,319 Speaker 1: came out in eighteen ninety four, and that book tells 141 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: the story that seems to mirror Susannah's own life. It's 142 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:48,200 Speaker 1: about a young woman who gets married and moves to 143 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: Cambridge to live with her husband. We're about to get 144 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: to the diagrams, but before we do, we will pause 145 00:08:54,600 --> 00:09:07,240 Speaker 1: for a sponsor break. In eighteen eighty one, John Ven 146 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:11,200 Speaker 1: published another book, this one titled Symbolic Logic, and it 147 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:13,640 Speaker 1: was in this work that he introduced the concept of 148 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 1: ven diagrams as part of set theory. Ven diagrams, as 149 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:22,080 Speaker 1: many listeners already know, often use overlapping circles to represent 150 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:26,679 Speaker 1: sets of data. The region that overlaps represents a commonality 151 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:29,920 Speaker 1: among those sets of data. This is the most basic 152 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:33,720 Speaker 1: way this concept is used in casual conversation, although it's 153 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:36,840 Speaker 1: really a visual way to parse information and figure out 154 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 1: logic problems, and some ven diagrams can be much more complex, 155 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:44,280 Speaker 1: but all of them show the way that sets intersect 156 00:09:44,559 --> 00:09:49,360 Speaker 1: and join together. For example, you might be given the 157 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: information that out of a group of people, five are 158 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:56,440 Speaker 1: tall and three have green eyes, two are tall and 159 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:00,240 Speaker 1: also have green eyes, and five members of the group 160 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 1: are neither tall nor have green eyes. Using a Venn 161 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:08,240 Speaker 1: diagram with two overlapping circles, you could assign the number 162 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:11,040 Speaker 1: two to the overlap section and label each of the 163 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:14,640 Speaker 1: circles remaining areas one for the tall people, one for 164 00:10:14,679 --> 00:10:18,440 Speaker 1: the green eyed people. You've also accounted for two of 165 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:20,839 Speaker 1: the tall people in the overlap, so you know there 166 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:24,480 Speaker 1: are three more tall people, and the number goes into 167 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: the circle labeled tall. We've accounted for two green eyed people, 168 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:31,160 Speaker 1: and you know that there's three, so a one goes 169 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:35,679 Speaker 1: into the circle labeled green eyes. The number five, representing 170 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:39,640 Speaker 1: the five people who have neither attribute, sits outside those 171 00:10:39,679 --> 00:10:43,200 Speaker 1: two circles. To figure out how many people there are 172 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:45,559 Speaker 1: in total in the group, you'd add each of the 173 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:48,160 Speaker 1: numbers you'd written down together. So the two people who 174 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:51,160 Speaker 1: are tall and green eyed, plus the three people who 175 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:54,720 Speaker 1: are only tall, plus the one person who only has 176 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:57,880 Speaker 1: green eyes, plus the five people who have neither of 177 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:00,840 Speaker 1: those attributes, so you know there are eleven people total. 178 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:05,080 Speaker 1: There can also be ven diagrams with three circles, and 179 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:09,160 Speaker 1: those are used to represent syllogisms. Those are logic arguments 180 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 1: in which two premises are a given and then a 181 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:16,360 Speaker 1: conclusion is reached using deductive reasoning. A simple example would 182 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:19,319 Speaker 1: be to say, all sneakers are shoes. That's premis ie. 183 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: Premise two is that some sneakers are blue. Therefore, your 184 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 1: deductive reasoning leads you to some shoes are blue. The 185 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:30,679 Speaker 1: three circles overlap in a way that a central section 186 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 1: of the diagram is simultaneously part of all three circles. 187 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:39,160 Speaker 1: Those are the some blue shoes. Syllogisms were not new 188 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:41,600 Speaker 1: to John Ven. They go all the way back to Aristotle, 189 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:45,160 Speaker 1: and though his writings about them do not contain diagrams, 190 00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:48,920 Speaker 1: some logicians over the years have suspected that he may 191 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 1: have used them to work his ideas out. So the 192 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:56,080 Speaker 1: Ven diagram is a way to visually represent the existence 193 00:11:56,280 --> 00:12:00,880 Speaker 1: and non existence of variables within sets. But this isn't 194 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:03,280 Speaker 1: really something that he came up with out of nowhere. 