Historical Figures 20 Questions

Forostar said:
Alright,
*Male
*Born on/after 1850 but before 1950
*Alive in 1940
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Hold on, I said this, but it might be wrong. LC said that he did not die before 01-01-1940, but it's also possible that he wasn't born before 01-01-1940. So he might not have been alive yet in 1940.
Sorry for any confusion, I may have caused.

*Male
*This person would be considered a scientist
*European (no citizen of the US)
*Not from a country that speaks German as its native tongue
*Born on/after 1850 but before 1950
*Dit not die before 01-01-1940


10. Is he still alive?
 
LooseCannon said:
7. Yes, this person would be considered a scientist.
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That's a funny way of phrasing it. Rhetorically I question: why not a straightforward "yes"? What does "would be considered" imply, if anything?

Now the real question:
Was this person's primary area of scientific inquiry one of the natural sciences (e.g. biology, physics)?
(Meaning, not a social science like archaeology or sociology.)

If we can find the area of science, this becomes easier... without it, there's too many European scientists to even guess.
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
That's a funny way of phrasing it. Rhetorically I question: why not a straightforward "yes"? What does "would be considered" imply, if anything?

Now the real question:
Was this person's primary area of scientific inquiry one of the natural sciences (e.g. biology, physics)?
(Meaning, not a social science like archaeology or sociology.)

If we can find the area of science, this becomes easier... without it, there's too many European scientists to even guess.
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You ought to know the way I play the game by now, and I say things like that sometimes.

11. This is not one of the truly natural sciences like biology, physics, and chemistry, nor is it one of the social sciences like archaeology or sociology or psychology.
 
Forostar said:
13. Was this fashion intelligence (or communication in the broadest sense)?
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13. This person had something to do with communications or intelligence, yes.
 
It is indeed Alan Turing.  Turing is one of the more important mathmaticians and logicians that nobody really knows about, responsible for cryptanalysis on the German Enigma machine in WW2 and many interesting theories.  He supposedly committed suicide after his imprisonment for homosexuality and died rather too young for someone so brilliant.
 
Forostar said:
15. Alan Turing? (I had another candidate but he died way later)
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That is who I had in mind as well. I studied a bit about this guy (and Babbage) when I did some OU courses about computing many years back.
 
I thought so :) In Britain he's perhaps the most famous of his kind, especially from the WWII period. I really like the story about the other guy I mentioned. He had quite an adventurous life and did very important findings, together with his collegues.
 
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