Samuel Pepys

[ezapf]

Extension of previous thread. Now I know what category he belongs in and how to spell his name, but am I to understand that he is famous for his diary or for being the Chief Naval Administrator? Did his diary have a huge impact on understanding the history of his time?

[ezapf]

Oh, I'm sorry. I thought this is a website where people ask questions and other people answer them.

Apparently Samuel Pepys is not as big in the UK as I was beginning to think. If someone asked me about Benjamin Franklin or Henry Ford I could probably give some information without going to google.

[Hgrove]

I think he is mostly famous for his diaries, at least for ignoramuses like myself.

[Hgrove]

P.S. Above answer is meant to be facetious.

[emmalee]

Wasnt he something to do with the great fire of london?

[Peter Pedant]

 

well I think the correspondents on the arts & lit thread are just a better class of person and far less rude.

Yes, famous for writing the diary. The diary is an important source for history students, but is also a good read for the rest of us. I tried to get over some of the good things about it, that your Latin master must've liked, plus a bit of smut so that you might think to yourself, ooo I'll have to buy a second hand copy and browse it.

Isnt Pepys on the frontispiece of Newton's principia,or is that Halley?Newton let it be known that he could show how the planets orbits could be explained but didnt want to print because da daaa his latin was too bad and someone volunteered to put into Latin his English script.

[bernardo]

He is most famous now for his Diary 1660-69 which includes the Great Fire of London 1666 and the Plague 1665, but it was written in a secret shorthand code because he was afraid of being thought a political subversive.  It was not fully decoded until 1825.  In his own time he was a prominent public figure and administrator, but that is not how he is generally known now.  WVNBIVDB

[ezapf]

Understood, Allen. No offense taken. Its OK I've been yelled at on this site before. Sometimes it is fun. This was one of my serious questions, though, and I was expecting a serious response. I appologize for snapping back at you.You are certainly forgiven and hopefully I am too.