195 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:08,760 Speaker 1: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz of Leipzig, Germany lived in the seventeenth 196 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:11,840 Speaker 1: and early eighteenth centuries, and he studied the use and 197 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:16,840 Speaker 1: viability of diagrams to solve logic queries. He thought that 198 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:20,040 Speaker 1: Aristotle's concepts on the matter needed some more work, but 199 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:23,000 Speaker 1: to be clear, he was drawn to that work because 200 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:27,600 Speaker 1: he thought Aristotle's concept was compelling, writing quote, I hold 201 00:12:27,679 --> 00:12:31,000 Speaker 1: that the invention of the form of syllogisms is a 202 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:36,080 Speaker 1: most beautiful of the human spirit. Leibnus's work started to 203 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: include the use of circles and linear progression to work 204 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:42,880 Speaker 1: through syllogistic concepts, which when you look at them, are 205 00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:48,240 Speaker 1: very clearly a precursor of the ven diagram. Leibniz did 206 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:52,599 Speaker 1: eventually favor using lines that created boxes as part of 207 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:56,240 Speaker 1: their logical grouping. Yeah, he got away from circles, but 208 00:12:56,440 --> 00:13:00,280 Speaker 1: circles were favored by another logician, Leonard Euler, who was 209 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:04,120 Speaker 1: born in Basel, Switzerland in seventeen oh seven. Although he 210 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:07,040 Speaker 1: favored using circles to work out logic puzzles, he was 211 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:09,720 Speaker 1: very clear that the shape was not the important thing, 212 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:13,359 Speaker 1: noting in writing quote these circles, or rather these spaces, 213 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:16,120 Speaker 1: for it is of no importance what figure they are of, 214 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:20,720 Speaker 1: are extremely commodious for facilitating our reflections on this subject, 215 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:24,520 Speaker 1: and for unfolding all the boasted mysteries of logic which 216 00:13:24,559 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 1: that art finds it so difficult to explain. Whereas by 217 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:30,640 Speaker 1: means of these signs, the whole is rendered sensible to 218 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:34,400 Speaker 1: the eye. We may employ, then spaces formed at pleasure 219 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:39,520 Speaker 1: to represent every general notion. And Euler's diagrams were well 220 00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:43,120 Speaker 1: known in his time, although he wasn't applying mathematics or 221 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:46,520 Speaker 1: specifically algebra to them the way that then eventually would. 222 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:50,640 Speaker 1: They were just ways of grouping ideas. There were other 223 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:55,120 Speaker 1: mathematicians and logicians who worked in the manipulation of visual 224 00:13:55,200 --> 00:14:00,320 Speaker 1: diagrams to work out logic, both numerical and theoretical, but 225 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:04,480 Speaker 1: John Ben's criticism of those who had come before led 226 00:14:04,559 --> 00:14:08,120 Speaker 1: him to work out his approach. He wrote, for example, 227 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:12,559 Speaker 1: of Uller's work that it wasn't robust enough, stating quote, 228 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,960 Speaker 1: any system which merely exhibits the mutual relations of two 229 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:20,320 Speaker 1: classes to one another is not general enough. We must 230 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:23,640 Speaker 1: provide a place and a notation for the various combinations 231 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:28,360 Speaker 1: which arise from considering three, four or more classes. In fact, 232 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 1: we must be prepared for a complete generalization. Ben also 233 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:36,640 Speaker 1: created way more complex diagrams than just two and three 234 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:40,400 Speaker 1: circle ones, and some of those are developing ideas put 235 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:43,560 Speaker 1: forth by the other two men we just talked about. 236 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:48,120 Speaker 1: Ben's book Symbolic Logic was also a defense and expansion 237 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:50,600 Speaker 1: of the work of George Boole, who had died twelve 238 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 1: years earlier at the age of forty nine, and specifically 239 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 1: his approach to algebraic mathematical logic. Boolean algebra represents relationships 240 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:04,280 Speaker 1: tween objects or ideas, so it works differently than ordinary algebra. 241 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:08,000 Speaker 1: For example, it doesn't require numeric quantities, but it can 242 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:12,760 Speaker 1: operate with variables like truth or falsehood. Boolean algebra is 243 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 1: important because it's the foundation of things like probability and 244 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:19,960 Speaker 1: geometry of sets, but perhaps mostly so because in modern 245 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:23,520 Speaker 1: daily life it has impacted the way computer circuits are designed. 