ENGINEER

William Playfair

1759 - 1823

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William Playfair (22 September 1759 – 11 February 1823) was a Scottish engineer and political economist. The founder of graphical methods of statistics, Playfair invented several types of diagrams: in 1786 he introduced the line, area and bar chart of economic data, and in 1801 he published what were likely the first pie chart and circle graph, used to show part-whole relations. Playfair has been reported to have been a secret agent for the British Government, although this is a subject of controversy. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. William Playfair is the 206th most popular engineer (down from 150th in 2019), the 2,831st most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 1,884th in 2019) and the 22nd most popular British Engineer.

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Among ENGINEERS

Among engineers, William Playfair ranks 206 out of 389. Before him are Vasily Mishin, Adolphe Alphand, Eugene Stoner, Arthur Morin, Evgeny Paton, and Franz Grashof. After him are Emily Warren Roebling, Alexander Kemurdzhian, Michele Besso, Robert Maillart, Émile Levassor, and Vladimir Petlyakov.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1759, William Playfair ranks 30. Before him are Johann Christian Reil, Matsudaira Sadanobu, Franz Krommer, Johann Christoph Friedrich GutsMuths, Ferenc Kazinczy, and Franz de Paula Adam von Waldstein. After him are Carl Johan Adlercreutz, Maximilian von Montgelas, Jakob II Bernoulli, Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles, Josepha Weber, and Louis Augustin Guillaume Bosc. Among people deceased in 1823, William Playfair ranks 24. Before him are Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski, Wilhelm, Duke of Oldenburg, Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, Iosif Igelström, Franz de Paula Adam von Waldstein, and Zacharias Werner. After him are Princess Caroline of Nassau-Usingen, Henry Raeburn, Antonio Nariño, Grace Elliott, Luis María de Borbón y Vallabriga, and Aaron Arrowsmith.

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, William Playfair ranks 2,832 out of 8,785. Before him are Cyril Jackson (1903), Robert Holdstock (1948), Paul Kennedy (1945), William Ernest Henley (1849), Harry Andrews (1911), and John Osborne (1929). After him are Leo Genn (1905), Andrew Birkin (1945), Chiwetel Ejiofor (1977), William Gregor (1761), Peter Thompson (1942), and Richard Bremmer (1953).

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Among ENGINEERS In United Kingdom

Among engineers born in United Kingdom, William Playfair ranks 22. Before him are W. Ross Ashby (1903), John Loudon McAdam (1756), John Scott Russell (1808), John Bagot Glubb (1897), John Hughes (1814), and John Smeaton (1724). After him are André Waterkeyn (1917), Harvey Postlethwaite (1944), James B. Francis (1815), Frederick W. Lanchester (1868), William Froude (1810), and Joseph Bazalgette (1819).

British born Engineers

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