Talk:John Tukey

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Contents 1 Invention of the word "software" 2 Bit 3 Known For 4 Tukey's lemma 5 Pronunciation?

[edit] Invention of the word "software"

It is sometimes claimed that Tukey coined the word software in the computing context in 1958. This seems to be based on a misinterpretation of Shapiro's 2000 article. The word "hardware" had been used in the computing context since at least 1947 and it is unlikely that "software" was not coined until 1958. Nurg 11:11, 12 November 2005 (UTC)

Please note that there is an ambiguity between this page which says: Tukey used the term "software" in a computing context in a 1958 article

and page "Software" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software which says: The term "software" was first used in this sense by John W. Tukey in 1957.

[edit] Bit

If Tukey first used "bit" did he use it as a contraction of "binary integer" as stated in this article or "binary digit" as is commonly though and as it is understood to mean now? citation? TomViza 02:08, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

This is what Oxford English Dictionary says: "1948 C. E. SHANNON in Bell Syst. Techn. Jrnl. July 380 The choice of a logarithmic base corresponds to the choice of a unit for measuring information. If the base 2 is used the resulting units may be called binary digits, or more briefly bits, a word suggested by J. W. Tukey." 169.229.157.58 19:17, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Known For

All I did was add that Tukey was known for teh Box Plot. Nothing big. If you really want to debate it, go ahead. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Bolinstephen (talk • contribs) 00:03, 2 February 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Tukey's lemma

Tukey's lemma states, "Each nonempty family of finite character has a maximal element". This lemma is equivalent to the axiom of choice. Might someone care to expound on this in the main article? See [1]. DFH 19:33, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

This is also known as the Teichmüller-Tukey lemma because Oswald Teichmüller (1913-1943) had arrived at it independently in 1939. See [2]. DFH 19:38, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pronunciation?

How did Tukey pronounce his surname? Was it (for example) TOO-key or TEW-key?

RickD88 23:30, 19 September 2007 (UTC)

If by TEW-key you mean a pronunciation like TYOO-kee, with a y glide preceding the first vowel, no, he did not pronounce it that way. (He was, after all, an American, and Americans generally do not use a y glide with long u sounds following a t.) As a former student of his, I can tell you that he pronounced his name TOO-kee. To be more precise, the pronunciation of his last name in International Phonetic Alphabet transcription would be [ˈtu ki], not [ˈtju ki]. See IPA chart for English or Help:IPA for a pronunciation key.

--DavisSta (talk) 05:19, 16 May 2008 (UTC)