[retendo]

It's still the most unbelievably ironic name for a pioneer/inventor.

[mhh__]

There's a computer architect with the surname Lowe-Power https://cs.ucdavis.edu/directory/jason-lowe-power

[igleria]

I fondly remember reading a book for computer architecture from an author called "Linda Null"

[vanderZwan]

There is also the Japanese computer scientist named Eiichi Goto. Among other things he invented the parametron, which tops my list of coolest logic circuit names and which may or may not eventally make a comeback in reversible quantum computing.

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiichi_Goto

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parametron

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkQySlx4OLc

[pphysch]

On the contrary, innovation is often about being great at doing things "good enough" so that you can rapidly advance to the frontiers. Innovators must be pragmatic, and so they leave perfectionists in the dust.

[xeonmc]

Perhaps he meant to write "iconic" but misspelled, there's even a song in his name featured in Back To The Future.

[sclarisse]

I see your John Goodenough, and I raise you the Outerbridge Crossing. At the southern edge of New York City, way down near the bottom of Staten Island, it’s named after the first chairman of the Port Authority: Mr. Eugenius Harvey Outerbridge.

[SeanLuke]

In Italy they still fondly remember a TV host whose (real, not stage) name was Mike Bongiorno. Buon giorno ("good day") is a standard salutation like good morning. He was Mike. an utterly US name, because he was born in New York.

[vanderZwan]

Is Bongiorno a common last name in Italy, or is it also a product of his ancestors migrating to the US?

How last names can change is fascinating to me. I have cousins who would have had the same last name as my (Chinese) grandfather, except for the fact that that my grandfather emigrated from Indonesia to the Netherlands before it became independent, and their branch of the family did so afterwards. Meaning Indonesia forced them to change their last names.

[hn_throwaway_99]

Random, does anyone know how this name is actually pronounced (or, rather, how he pronounced it)? I think it would be awesome if it were actually "good enough".

Did some searching online but all the results seemed of dubious quality.

[nerdenough]

Have the same last name, just pronounced "good enough" as it looks. Have met a few other unrelated families from different countries with the same last name and never heard it pronounced differently either - perhaps historically though.

[nickzelei]

I was wondering if it might be pronounced “good-in-ow”.

[RulerOf]

As I've seen and heard it, it's pronounced "Goodnow"

[elif]

I think it's apropos considering the absolute longevity of lithium ion batteries across industries despite research labs producing significantly better prototypes for decades.

[jliptzin]

I am surprised no politician (that I am aware of) has legally changed their name to Lower Taxes before running for election, seems like they’d be a shoe-in with little effort.

[CamperBob2]

Just so: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_Looper

[dharmab]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Mover

[nathell]

Kinda related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Marsh_(boxer)

[hoc]

When I first read "John Goodenough has died" (which was an actual headline here) I thought of "just another" overdone headline for excellence coaching or motivational GTD training...

Still sad that it wasn't about that.

[CrampusDestrus]

If many surnames came from people's professions, does that mean that one of his ancestors was simply considered to be... good enough?

[rcxdude]

That is actually the most likely explaination for the origins of the name (basically as a nickname)

[unixhero]

Or the international relations (peace/war studies) scholar Anne Marie Slaughter