Notable Nobs Not Unpleasant To Know: Letter G

In his nonsense verse “How pleasant to know Mr. Lear,” the popularizer of the limerick makes amusing observations about himself. Below readers are urged to discover some equally intriguing characters who, it’s hoped, will prove as well “not unpleasant to know.”

      Not un-
pleasant to know? Goldberg (Rube),
     engi-
neer of machines convuluted. 
     Were I
told, "Reuben Goldberg's a boob," 
     I'd o-
pine: "Your opinion's disputed! 
     Rube once
drew a fallopian tube 
     of which
parts were so mega-permuted 
     that this
till-then-unknown draughtsman Rube
     coo'd, "This
cool gizmo/tool should be bruited.'"

     Not un-
pleasant to know? Mr. Gilbert.* 
     "Go here, 
Schwenck," would cry Ma: "Go there, Bab,"**
     would cry
Pa, in his strident and shrill blurt,
     plunging 
Will into moods olive drab. 
     Still, he'd
strip and slip into his frill shirt, 
     then de-
part in a Joe Hansom cab*** --
    would the
pleasant-to-know William Gilbert --
     so's to
take at "Mikado" a stab.
     * William Schwenck Gilbert 
     ** A pseudonym used by Gilbert
     *** A horse-drawn carriage designed by Joseph Hansom

     Not un-
pleasant to know? Mr Gödel,*
     who, an
Austrian, shunned the uncouth. 
     Kurt set 
mathematicians a hurdle
     with twin 
the'rems the'rized in his youth. 
     Sense will 
win -- or perhaps the absurd'll -- 
     as I 
work through Kurt's thought nail 'n' tooth:
    can I 
prove not-unpleasant Kurt Gödel's
     "Prov'a
-bility's weaker than truth"?
     * Kurt Godel  

     Not un-
-pleasant to know: Mr. Geisel.*
     Thanks to 
Ted one gains Solla Sollew 
     without 
risk of revenge or reprisal.
     (He keeps
fish as well: One's red; Two's blue.) 
     On oc-
casions, he'd ink in disguise; I'll
     cite you
two: as LeSeig; as Doc Seuss** --
     noms de 
plumes plied by pleasant Ted Geisel.
     As he 
died, he cried, "'Seuss' rhymes with 'voice'!" *** 
     * Theodore Geisel aka Dr. Seuss aka Theo LeSeig aka Rosetta Stone 
     ** Rhymes with (Rolls) 'Royce' and (Hobson's) 'Choice' -- this according to the man himself.
     *** We've found no record of the man crying, “Seuss rhymes with ‘juice.’ Believe me: we’ve searched.