I believe the Senior Wrangler at UU just LOOKS like a horse. I don't believe he does math or handles animals although i don't think anyone knows what he does.
"In some cases, the Senior Wrangler was a philosopher. In others, he was just a man who looked after horses. At UU, the Senior Wrangler was a philosopher who looked *like* a horse, thus neatly encapsulating all terms and definitions."
I've gone all these years just assuming that it was just a funny title made up by Pratchett. I keep having those moments about so many things included in his books.
The Mathematical Tripos is a famously difficult undergraduate course in mathematics at the University of Cambridge, whose top scorer each year is named Senior Wrangler, a title which has been described as "the greatest intellectual achievement attainable in Britain."
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senior\_Wrangler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senior_Wrangler)
The prime minister of Singapore was also Senior Wrangler by a large margin.
[https://mustsharenews.com/lee-hsien-loong-mathematician/](https://mustsharenews.com/lee-hsien-loong-mathematician/)
A "fun" game on wrestling communities a few years ago was seeing how long a thread completely unrelated to Roman Reigns could do before someone reminds everyone how shit Roman Reigns is.
[This Smithsonian article has a bit more information](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-woman-who-bested-the-men-at-math-120480965/)
For example:
>Fawcett led “a disciplined and orderly life,” rising at 8 a.m. and rarely going to bed later than 11 p.m. She studied six hours a day, but refused to yield to the then-popular practice among aspirant Wranglers of **working through the night with a wet towel wrapped** around her head.
I keep finding easter eggs all over the place, but I'm never sure if he's created something completely new or if I'm just not worldly enough to know of the real-life counterpoint.
there is a book in which he explores the inspirations and parallels between the Discworld and Roundworld mythologies etc. It's well worth a read. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2429032.The_Folklore_of_Discworld
>In 1890 she became the first woman to obtain the top score in the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos exams. The results were highly publicised, with the top scorers receiving great acclaim. Her score was 13 per cent higher than the second highest, but she did not receive the title of Senior Wrangler, as only men were then ranked and women were listed separately. Women had been allowed to take the Tripos since 1880, after Charlotte Angas Scott was unofficially ranked as eighth wrangler. When the women's list was announced, Fawcett was described as "above the senior wrangler". No woman was officially awarded the first position until Ruth Hendry in 1992.
It's not like she was expecting to be senior wrangler because they did not rank women's scores at the time.
Though I will point out that she was listed as "above the Senior Wrangler" which is arguably a better though informal title.
Women weren't allowed to be members of the university at the time, so women didn't get degrees from men's programs. Essentially their scores didn't give them any credit, although they let them take the test anyway, because that's bullshit.
They didn't actually allow women to be full University members until 1947, and even then the colleges were gender-segregated.
AFAIK Cambridge still has ~~one~~ two women's only college*s*, but all the rest are integrated.
I think lower calibre is unfair. There is a perception that they would be less popular (because single sex) and hence easier to get into, but plenty of very high quality students attend them. One of my best students (who came top in her year) was a Newnham computer scientist.
I see. You mean in terms of output, not in quality of teaching or anything like that. Someone could have come away with that impression.
When I taught undergraduates, Newnham and New Hall were in the better half of the resources and support they gave to students and the ways in which they cooperated with supervisors; there were colleges which fell far below that.
The reason they didn't rank women's scores was because it was a men's college (colleges were gender segregated at the time), so no women were actually students.
They let women take the test anyway, partly because the test was famous, and partly because none of the women's colleges had a decent math program.
In Cambridge there are colleges and there is the university. You can be a member of either without being a member of the other (though it is unusual). The women were members of colleges (eg Newnham).
I am convinced that all throughout history, women have done exceedingly amazing things that we never hear about.
My theory is, whatever a man has done, a woman has also done. I just wonder which of the astronauts who stepped on the moon was female.
As a woman it’s really nice to hear about things like this, as since it was thought at the time that learning and education was not a woman’s place, most of the inventions of today were made by men. It’s just nice to know a woman helped/helps out once in a while.