246 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:27,320 Speaker 1: In eighteen eighty three, Ben decided to resign from his 247 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:31,360 Speaker 1: position as an Anglican clergyman. He'd come to the decision 248 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:35,800 Speaker 1: that Anglicanism didn't really align with his beliefs anymore, although 249 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:38,120 Speaker 1: he did continue to be a part of the Church. 250 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:41,600 Speaker 1: According to an account written by his son Quote, it 251 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 1: had long ceased to be regarded as an anomaly for 252 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:49,320 Speaker 1: a clergyman to preach the then circumscribed evangelical creed and, 253 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:53,680 Speaker 1: at the same time, without the slightest insincerity, to devote 254 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:59,640 Speaker 1: himself actively to philosophical studies, yet finding himself still less 255 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:04,280 Speaker 1: in sympathy with the orthodox clerical outlook, then availed himself 256 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:09,240 Speaker 1: of the clerical disabilities Act of a naturally speculative frame 257 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 1: of mind. He was wont to say later that, owing 258 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:16,480 Speaker 1: to subsequent change and accepted opinion regarding the thirty nine articles, 259 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 1: he could consistently have retained his orders. He remained, indeed 260 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:25,880 Speaker 1: throughout his life a man of sincere religious conviction. That 261 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:29,440 Speaker 1: same year, also eighteen eighty three, John Vin was elected 262 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:32,840 Speaker 1: to the Royal Society, and he received his science doctorate 263 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 1: from Cambridge. Six years after these events, in eighteen eighty nine, 264 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:41,080 Speaker 1: he published The Principles of Empirical or Inductive Logic, and 265 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 1: the opening of the Principles makes clear that ven has 266 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:46,760 Speaker 1: been troubled by the way concepts of logic have been 267 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 1: poorly defined in communication about them, and that not practicing 268 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:56,400 Speaker 1: clear establishing rules regarding logic arguments have hurt the field overall. 269 00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:58,560 Speaker 1: This kind of a long quote, but I want to 270 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:00,920 Speaker 1: include it because it gives you grit insight into the 271 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:04,560 Speaker 1: way he thinks about things. Quote. Since logic, as conceived 272 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:07,560 Speaker 1: and expounded in this work is not an ultimate science 273 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:10,720 Speaker 1: in the sense of being concerned directly with really first 274 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:14,560 Speaker 1: principles of any kind, we find ourselves obliged, on a 275 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:17,679 Speaker 1: general survey of our province, to take for granted that 276 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:20,359 Speaker 1: a great deal has already been decided for us in 277 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:23,840 Speaker 1: various directions. In other words, we have to demand a 278 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:27,440 Speaker 1: variety of postulates, drawn partly from the region of metaphysics, 279 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:31,919 Speaker 1: partly from those of psychology, physical science, grammar, and so forth. 280 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:35,600 Speaker 1: Some of these postulates will be readily accepted. Others will 281 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:38,400 Speaker 1: be admitted by those who have had any philosophic training. 282 00:17:39,119 --> 00:17:42,040 Speaker 1: Some might take it have hardly yet been duly appreciated 283 00:17:42,119 --> 00:17:46,439 Speaker 1: or even recognized. This being so, it would seem convenient 284 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:49,520 Speaker 1: that the more important of these postulates should be prominently 285 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:54,320 Speaker 1: and definitely stated at the outset. For one reason or another, however, 286 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:57,440 Speaker 1: such a course seems seldom adopted, and the result has 287 00:17:57,480 --> 00:18:01,760 Speaker 1: been disadvantageous in more ways than one. This neglect to 288 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:05,080 Speaker 1: state the postulates has, for instance, brought down upon the 289 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:09,760 Speaker 1: logician charges of inconsistency and shortsightedness, which might as fairly 290 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:13,080 Speaker 1: be brought against the representatives of most other sciences, but 291 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:16,639 Speaker 1: which sounded damaging when he had to meet them alone. 