this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2025
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Science Memes

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181
Happy Birthday John Tukey (mander.xyz)
submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 days ago (2 children)

What exactly is that last phrase supposed to modify? I find that syntax confusing. Is that ironic or intentional?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I think the joke is that 110.000 years is very precise, but that precision isn't very useful when you only identify where that measurement zeroes as vaguely as "sometime this week".

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago

I get and appreciate that joke. I actually meant the last phrase of the quote (the unintended irony of my question's vagueness now noted!), "which can always be made more precise."

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

From Wikipedia:

John Wilder Tukey (/ˈtuːki/; June 16, 1915 – July 26, 2000) was an American mathematician and statistician, best known for the development of the fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm and the box plot.

The comic strip was published on June 18 2025, two days after Tukey's 110th birthday. The last sentence combines a precise but wrong statement (Tukey would be 110,000 years old today) with an imprecise but correct statement (his birthday is some time that week).