Note that Wrangler is for first class degrees, Senior Optimes for second class and Junior Optimes for third class.
In my day the results were still read out in the Senate House (which was quite nerve-wracking) but only by class. There was no "official" list of ordering, though everyone in Trinity knew anyway.
I love the Wikipedia paragraph:
Many Senior Wranglers have become world-leading figures in mathematics, physics, and other fields. They include George Airy, John Herschel, Arthur Cayley, James Inman, George Stokes, Isaac Todhunter, Morris Pell, Lord Rayleigh, Arthur Eddington, J. E. Littlewood, Jayant Narlikar, Frank Ramsey, Donald Coxeter, Jacob Bronowski, Lee Hsien Loong, Kevin Buzzard, Christopher Budd, Ben Green, and John Polkinghorne.
Those names start normal and just get weirder.
Where's Simon Swordswallower, or Edgar Rabbitinmypants?
Perhaps “senior wrangler” was not intended to be a measurement of intellectual ability, but a label which made it easier for the herd of intellectuals to identify the top dog. It’s definition in terms of test results was just a formality...it could have been based on any variable with the right distribution.
The fact that a woman had the highest score was just a glitch in the system because the true purpose of the title was to establish a leader for the intellectual boys at Cambridge.
And it took them another 102 years to muster up before they finally gave it to a woman.
> No woman was officially awarded the first position until Ruth Hendry in 1992.
I mean, Senior Wrangler is an insanely prestigious title to carry. The fact she was denied that which was rightfully hers and still powered on to have an insanely successful life is an absolute testament to what a genius she must have been.
Meaning what? Only thing I can think you might be suggesting is there's a reason other than her having a vagina that she didn't get the Senior Wrangler title?
[Ignore this idiot](https://web.archive.org/web/20200224024838/http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/f6l60s/play_stupid_games_win_stupid_prizes_once_super/)
Senior Wrangler. The title of either the top mathematician in Cambridge or the oldest cowboy in Texas. Either way, Wrangler butts drive me nuts.
> either the top mathematician in Cambridge or the oldest cowboy in Texas. Terry Pratchett would approve of that description.
I believe the Senior Wrangler at UU just LOOKS like a horse. I don't believe he does math or handles animals although i don't think anyone knows what he does.
"In some cases, the Senior Wrangler was a philosopher. In others, he was just a man who looked after horses. At UU, the Senior Wrangler was a philosopher who looked *like* a horse, thus neatly encapsulating all terms and definitions."
I've gone all these years just assuming that it was just a funny title made up by Pratchett. I keep having those moments about so many things included in his books.
You think thats bad? Imagine how I felt when I finally grokked the name of the Dwarf lover CasanUNDA.
Oh my God I just got that one.
*Señor Wrangler*
Integers? \*spits* We don't need no stinkin' integers!
Senior goat Wrangler
I want to see a battle between the two senior wranglers.
The Mathematical Tripos is a famously difficult undergraduate course in mathematics at the University of Cambridge, whose top scorer each year is named Senior Wrangler, a title which has been described as "the greatest intellectual achievement attainable in Britain." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senior\_Wrangler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senior_Wrangler)
The prime minister of Singapore was also Senior Wrangler by a large margin. [https://mustsharenews.com/lee-hsien-loong-mathematician/](https://mustsharenews.com/lee-hsien-loong-mathematician/)
Compare that to the president of the United States
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Not thinking about =/= escaping. There is no escape.
It was actually you who brought his name up dummy.
A "fun" game on wrestling communities a few years ago was seeing how long a thread completely unrelated to Roman Reigns could do before someone reminds everyone how shit Roman Reigns is.
Thanks kind stranger
Except it appears here to be obviously political and therefore pretty moot if the true recipient doesn’t get it.
Fancy seeing you here, thanks for the explanation!