292 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:19,280 Speaker 1: It has also tended, as I shall trust to show 293 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:22,560 Speaker 1: in the sequel, to encourage mistaken views as to the 294 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:26,639 Speaker 1: functions and province of the science. Whilst the general objections 295 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:29,240 Speaker 1: to such an emission on the grounds of method are 296 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 1: too obvious to need reinforcement. In a moment, we'll discuss 297 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:36,680 Speaker 1: how Ven seemed to sort of turn on a dime 298 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:39,440 Speaker 1: in terms of his interests and projects in the late 299 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:42,760 Speaker 1: eighteen eighties. First, though, we'll hear from the sponsors that 300 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:55,679 Speaker 1: keep the show going. So before the break, we mentioned 301 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:58,439 Speaker 1: that in eighteen eighty nine John Ven published The Principles 302 00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:02,280 Speaker 1: of Empirical or Inductive Life, and even before that in 303 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:04,600 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty eight, as he was working on the book, 304 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:07,359 Speaker 1: then seemed to have decided that it was going to 305 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:10,920 Speaker 1: be his last work in logic and probability theory, because 306 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:14,520 Speaker 1: he donated all of his personal Library on those subjects 307 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:18,639 Speaker 1: to the Cambridge University Library and after that then ventured 308 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:21,320 Speaker 1: into publishing non mathematical works at the end of the 309 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:24,840 Speaker 1: nineteenth century, although they were books related to his work 310 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:28,800 Speaker 1: in education. He published The Biographical History of Gonville and 311 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:32,360 Speaker 1: Keys College thirteen forty nine to eighteen ninety seven in 312 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:36,119 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety seven. This was a four volume project and 313 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,760 Speaker 1: it included portraits of various people related to the school's history, 314 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:43,560 Speaker 1: as well as additional illustrations. He also wrote an entry 315 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:47,840 Speaker 1: for the Cambridge College series titled Simply Gonvillin Keys College. 316 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:53,119 Speaker 1: Ben wrote several books that mentioned Keys, including Early Collegiate Life, 317 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:55,760 Speaker 1: which walked through some accounts of what it was like 318 00:19:55,840 --> 00:20:00,040 Speaker 1: in its early days, laid out as narrative sketches. The 319 00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:02,800 Speaker 1: published lists of students who had been admitted to the 320 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:07,200 Speaker 1: college in the fifteen hundreds and sixteen hundreds. Then worked 321 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:09,800 Speaker 1: with his son John Archibald to assemble a list of 322 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:15,720 Speaker 1: Cambridge alumni, which was also published as Alumni Cantabrigenses. This 323 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:19,720 Speaker 1: included biographies of students and graduates, and it chronicle things 324 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:24,320 Speaker 1: like students who had held offices in various organizations. An 325 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:28,399 Speaker 1: unnamed colleague was quoted in Ven's obituary as saying, quote, 326 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:31,040 Speaker 1: it is difficult for anyone who has not seen the 327 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:34,240 Speaker 1: work in its making to realize the immense amount of 328 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:39,639 Speaker 1: research involved in this great undertaking. Apparently, Ven's research for 329 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:43,040 Speaker 1: this book involved going through the archives and records of 330 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 1: not just the school, but also various churches to correctly 331 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:50,480 Speaker 1: list all of the available details of each alumnus's life. 332 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:54,199 Speaker 1: Like he would go to an alumnus's hometown church and 333 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:56,600 Speaker 1: go through all of their records and do that for 334 00:20:56,720 --> 00:20:59,480 Speaker 1: all of these people on this list. It was like 335 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:05,119 Speaker 1: he must have loved research. An obituary for Ben that 336 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:09,160 Speaker 1: appeared in the British Medical Journal described his output about 337 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:12,600 Speaker 1: Keys this way quote. The works which he wrote about 338 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:17,040 Speaker 1: the college are somewhat voluminous and are characterized by thoroughness, 339 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:21,320 Speaker 1: but are for the most part full of human interest. 340 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:24,679 Speaker 1: As a rule, they are pleasant reading, though in parts 341 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:29,960 Speaker 1: they are necessarily statistical statistics. Asie, he clearly had a 342 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:32,320 Speaker 1: deep love for the school, where he had been both 343 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:35,720 Speaker 1: a student and a teacher, and his dedication was recognized. 