Look Who it Was Random video

Bill Bryson: Thomas Bayes and other Remarkable Clergymen

2,934 views · Published 8 October 2010 · 4:57 · Indexed 6 October 2026

Channel: Gresham College · 2010 · Education

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The invention of the submarine, the world's first Icelandic dictionary, the breeding of the Jack Russell, and a history of dirty jokes - just some of the many wierd and wonderful fruits of 19th century English country parsons.
Bill Bryson here pays homage to some of them, particularly Thomas Bayes, inventor of Bayes' Theorem and a major cornerstone of modern statistics.

This a part of Bill Bryson's Gresham College lecture marking the 350th anniversary of the birth of The Royal Society: 'An Even Shorter History of Nearly Everything'.
In the talk he spoke about the history of science and of the Royal Society, founded 350 years ago by Gresham College Professors (such as Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke) within Gresham College.
The lecture was given to 800 people within the Guildhall on the 30th of September 2010. The event was hosted in conjunction with the City of London Corporation and the Royal Society.

Bill Bryson's full lecture is available to download (like all of our lectures) in its complete form from the Gresham College website, in video, audio or text formats:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download.

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