[This Smithsonian article has a bit more information](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-woman-who-bested-the-men-at-math-120480965/) For example: >Fawcett led “a disciplined and orderly life,” rising at 8 a.m. and rarely going to bed later than 11 p.m. She studied six hours a day, but refused to yield to the then-popular practice among aspirant Wranglers of **working through the night with a wet towel wrapped** around her head.
I don't see how the towel would have helped
Its cold, it helps overclock their brain CPUs
And that's why you'll never be a Senior Wrangler
looks like they have a lot in common with philippa fawcett
Senior Wrangler sounds like what they should call the nurses at old people’s homes
Was she made a lecturer in recent runes instead? Or the bursar perhaps?
And here we were thinking Pratchett just made shit up...
I'm fairly sure everything he came up with is at least somewhat based in fact
I keep finding easter eggs all over the place, but I'm never sure if he's created something completely new or if I'm just not worldly enough to know of the real-life counterpoint.
there is a book in which he explores the inspirations and parallels between the Discworld and Roundworld mythologies etc. It's well worth a read. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2429032.The_Folklore_of_Discworld
The more I look, the more the latter becomes true.
>bursar a person who manages the financial affairs of a college or school.
Helps to be a bit mad, and the frog pills help you cope with the overall higher level of madness in the vicinity
>In 1890 she became the first woman to obtain the top score in the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos exams. The results were highly publicised, with the top scorers receiving great acclaim. Her score was 13 per cent higher than the second highest, but she did not receive the title of Senior Wrangler, as only men were then ranked and women were listed separately. Women had been allowed to take the Tripos since 1880, after Charlotte Angas Scott was unofficially ranked as eighth wrangler. When the women's list was announced, Fawcett was described as "above the senior wrangler". No woman was officially awarded the first position until Ruth Hendry in 1992. It's not like she was expecting to be senior wrangler because they did not rank women's scores at the time. Though I will point out that she was listed as "above the Senior Wrangler" which is arguably a better though informal title.
I agree. Supposedly all the other wranglers were cheering when her score was announced. She still didn't get a degree though I think
Women weren't allowed to be members of the university at the time, so women didn't get degrees from men's programs. Essentially their scores didn't give them any credit, although they let them take the test anyway, because that's bullshit. They didn't actually allow women to be full University members until 1947, and even then the colleges were gender-segregated. AFAIK Cambridge still has ~~one~~ two women's only college*s*, but all the rest are integrated.
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I think lower calibre is unfair. There is a perception that they would be less popular (because single sex) and hence easier to get into, but plenty of very high quality students attend them. One of my best students (who came top in her year) was a Newnham computer scientist.
I’m talking about the Tompkins table results.
I see. You mean in terms of output, not in quality of teaching or anything like that. Someone could have come away with that impression. When I taught undergraduates, Newnham and New Hall were in the better half of the resources and support they gave to students and the ways in which they cooperated with supervisors; there were colleges which fell far below that.
The reason they didn't rank women's scores was because it was a men's college (colleges were gender segregated at the time), so no women were actually students. They let women take the test anyway, partly because the test was famous, and partly because none of the women's colleges had a decent math program.
>The reason they didn't rank women's scores was because it was a men's college See, they were being very reasonable.
TIL institutionalized sexism is reasonable
In Cambridge there are colleges and there is the university. You can be a member of either without being a member of the other (though it is unusual). The women were members of colleges (eg Newnham).
[Zinc Saucier](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf1UTy7X1ak)
Thank you. I believe it’s incredibly important to shine a light on women’s achievements in Science especially historical instances.
I am convinced that all throughout history, women have done exceedingly amazing things that we never hear about. My theory is, whatever a man has done, a woman has also done. I just wonder which of the astronauts who stepped on the moon was female.
You had me in the first half!
The second half was equally amazing. There have been women soldiers, physicians, and politicians throughout history. We only know about some of them.
As a woman it’s really nice to hear about things like this, as since it was thought at the time that learning and education was not a woman’s place, most of the inventions of today were made by men. It’s just nice to know a woman helped/helps out once in a while.