344 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:38,639 Speaker 1: He was made president of Gonville and Keys College in 345 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:42,399 Speaker 1: nineteen oh three. In nineteen oh nine, there is this 346 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:46,080 Speaker 1: wonderful and curious moment in Ven's life story, and we're 347 00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:48,480 Speaker 1: going to talk about it kind of to a disproportionate 348 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:50,760 Speaker 1: amount because it is one of those things that is 349 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:54,040 Speaker 1: both charming and surprising, but it also shows how broad 350 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:58,440 Speaker 1: the interests of his life were. He invented a bowling machine, 351 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:01,600 Speaker 1: not in the sense of the sport of bowling that 352 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,400 Speaker 1: we know it today in the US, but bowling as 353 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:07,040 Speaker 1: it relates to cricket. So for our listeners who are 354 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:10,560 Speaker 1: more familiar with baseball, bowling is similar to pitching. I'm 355 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:13,200 Speaker 1: sorry for any cricket officionados who are like, it's much 356 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:15,879 Speaker 1: more complex and nuanced than that. We're just going for 357 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:20,600 Speaker 1: wide strokes here. According to the saffron Walden Weekly News 358 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:24,199 Speaker 1: from June eleventh, nineteen oh nine, quote, the preliminary of 359 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 1: what promises to be a sensation in the cricket world 360 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:31,200 Speaker 1: took place on Fenners on Thursday week. Doctor Vin, president 361 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,440 Speaker 1: of Keyes College, who is a Fellow of the Royal 362 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 1: Society and a Doctor of Science, has, in conjunction with 363 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:41,480 Speaker 1: his son mister Javen, invented and patented a bowling machine 364 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:45,320 Speaker 1: which in all probability will supersede the drudgery of bowling 365 00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:49,800 Speaker 1: at the practice nets. At the event mentioned in the article, 366 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:53,520 Speaker 1: a number of cricketers visiting from Australia were able to 367 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:56,080 Speaker 1: observe and test this machine, and they found it to 368 00:22:56,119 --> 00:22:59,960 Speaker 1: be quite impressive. The write up continues, quote the mission 369 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:03,679 Speaker 1: can bowl any kind of ball at any variation of 370 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:08,080 Speaker 1: pace or length, and can produce a deadly break either 371 00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 1: from the leg or off side of the wicket. Batsman 372 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:15,680 Speaker 1: wishing to practice any particular kind of stroke or perfect 373 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:18,440 Speaker 1: himself in dealing with any kind of ball, may set 374 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:20,920 Speaker 1: the machine up at one end of the pitch and 375 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:24,879 Speaker 1: practice to his heart's content. And the Australians found it 376 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 1: to be formidable. Apparently it got the better of one 377 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 1: of their star players. Yes, some descriptions of this suggest 378 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:37,080 Speaker 1: that this was kind of a feather in the cap 379 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:41,040 Speaker 1: of England in terms of cricket reputation, to have vested 380 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,399 Speaker 1: the Australians with a machine made by an Englishman. This 381 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,760 Speaker 1: article describes the machine's design, noting that quote it is 382 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:50,840 Speaker 1: not beautiful to look at, but its utility seems to 383 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:54,720 Speaker 1: be undeniable, and it notes quote above, an ungainly base 384 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:58,560 Speaker 1: equipped with strong springs and cords towers a gaunt iron 385 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:01,880 Speaker 1: arm having at its summit a grip of four fingers 386 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:06,080 Speaker 1: which rotate in either direction. The article also mentions that 387 00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:08,480 Speaker 1: people had been trying to invent a bowling machine for 388 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,360 Speaker 1: cricket practice for quite a while, but no one had 389 00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:14,159 Speaker 1: been able to create one that could consistently deliver the 390 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:17,359 Speaker 1: wide array of pitches that a human could until the 391 00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 1: VENs did it. And they had, according to the paper, 392 00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:24,360 Speaker 1: patented this machine in England, the US and Australia. So 393 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:26,240 Speaker 1: it seemed like they might be on the verge of 394 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:30,600 