Talk:Thomas J. Osler

Contested deletion
This article should not be speedily deleted for lack of asserted importance because... Tom Osler authored seminal work in two fields, running (The Conditioning of Distance Runners has been published in numerous languages and continues to be republished 50 years later) and mathematics (he wrote 16 seminal papers in Fractional Derivatives which now is a subject which has its own international conferences.

I shall be further citing these accomplishments which are well-documents as soon as I figure out how to cite specific journal articles.--Skymath1 (talk) 08:27, 23 November 2020 (UTC)

I believe the article is sufficiently cited and referenced that the templates referring to those needed fixes may be removed.Skymath1 (talk) 22:18, 23 November 2020 (UTC)

regarding "neutrality disputed" tag, plus suggested additions to content
The claim that The Conditioning of Distance Runners has influenced generations of runners is based on the fact that the booklet was published originally in 1967 by Osler, was reprinted by Runner's World magazine in 1984-85, and was recently (2019) reprinted by none other than Amby Burfoot. It was also recently translated and printed in Japanese within the past year or two. I think a 50-year-old pamphlet being reprinted in a new translation, as well as being promoted by Amby Burfoot over 50 years after its release, justifies the statement. The Conditioning of Distance Runners is often referred to by runners who know better as a "classic".

An aside, some things to be added to the page: Tom was known in the running world as "Turtle" or "Tommy the Turtle", a name given to him by the great Browning Ross.

He is featured in Joe Henderson's recent book Pacesetters: Runners Who Informed Me Best and Inspired Me Most (p184)

He is one of the six runners featured in Joe Henderson's book Long Slow Distance: The humane way to train.

Skymath1 (talk) 20:08, 24 November 2020 (UTC)
 * This sort of evaluation needs explicit sources, independent of the subject, saying that it was classic or influential. The reasoning you are describing would be considered original research by synthesis. —David Eppstein (talk) 21:00, 24 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Skymath1, I don't doubt the claim, but as David Eppstein says, it's not appropriate to say it in wikipedia's voice. (It fails WP:NPOV, as well as WP:OR, etc.)  If you can find an independent source saying something similar, then it might be appropriate to quote them.   is it ok if I remove the cn tag on his three books?  They're listed slightly further down in the article (with isbn #'s + publication info), which I think is fine for verifiability; I don't think it adds much to also list the in the references.  But maybe I'm missing something? Russ Woodroofe (talk) 22:23, 24 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Maybe reword it to "his books include" rather than explicitly saying three books? We don't have a source saying those are his only books. —David Eppstein (talk) 22:35, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

He has also recently self-published two mathematical textbooks and is planning to publish his entire race log (2705 races spanning 1954-2017). Skymath1 (talk) 02:27, 25 November 2020 (UTC)

Amby Burfoot (1968 Boston Marathon champion and long-time running journalist refers to 'the conditioning of distance runners' as a 'classic' in his foreword to the 2019 edition. I'm not 100% this link will work but you can find it in the 'free preview' of the ebook version on Amazon: https://read.amazon.com/litb/B081VVLS6H?f=1&l=en_US&r=bdf9ce18&ref_=litb_m I have a physical copy of the edition Burfoot put out, so I can provide a reference with the actual page number if that helps. Skymath1 (talk) 02:35, 25 November 2020 (UTC)

Also, thank you both for the guidance and work on this page. Skymath1 (talk) 02:36, 25 November 2020 (UTC)
 * My general attitude towards self-published books is to only mention them if I can find published reviews of them. —David Eppstein (talk) 07:09, 25 November 2020 (UTC)

Picture?


perhaps you have a photograph of Osler that you have copyright to, or know someone who does? (Generally, the person who took the photo has the copyright.) That's one of the few things that an editor with COI is encouraged to add to the article! You'd upload at commons.wikimedia.org, note that freely licensing is required. Russ Woodroofe (talk) 23:30, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

