… (title: On the Statistical Analysis of Dirty Pictures), has died.
… Although [Julian] Besag was a leading figure in a notoriously complex field, he was himself highly averse to all forms of pomposity…
… Besag was a passionate man who was demanding of both colleagues and himself. He was a keen hockey player, devoted to Northop Hall hockey club, and once trialled for the Welsh national team. After moving to Seattle he loved to sail, voyaging single-handed through Puget Sound and beyond, even after kidney failure required him to undertake a punishing regime of self-dialysis…
September 9th, 2010 at 1:50PM
“Apart from the houseboat in which he lived, and his sailing boat moored alongside, he owned three other boats, including the one in his bath.” Brilliant!
September 9th, 2010 at 2:44PM
Jim: Yes – Why didn’t I put that in the post? It’s wonderful.
September 9th, 2010 at 6:25PM
“Although [Julian] Besag was a leading figure in a notoriously complex field, he was himself highly averse to all forms of pomposity”…not sure why working in a complex field would make one pompous, anyhow…my observation is that the pompous people are often those whose activities are actually pretty simple but don’t want to admit it..
September 10th, 2010 at 12:22PM
It’s disappointing to find out that “dirty pictures,” as best as I can tell, refers to unclear images. It could refer to photos rated G all the way to NC-17, but I think he only studied G.
http://webdocs.cs.ualberta.ca/~nray1/CMPUT617/Inference/Besag.pdf.