Speaker 1: a huge business opportunity, but that didn't happen. We're going 395 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:32,440 Speaker 1: to loop back to this machine in just a bit. 396 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:37,280 Speaker 1: Van wrote a biography of the school's second founder, titled 397 00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:40,880 Speaker 1: John Keyes, which was published in nineteen ten for Keys's 398 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:45,720 Speaker 1: four hundredth birthday. John ven died on April fourth, nineteen 399 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:48,320 Speaker 1: twenty three, at the age of eighty nine. He had 400 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,399 Speaker 1: served as president of Gonville and Keys College right up 401 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:55,120 Speaker 1: until his death. To his last day, he had, according 402 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:58,600 Speaker 1: to the British Medical Journal obituary we mentioned earlier quote, 403 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:01,720 Speaker 1: retained to the full his clearness of mind and much 404 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:04,840 Speaker 1: of his activity of body. He was always willing to 405 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:08,120 Speaker 1: place his great store of knowledge at the disposal of others. 406 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:12,639 Speaker 1: His Royal Society obituary described then in his last years 407 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,200 Speaker 1: this way and it's quite charming, and the way I 408 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:17,720 Speaker 1: would love to be described one day quote A good 409 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,719 Speaker 1: field botanist, a bit of a mountaineer, a craftsman, and 410 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:23,800 Speaker 1: with a gift of dry humor. Then lived his long 411 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:27,479 Speaker 1: life to the full. Age treated him kindly, an active 412 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:30,680 Speaker 1: spare man. He retained his sprightly walk and his interest 413 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:34,919 Speaker 1: in work and play until the end. John's wife, Susannah, 414 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:40,280 Speaker 1: died eight years after him. John Archibald Ben continued publishing 415 00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:43,639 Speaker 1: updates to the Cambridge Alumnilist after his father died for 416 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:47,199 Speaker 1: another thirty one years. The younger Van also followed in 417 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:51,280 Speaker 1: his father's footsteps in terms of academic leadership roles. He 418 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:54,879 Speaker 1: became president of Queen's College in nineteen thirty two, and 419 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:59,520 Speaker 1: like his father, worked until his death. In twenty seventeen, 420 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:03,520 Speaker 1: Hull Drypool Bridge got a makeover inspired by its famous 421 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:07,879 Speaker 1: logician historian. This was a pricey public art project. It 422 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:12,240 Speaker 1: cost or reported three hundred twenty five thousand pounds. Artist 423 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:15,640 Speaker 1: Sarah Daniels designed the artwork that adorns the bridge, which 424 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:19,359 Speaker 1: features interlocking circles in shades of yellow that repeat in 425 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:22,800 Speaker 1: a large scale pattern. Two reference, of course ven diagrams, 426 00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:27,199 Speaker 1: and recently. That bowling machine was in the news in 427 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:29,960 Speaker 1: June of twenty twenty four, so just a little more 428 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,479 Speaker 1: than a month ago if you're listening to this. Around 429 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:36,200 Speaker 1: the time it's published, a whole slew of articles ran 430 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 1: about a project headed up by Hugh Hunt, professor of Engineering, 431 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:44,000 Speaker 1: Dynamics and Vibration at Cambridge. Hunt was driven by the 432 00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:47,280 Speaker 1: idea of showing what he called John Ven's quirky side, 433 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:50,320 Speaker 1: and by the desire to show students that mathematics and 434 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:54,480 Speaker 1: fun can absolutely mix. Hunt and his colleagues had only 435 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:57,399 Speaker 1: a photograph from when the machine was originally built in 436 00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:01,280 Speaker 1: the early nineteen hundreds and a patent application to work 437 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:05,200 Speaker 1: from the head of Design at the Cambridge Engineering Department, 438 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:08,960 Speaker 1: Thomas Glenday led a group of engineers through the process 439 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:12,600 Speaker 1: of figuring out exactly how this machine worked and building 440 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:15,600 Speaker 1: it at one fifth scale to see if they had 441 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:19,640 Speaker 1: the details right. Since patent applications in their diagrams they're 442 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:22,680 Speaker 1: all about the concept rather than the technicality. The team 443 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:24,439 Speaker 1: had to do a lot of work to just re 444 