The world of academia is knit together much like a family, although the 'generations' are short-lived, with supervisors and students taking the place of parents and children. Your supervisor's supervisor is therefore your grandparent, and so on. Thus, we have a 'family tree' connecting us to our historical counterparts, forming a chain of inherited knowledge.
I once worked in a maths department where someone had worked out everyone's predecessors, and the results were surprising to me - not only does everyone become connected to everyone else fairly quickly, but since there is essentially only one chain you can follow for a given person, it is very easy to reach back to early times. This particular one went back to Euler for example!
I like the idea that we are connected to the past in this way; for me it epitomises the scientific method: the building up of a knowledge base by passing it down and developing it from master to student. I'd like to try to build my 'astronomical family tree', and maybe that for others in the group too. I wonder how far we can get back (and who we're connected to). Kepler, Copernicus? Personally I'd love it if a well known crank-baiter ends up descended from Ptolemy. I'll let you know what progress I make.
I once worked in a maths department where someone had worked out everyone's predecessors, and the results were surprising to me - not only does everyone become connected to everyone else fairly quickly, but since there is essentially only one chain you can follow for a given person, it is very easy to reach back to early times. This particular one went back to Euler for example!
I like the idea that we are connected to the past in this way; for me it epitomises the scientific method: the building up of a knowledge base by passing it down and developing it from master to student. I'd like to try to build my 'astronomical family tree', and maybe that for others in the group too. I wonder how far we can get back (and who we're connected to). Kepler, Copernicus? Personally I'd love it if a well known crank-baiter ends up descended from Ptolemy. I'll let you know what progress I make.
Labels: family-tree
