Miscellaneous stuff about P.B. Stark
ultras | espresso | wheels | Erdös | Newton | schooling | Vicarism
I'm an ultrarunner. Here are some ultramarathons I've run:
| Event | Distance | Year | State | Climb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angel Island 50k | 50 km | 2005 | CA | 4,200' |
| Backward Western States | 100+ mi | 2004 | CA | 21,970' |
| Backyard Hundred | 100 mi | 2006 | CA | ~20,000' |
| The Bear | 100.33 mi | 2004 | ID | 21,061' |
| Bighorn Mountain Wild & Scenic | 103.6 mi | 2005 | WY | 18,308' |
| Cascade Crest Classic | 100 mi | 2005 | WA | 20,470' |
| Coyote 2 Moons | 100 mi | 2008 | CA | 28,102' |
| Dick Collins Firetrails 50 | 50 mi | 2006, 2007 | CA | 7,800' |
| Miwok 100k | 100 km | 2004, 2005 | CA | ~10,000' |
| Mt. Diablo Trail Run | 50 km | 2004 | CA | 8,200' |
| Octo-Dipsea | 56 mi | 2004 | CA | 18,552' |
| Ohlone Double | 100 km | 2008 | CA | 15,600' |
| Rocky Raccoon | 50 mi | 2004 | TX | |
| San Diego 100 | 100 mi | 2004 | CA | |
| San Diego 50 | 50 mi | 2003 | CA | |
| Seacliff Beach Trail Run | 50 km | 2003 | CA | 3,710' |
| Skyline 50k | 50 km | 2003, 2006 | CA | 4,750' |
| Wildcat to Diablo | 50 mi | 2006, 2008 | CA | ~9,000' |
See Stan Jensen's run100s.com or zombierunner.com for more about ultrarunning.
I'm serious about espresso:
I roast my own beans using a Hearthware iRoast 2. I grind using a Mazzer Mini Electronic B. I pull shots on a La Pavoni Professional, which is a larger model of the canonical coffee maker of algebraic geometers worldwide. I use a Reg Barber tamper and a naked portafilter.
My favorite wheels:
I drive a Vespa GTS 250ie and a Colnago C40 Carbon, full Campagnolo Record 10-speed, Ultra Torque carbon cranks, Easton EC90 bars.
My Erdös Number is 3:
(Erdös -> Felzenbaum -> Hochberg -> Stark)
(Erdös -> Diaconis -> Freedman -> Stark)
(Erdös -> Diaconis -> Evans -> Stark)
(Erdös -> Tovey -> Donoho -> Stark)
In December 2006, there were about 33,605 people with Erdös number 3. I believe that my Erdös number of the second kind is also 3; in December 2006, there were about 10,118 people with an Erdös number of the second kind equal to 3.
I'm an academic descendent of Sir Isaac Newton ;-)
| Sir Isaac Newton | 1642-1727 |
| Roger Cotes | 1682-1716 |
| Robert Smith | 1689-1768 |
| Antony Shepherd | 1721-1796 |
| Samuel Vince | 1749-1821 |
| Robert Woodhouse | 1773-1827 |
| George Peacock | 1791-1858 |
| Agustus De Morgan | 1806-1871 |
| E.J. Routh | 1831-1907 |
| Lord Rayleigh | 1842-1919 |
| J.J. Thomson | 1856-1940 |
| Lord Rutherford | 1871-1937 |
| Sir Edward Bullard | 1907-1980 |
| Robert L. Parker | 1942- |
| Philip B. Stark | 1960- |
(Devised by Duncan Agnew.)
Schooling
My education is a little unusual for a professor of Statistics. I dropped out of high school to go to MIT, where I intended to major in Physics and Philosophy. After a year, I transferred to Princeton University, where I majored in Philosophy. I spent a semester in Oxford as a junior. From Princeton I went to law school at the University of Texas at Austin. I dropped out after six weeks, and worked in management for an industrial marketing company. After a year, I switched to part-time consulting and took undergraduate courses at UT in Biology, Chemistry, Geology and Physics, then started graduate work in Geophysics. I transferred from UT to University of California, San Diego (Scripps Institution of Oceanography), where—while self-employed as a car mechanic— I finished my Ph.D. and started postdoctoral work in Geophysics. I came to UC Berkeley as a postdoc in Statistics, which was my first formal exposure to Probability and Statistics. I was hired as Assistant Professor of Statistics in 1988 after a year as a postdoc.
My moral system
I am the founder of Vicarism.
Last modified 24 May 2008. www.stat.berkeley.edu/~stark/other.htm