00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:28,600 Speaker 1: engineer this bowler, but they did. They tweaked the elements 445 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:31,400 Speaker 1: that weren't working on this miniature version before they built 446 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:35,000 Speaker 1: a full scale one, and that one works. Yeah. As 447 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:37,960 Speaker 1: of last month, I know there was at least one 448 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:40,199 Speaker 1: event where it was. I think it was at the 449 00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:43,760 Speaker 1: Essex County Cricket Club where they were doing a presentation 450 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:46,439 Speaker 1: about it. I hope it gets put on display somewhere 451 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:49,320 Speaker 1: because it's a really cool idea to build an invention 452 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:52,520 Speaker 1: that somebody else made and that you have to figure 453 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:56,040 Speaker 1: out how it actually worked. So that is our discussion 454 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:58,120 Speaker 1: on John Benn, which I love because he's so much 455 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:02,080 Speaker 1: more than the diagrams, and even the diagrams are so 456 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:04,119 Speaker 1: much more than the way we usually hear or know 457 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:09,080 Speaker 1: about them. So yeah, I always like a little expansion 458 00:28:09,119 --> 00:28:14,520 Speaker 1: of knowledge. I have a very very cute listener mail 459 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:17,880 Speaker 1: from our listener Don. The cute part is the picture. 460 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,520 Speaker 1: Don writes, good day, Holly and Tracy. I just finished 461 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:24,639 Speaker 1: listening to your episode on historical roads and Highways. I 462 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:27,040 Speaker 1: was fortunate enough to go to Italy in twenty nineteen 463 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:30,240 Speaker 1: with my mother and my sister. We drove the Autostrata, 464 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:33,080 Speaker 1: both to Florence and again to Storo, where we have family. 465 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:36,119 Speaker 1: I couldn't believe how large the rest stops were, with 466 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:39,000 Speaker 1: gas stations on both sides that often had a bridge 467 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,000 Speaker 1: across the highway to access the auto grill on either side. 468 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:45,360 Speaker 1: So convenient when you're driving either direction and need to 469 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:48,920 Speaker 1: stop for gas and food. The Church of the Autostrata 470 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:51,440 Speaker 1: seems so out of place, but knowing its history, it 471 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,960 Speaker 1: is in the perfect location. The toll system is not 472 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:57,480 Speaker 1: something I'd dealt with before, and we always held onto 473 00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:00,280 Speaker 1: any change we got when shopping so we'd have enough 474 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:03,000 Speaker 1: on hand for the toll boosts that are throughout the Audustrata. 475 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:05,960 Speaker 1: I have attached a picture of my daughter's dog, Leo. 476 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:08,280 Speaker 1: He is very attached to me and I'm not sure 477 00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:10,360 Speaker 1: what I will do when my daughter is ready to 478 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:13,000 Speaker 1: move out. Thank you for your wonderful work done. This 479 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:16,400 Speaker 1: dog is so cute. He's a little terrier. It looks 480 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:19,959 Speaker 1: like maybe a Yorkie maybe a little Yorky mix, and 481 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 1: it's just one of those pictures where you just know 482 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:25,520 Speaker 1: he is curled up right next to her and just 483 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:29,160 Speaker 1: wants love and attention, and he's very cute. Those eyes 484 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:33,320 Speaker 1: Man dogs get me every time. I know all of 485 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:35,120 Speaker 1: this talk of the autostrata makes me want to go 486 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:39,040 Speaker 1: back to Italy sooner rather than later, So let's do that. 487 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:43,880 Speaker 1: You can write us if you have any email thoughts 488 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:47,520 Speaker 1: you'd like to share at History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 489 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:49,720 Speaker 1: And if you'd like to subscribe and you haven't gotten 490 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:51,880 Speaker 1: around to that yet, you can do that easiest pie 491 00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:54,400 Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app or wherever it is you listen 492 00:29:54,440 --> 00:30:02,120 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows. Stuff you Missed in History Class 493 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:06,160 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 494 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:09,920 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 495 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:10,959 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows,