# 5 people who are famous in your area of expertise? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2007, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722 "2007-01-04T20:03:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/21 "2007-01-04T21:50:46Z")
[QUOTE=Ol’Gaffer] … Brian Fagan… [/QUOTE] I took a survey course from him undergrad (UCSB, mid-'70s). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/22 "2007-01-04T21:59:46Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] I took a survey course from him undergrad (UCSB, mid-'70s). 😃 [/QUOTE] Wow cool. I work a lot on the central coast and have excavated a number of sites that he dug on back in the day. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/23 "2007-01-04T22:09:30Z")
In my _profession_, I don’t believe there are any superstars. In my area of _academic expertise_, the big names are Peter Ladefoged, Ian Maddieson, Larry Trask, John McWhorter, and Stephen Pinker. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/24 "2007-01-04T22:23:36Z")
Still living (and certainly not definitive): David Francis Paolo Cherchi Usai Rick Prelinger Bob Gitt Bob Harris Of course, probably the most famous (now deceased) was Henri Langlois. ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/25 "2007-01-04T22:43:29Z")
I can only think of two off-hand: Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Jack “Star [del]Hustler[/del] Gazer” Horkheimer. (In that they’re associated with planetariums. I have not hosted a PBS science show, personally.) ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/26 "2007-01-04T22:43:36Z")
Ollie Johnston Frank Thomas Glen Keane John Lasseter Brad Bird ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/27 "2007-01-04T22:49:32Z")
Ferran Adria, Thomas Keller, Heston Blumenthal, Alain Ducasse, Joel Robuchon - Haute Cuisine Marvin Minsky, Rod Brooks, Terry Winograd, John McCarthy, Herb Simon - Artificial Intelligence ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/28 "2007-01-04T23:03:26Z")
I am not aware of any famous technical writers, even among technical writers. I guess the closest thing would be authors of grammar books, and of them I think that one of the best-known is Bill Walsh (_The Elephants of Style_ and _Lapsing Into a Comma_). Many people might also recognize Lynne Truss’s name (_Eats, Shoots & Leaves_), but she wrote about British grammar and is therefore useless to me. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/29 "2007-01-04T23:35:04Z")
Shigeru Miyamoto Will Wright Sid Meier Hideo Kojima Warren Spector ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/30 "2007-01-04T23:56:21Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] If they don’t have to be alive, famous people in library science include Melville Dewey, Ranganathan, Charles Ammi Cutter, that Colon guy, and Nancy Pearl. If they do have to be alive, you still get Nancy Pearl and you can add, say, Michael Stephens, Jenny Levine, Michael Gorman (boo, hiss!), Jessamyn West, Michael Golrick - there’s lots, but people who aren’t librarians haven’t heard of any of them. [/QUOTE] You beat me to it, but I was planning a slightly different list so I’ll post mine anyway: Melvil Dewey Ranganathan Charles Ammi Cutter Martha Manheimer Lois Mai Chan Now that you mention Pearl I realize she really should have been on my list, alas! ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/31 "2007-01-05T00:45:39Z")
[QUOTE=Shalmanese] Ferran Adria, Thomas Keller, Heston Blumenthal, Alain Ducasse, Joel Robuchon - Haute Cuisine Marvin Minsky, Rod Brooks, Terry Winograd, John McCarthy, Herb Simon - Artificial Intelligence [/QUOTE] One of those is my husband’s actual name. He is outstanding in his field, but it’s not THAT field. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/32 "2007-01-05T01:34:15Z")
Nancy Mulvaney, Larry Bonura, and maybe Sylvia Coates: indexing. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/33 "2007-01-05T01:37:33Z")
Don Pardo Gary Owens Shadoe Stevens James Earl Jones Don LaFontaine ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/34 "2007-01-05T01:51:35Z")
In my hobby: Jancis Robinson Hugh Johnson Doug Frost Andrea Immer Brian K. Julyan ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/35 "2007-01-05T02:08:47Z")
[ul] [li]Casey Kasem[/li][li]Dick Clark[/li][li]Howard Stern[/li][li]Erich “Mancow” Muller[/li][li]Gary Owens[/li][/ul] Radio personalities, all of them. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/36 "2007-01-05T02:35:41Z")
Depends which way you go with my field. Either: Art Spiegelman, Will Eisner, Frank Miller, Todd McFarlane, Art Crumb or Maurice Sendak, Theodore Geisel, Beatrix Potter, Lane Smith, Dav Pilkey ---
**Author:** ![Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Full_Metal_Lotus)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/37 "2007-01-05T03:49:22Z")
Hunter S. Thompson Gandhi Buckminster Fuller The Gieco Gecko An old cat toy I found in a second hand Smoking Jacket (Not a person, I realise, and hardly famous, but a great influence on my life) Regards FML (Sorry I couldn’t resist) ---
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/38 "2007-01-05T05:07:55Z")
Kofi Annan James Baker III Henry Kissinger Richard Holbrooke Madeline Albright ---
**Author:** ![Schuyler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@Schuyler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schuyler)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/39 "2007-01-05T06:23:21Z")
GPS and satellite navigation (with maybe a slight bias): Brad Parkinson A.J. Van Dierendonck Ron Hatch Jim Spilker Per Enge ---
**Author:** ![Dinaroozie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Dinaroozie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinaroozie)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722/40 "2007-01-05T06:40:02Z")
In my area of academic interest/study (someone else said a lot of the ones I was going to say, but I’ll try not to double up in case someone doesn’t want their list-researching antics spoilt): Chris Taylor Michel Ancel Chris Crawford Peter Molyneax Greg Costikyan I confess I had to look up the spelling on those last two. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-people-who-are-famous-in-your-area-of-expertise/386722.md?page=3)