Problem: Zheng He (Chinese: Zheng He ; 1371-1433 or 1435) was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during China's early Ming dynasty. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family, later adopted the conferred surname Zheng from Emperor Yongle. Zheng commanded expeditionary voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, Western Asia, and East Africa from 1405 to 1433. His larger ships stretched 120 meters or more in length.

Zheng He's sailing charts, the Mao Kun map, were published in a book entitled the Wubei Zhi (A Treatise on Armament Technology) written in 1621 and published in 1628 but traced back to Zheng He's and earlier voyages. It was originally a strip map 20.5 cm by 560 cm that could be rolled up, but was divided into 40 pages which vary in scale from 7 miles/inch in the Nanjing area to 215 miles/inch in parts of the African coast. Investigation into folios 19V to 20R of the Mao Kun Map which covers the Indian Ocean including the South India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and East Africa suggests that it is a composite of four maps, one for Sri Lanka, one for South India one for the Maldives and one for around 400 km of the East African coast, no further south than 6 degrees south of the Equator. Each of these maps is positioned at a different orientation to fit with the ocean currents and winds required of a sailing chart, rather than a formal map. The analysis also suggests that Arabic-speaking pilots with a detailed knowledge of the African coast were involved in the cartography. There is little attempt to provide an accurate 2-D representation; instead the sailing instructions are given using a 24-point compass system with a Chinese symbol for each point, together with a sailing time or distance, which takes account of the local currents and winds. Sometimes depth soundings are also provided. It also shows bays, estuaries, capes and islands, ports and mountains along the coast, important landmarks such as pagodas and temples, and shoal rocks. Of 300 named places outside China, more than 80% can be confidently located. There are also fifty observations of stellar altitude.

What was his most important achievement with the sailing charts?

Answer with quotes: Each of these maps is positioned at a different orientation to fit with the ocean currents and winds required of a sailing chart, rather than a formal map.

Problem: James was born in Holton, Kansas; his mother, died in 1954 when he was five. His father was a janitor and a handyman. After four years at the University of Kansas residing at Stephenson Scholarship hall, James joined the Army in 1971. He was the last person in Kansas to be sent to fight in the Vietnam War, although he never saw action there.

An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis written in a lively, insightful, and witty style that offered an answer. Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James began self-publishing an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract beginning in 1977. The first edition, titled 1977 Baseball Abstract: Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News. Seventy-five people purchased the booklet. The 1978 edition, subtitled The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies. Beginning in 1979, James wrote an annual preview of the baseball season for Esquire, and continued to do so through 1984. The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions. While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day.

Were they popular?

Answer with quotes: While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience.

Problem: Graham Douglas McKenzie (born 24 June 1941) - commonly called Garth McKenzie after the comic strip hero - is an Australian cricketer who played for Western Australia (1960-74), Leicestershire (1969-75), Transvaal (1979-80) and Australia (1961-71) and was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1965. He succeeded Alan Davidson as Australia's premier fast bowler and was in turn succeeded by Dennis Lillee, playing with both at either end of his career. McKenzie was particularly noted for his muscular physique (hence his nickname) and ability to take wickets on good batting tracks. His father Eric McKenzie and uncle Douglas McKenzie played cricket for Western Australia and Garth was chosen for the Ashes tour of England in 1961 aged only 19.

McKenzie grew up in a sporting family. His father, Eric McKenzie, was an opening batsman who played once for Western Australia, against the touring South African cricket team in 1931-32. His uncle, Douglas McKenzie, was a batsman who represented Western Australia on several occasions, scoring 88 in his last game against Lindsay Hassett's Services team in 1945-46. Douglas went on to become President of the Western Australian Cricket Association. Both Douglas and Eric also represented Western Australia in field hockey. In his youth, McKenzie was an all rounder, batting right-handed and bowling off spin. Aged twelve, he gained selection for Western Australia in the 1953-54 under-14 interstate competition held at Adelaide, but the team withdrew after a polio epidemic in Western Australia. The next season, he captained the state when the competition was held in Perth, leading his team to the championship. McKenzie attended John Curtin High School, where he performed well with both bat and ball in the school's first XI. At sixteen he was made his first grade debut for Claremont-Cottesloe as a batsman, but after unproductive performances was dropped to the second XI. The following year in 1958-59, he continued in second grade and took up fast bowling, taking 50 wickets at an average of 14.50 after his team had a pace bowling shortage. He was recalled to the First XI in 1959-60. He finished the season with 515 runs at an average of 39.46 and 49 wickets at an average of 11.21. His efforts were rewarded in when the state selectors handed him a debut for the penultimate match of the Sheffield Shield season against Victoria in Melbourne. He went wicketless and scored 22 and 41. He took his first wickets in the final match against South Australia at Perth with 3/69. At season's end, his captain Ken Meuleman advised McKenzie to concentrate on his fast bowling.

Where did he go to school?

Answer with quotes:
He took his first wickets in the final match against South Australia at Perth with 3/69.