Hackers' Pub

Syntax	Description	Examples
`"` keyword `"`	Finds the string within quotes, including spaces. Case-insensitive. (Escape quotes inside with `\"`)	`"Hackers' Pub"`
`from:` handle	Finds content written by the specified user.	`from:hongminhee` `from:hongminhee@hollo.social`
`lang:` ISO 639-1	Finds content written in the specified language.	`lang:en`
`#` tag	Finds content with the specified tag. Case-insensitive.	`#HackersPub`
condition condition	Finds content that satisfies both conditions on either side of the space (logical AND).	`"Hackers' Pub" lang:en`
condition `OR` condition	Finds content that satisfies at least one of the conditions on either side of the OR operator (logical OR).	`#HackersPub OR "Hackers' Pub" lang:en`
`(` condition `)`	Combines the operators within the parentheses first.	`(#HackersPub OR "Hackers' Pub" OR "Hackers Pub") lang:en`

Chris Siebenmann @cks@mastodon.social

1/31/2026, 1:01:04 AM

Public

I commend to your attention Fara Dabhoiwala's "A Man of Parts and Learning: Francis Williams Gets His Due", which is about the black Jamaican 18th century polymath and also about how and why you've probably never heard of him (spoiler: virulent racism), and also the gripping detective work involved in figuring out his true story. Recommended.

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n22/fara-dabhoiwala/a-man-of-parts-and-learning
and then you can look at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Williams_(polymath)

Fara Dabhoiwala · A Man of Parts and Learning: Francis Williams Gets His Due

The only certainty about the picture is that it shows Francis Williams. No one has ever been able to discover who...

www.lrb.co.uk · London Review of Books

If you have a fediverse account, you can quote this note from your own instance. Search https://mastodon.social/users/cks/statuses/115987006376729932 on your instance and quote it. (Note that quoting is not supported in Mastodon.)