… for a list of things. It’s a natural way to try and get your mind around a given topic–if I can give you a list of items in that category, you’ll get a sense of how that category of thing is defined (or at least how it looks). People often do this when it’s hard to define something precisely. The difference between a vegetable and a fruit is tricky, but if I tell you that apples, strawberries, bananas, and grapes are all fruits while potatoes, carrots, corn, and peas are all vegetables, you’ll start to get the idea. This doesn’t give you a technical definition (difficult question: is a cucumber a fruit or a vegetable?), but it gives you a working intuition.

This came up for me a few weeks ago when I went to see an art exhibition of the Pre-Raphaelites. I love their artwork, and while I knew a few of the artists (Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, and John William Waterhouse, I couldn’t name any others, although I know I’d recognize their names). Who are these folks?? Here’s the kind of thing I wanted to get from a search:

This week’s Challenge is to figure out the best way to search on Google for a set of things that share a common property. That is, to find a way to create this image above. The Challenge:

1. Can you find a way to find a set of each of the following:

a. Pre-Raphaelite artists

b. fictional works written in the Regency era

c. clans in Scotland

d. trees that are evergreen throughout the year

e. Canadian Prime Ministers

Once you figure out how to do this, you’ll be able to this, and much more!

As always, be sure to tell us how you do it.

AND… if you find a particularly interesting set of things, be sure to leave a comment telling us about the great set you found (and what it is!).

Search on!