Decades in the Making: How Stephen Robertson Spent 18 Years Perfecting BM25
People that worked on the same idea for decades
This collection highlights individuals who pursued the same core idea for decades before achieving their magnum opus. One example is Stephen Robertson, whose 1976 probabilistic relevance theory evolved through multiple papers into BM25, the search algorithm still used by Lucene and Elasticsearch. Another is Katsushika Hokusai, who refined his wave imagery for 40 years, culminating in The Great Wave off Kanagawa. The post reflects on the patience and persistence behind breakthrough work.
At 100, I may reach a level of divine understanding, and if I live decades beyond that, everything I paint — dot and line — will be alive.
- srl
"Few paintings have lasted the test of time as the great wave of Kanagawa. It took Kanagawa 40 years before he drew the wave he is most known for."
The painting is by Hokusai. Kanagawa is a place.
- techteach00
Ted Nelson!
- giraffe_lady
A couple software examples off the top of my head are Richard Hipp with SQLite and Matthew Ahrens with ZFS. Both almost incomprehensibly sophisticated projects executed well over decades.
Neither are anything like a solo effort in the way these examples are, and it's hard to say what they'd be like without the long individual involvement.