In 1959, a young meteorologist named Edward Lorenz set out to build himself a world. Naturally, the project entailed a few compromises:

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For a brief time in January of 2007, after saving a fellow passenger from an oncoming subway train, Wesley Autrey, a New York City construction worker, was a national hero. "I had to make a split decision," he told The New York Times the next day. "I just saw someone who needed help. I did what I felt was right."