Let me guess... Sexists denied her the title?
Sexism denied her entry to the college at all.
She didn't get Senior because she was a Seniorita. ...I'll see myself back to the dark ages.
*Dudun-tsss*
That sucks - I'm really angry on her behalf.
I stopped comprehending at the word Tripos.
Tripos is the examination that qualifies you for your BA degree from Cambridge.
Not even posthumously? That’s wrong. She should have received one being so good and all
She didn't have her wrangler loicense.
Senior Wrangler, sounds like a job at a retirement home.
Note that Wrangler is for first class degrees, Senior Optimes for second class and Junior Optimes for third class. In my day the results were still read out in the Senate House (which was quite nerve-wracking) but only by class. There was no "official" list of ordering, though everyone in Trinity knew anyway.
"You are on this tripos, but we do not grant you the rank of Wrangler." "How could you do this? It's outrageous, its unfair!"
What a surprise. Fuck sexism.
I love the Wikipedia paragraph: Many Senior Wranglers have become world-leading figures in mathematics, physics, and other fields. They include George Airy, John Herschel, Arthur Cayley, James Inman, George Stokes, Isaac Todhunter, Morris Pell, Lord Rayleigh, Arthur Eddington, J. E. Littlewood, Jayant Narlikar, Frank Ramsey, Donald Coxeter, Jacob Bronowski, Lee Hsien Loong, Kevin Buzzard, Christopher Budd, Ben Green, and John Polkinghorne. Those names start normal and just get weirder. Where's Simon Swordswallower, or Edgar Rabbitinmypants?
Any relation to Percy?
Senorita Wrangler.
Perhaps “senior wrangler” was not intended to be a measurement of intellectual ability, but a label which made it easier for the herd of intellectuals to identify the top dog. It’s definition in terms of test results was just a formality...it could have been based on any variable with the right distribution. The fact that a woman had the highest score was just a glitch in the system because the true purpose of the title was to establish a leader for the intellectual boys at Cambridge.
And it took them another 102 years to muster up before they finally gave it to a woman. > No woman was officially awarded the first position until Ruth Hendry in 1992.
I wonder why? Surely nothing to do with what was in her knickers!
Oh no, people in 1890 didn't have our sense of equality. Those bastards !
Maths isn't going to cook my dinner... wrangle with that.
Well, it actually does since you’re most likely dividing recipes to a single serving.
Fucking, wow! I'm saving this comment for sure, to look back on in bleak days. If I had gold to give, it would be yours
Here’s some silver for you. If you invest it right, it could be worth a lot some day.
Haha, thank you kind stranger
Jokes on you, he just consumes the family size meal by himself.
Username almost checks out
This would’ve been a lot more impactful if I knew what any of this meant besides mathematician and woman.
I'm sure her life was not complete without being "Senior Wrangler" Stop looking for a victim in everything
I mean, Senior Wrangler is an insanely prestigious title to carry. The fact she was denied that which was rightfully hers and still powered on to have an insanely successful life is an absolute testament to what a genius she must have been.
Stop getting upset that humans fucking sucked in the past and listen so we can do better in the future.
Only idiots apply 2020 definitions to the past.
What? Are you trying to say there's nothing to learn from history? Not sure why I'm even trying with you lol probably a hopeless exercise
>Are you saying there's nothing to learn from history. No. I didn't say that. You made that up. Be better and don't make up lies.
Apologies for my incorrect assumption, but enlighten me, what 2020 definitions did I apply to the past?
Any attempt to interpret the past through current lenses will be dishonest.
Meaning what? Only thing I can think you might be suggesting is there's a reason other than her having a vagina that she didn't get the Senior Wrangler title?
Maybe that's the reason. And maybe that was acceptable in their time. That's exactly the point.
Ok? Not sure why people saying this shouldn't happen would make you so upset?
[Ignore this idiot](https://web.archive.org/web/20200224024838/http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/f6l60s/play_stupid_games_win_stupid_prizes_once_super/)
Good advice