I'm so glad you mentioned that, because I was going to ask that very question. I can provide several great pictures of Tom and would be delighted to do so. Skymath1 (talk) 02:24, 25 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Here are some pictures of Tom from a race he won in 1975, the Annual Fort Meade, Maryland 50 Mile Track Race. He set a new meet record of 5 hours, 47 minutes, 14 seconds, beating the previous meet record from 1973 by nearly two hours (as reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer, August 10 or 11, 1975)
 * I have lots more but I think these are nice for a start.Skymath1 (talk) 00:52, 29 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Cool! I added the 2nd one to the article under the Running section.  (It's a nice action shot, but you also get a clear view of his face.)  It'd be good to have a photo also at the top.  The 3rd one isn't completely unsuitable for that purpose, but perhaps it'd be good to have a non-running shot (to keep the math side of the article in balance with the running side)?  Btw, I did see the request on the product formula.  I'll try to look at it and figure out what is due over the next day or two, if I can find the source and someone else doesn't beat me to it. Russ Woodroofe (talk) 02:22, 29 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Great choice on the photo---thank you! As for a photo for the top, I was thinking I could take one of him so it'd be current.  Also, regarding the Osler project, the reason I thought it was worth mention is because the book which I referenced was published less than two years after his discovery, which is remarkably fast to have novel research appear in a textbook.  The two formulae he united were both over 350 years old; it was remarkable for someone to discover such a fact about such old mathematics, that no one had discovered previously.  As a side note, at least two of Osler's papers are references for the Viete formula page, but his product is not mentioned there. I requested it be added (similar language to what I wrote here) to that page, and the Wallis product page similarly.  Thank you again for your help! Skymath1 (talk) 04:03, 29 November 2020 (UTC)


 * , here is a nice photo of Tom at the whiteboard in his home office, where he is currently teaching remotely due to the pandemic, taken today. I took the photo; if you have suggestions for a different style, etc, let me know what you think would be best.  Thank you again for your help! Tom Osler at whiteboard 20201206.pngth1 (talk) 23:26, 6 December 2020 (UTC)


 * Looks goood! I added to the article, in a basic infobox.  Russ Woodroofe (talk) 07:22, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

correction request
The original publication of the conditioning of distance runners was published under the imprimatur "A Long Distance Log Publication", so strictly speaking it is not correct to call it "self-published"; it was published by Osler's good friend Browning Ross, publisher of the Long Distance Log.

The 2019 reprint organized by Amby Burfoot was printed by Y42K Publishing Services, but retains the phrase "A Long Distance Log Publication" (presumably for historical purposes). It was not published by the long-defunct Long Distance Log. Skymath1 (talk) 15:02, 25 November 2020 (UTC)
 * I made the Y42K update, and also added a Google books link. I hear what you're saying on self-published, and it might be reasonable to list the publisher as Long Distance Log.  The line between that and self-published is thin, and I've left it be for the moment in case David Eppstein feels strongly about it.  Anyway, the more important thing than where it was published is that the booklet has had impact, as visible from reprints, discussion in runner magazines and other venues, etc. Russ Woodroofe (talk) 15:21, 25 November 2020 (UTC)
 * It was listed as "n.p." (no publisher) in the only secondary source I have for the original publication. —David Eppstein (talk) 17:36, 25 November 2020 (UTC)
 * The Marathon & Beyond source credits it as Long Distance Log, as do sources like the Running Encyclopedia. That seems like enough to put it in, at least provisionally. Russ Woodroofe (talk) 19:52, 25 November 2020 (UTC)

Thanks for the update guys! Skymath1 (talk) 05:24, 27 November 2020 (UTC)

request for addition regarding "Osler Product"
Here is a suggested addition to the content in the mathematics section, with reference:

In 1999, Osler discovered that Viète's formula (1593) and the Wallis product (1656) are two special cases of a more general infinite product, which has been referred to as the Osler product by Arndt and Haenel, according to whom: "The Osler product [which takes a parameter $$p$$] turns into the Viète product as $$p$$ tends to infinity, and is equal to the Wallis product when $$p = 0$$. In the intermediate cases $$p = 1$$, $$p = 2$$, etc., we obtain combined Viète- and Wallis-like products" Will an appropriate editor please make this addition? I have a COI. Thank you! Skymath1 (talk) 03:57, 28 November 2020 (UTC)


 * The 1999 paper is reasonably highly-cited, and the textbook coverage is a reliable independent source. I added a mention in brief, along with some slight reorganization of the article to better fit. Russ Woodroofe (talk) 21:30, 29 November 2020 (UTC)