Updated 17:23 January 2nd 2024

Prof Harold Thimbleby …
Fun and trivia

I am developing a new web site for 2024! This old site is just to say something to keep people happy while I work on the new one. Meanwhile, please have a look at our new booklet on patient safety and digital health.


Genailles Rods

Front cover of Mathematica Journal based on my program for Genaille’s rods, a fun type of calculator. Henri Genaille’s Rods are a nineteenth-century scheme for doing multiplication, similar to, but easier to use than, the more familiar Napier’s Bones — as you can see, Genaille’s Rods are visually attractive. They are useful in teaching. My article gives full details.



Clear presentation, recursive programming, and art are all irresistible — here is a clear visualisation of the deaths on the Titanic that also makes a nice Mondrian-style painting. — click this link to find out more!


Harold in Trivial Pursuit

Here’s my name on a card from a Trivial Pursuits game. Mouse over the card to see the answers!

Based on analysis of use of Jonathon Fletcher’s JumpStation, the world’s first web search engine, in fact I said most internet searches were for porn — perhaps not so surprising given the demographic of surfers in those days!

For a more substantial discussion about the internet see my Personal boundaries/global stage article for the IEE 2020 Visions conference, now published in First Monday.

Trivial Pursuits
Trivial Pursuits

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