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The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted by Ian Rose 10:01, 17 February 2014 (UTC) [1].[reply]

Josiah Willard Gibbs

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Josiah Willard Gibbs (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs)

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Nominator(s): Eb.hoop (talk) 23:38, 25 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

This article is about the eminent US scientist J. Willard Gibbs. I originally nominated this for FA more than a year ago, after successfully promoting it to GA and putting it through a peer review. During that previous nomination, some copyediting issues were raised, which I think have largely been resolved. I think that the article achieves a good balance between readability and thoroughness in dealing with fairly technical subject. Eb.hoop (talk) 23:38, 25 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Image review

  • File:JWgibbs-signature.jpg: the two tags here are contradictory - either it's eligible for copyright or it isn't, it can't be both (as source and host country are both US)
I took out the tag claiming non-eligibility, which in any case wasn't needed. Eb.hoop (talk) 01:09, 28 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • File:Maxwell's_letters_plate_IV.jpg: source link isn't working
I'm not sure what to do about that. Eb.hoop (talk) 01:09, 28 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
There is a paywalled version of the letters and papers at [2]. Another out of copyright collection of Maxwells letters and papers can be found at archive.org [3] the same illustration might be there?--Salix alba (talk): 00:51, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Do we need a link? The image is a scan of a plate in the edition of Maxwell's letters and papers linked to above. The Wikicommons description gives this reference. For now I've just taken out the dead link. Eb.hoop (talk) 02:50, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • File:SloaneLab.jpg: when/where was this first published? If the author is unknown, how do we know they died more than 70 years ago?
The page does give a publication, without copyright notice, before 1977. I took out the PD-old tag. Eb.hoop (talk) 01:09, 28 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Again, unsure what to do about the dead link. I think that the two tags are meant to refer, respectively, to the photograph and the underlying bronze tablet, but I don't know how to spell this out. Eb.hoop (talk) 01:09, 28 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I found a live link to the same image file, which I've now substituted for the dead one. Eb.hoop (talk) 02:56, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Support. I continue to support this nomination. This is a biographical article on an important scientist, which is both readable and comprehensive. When the article was first nominated in late 2012, a few minor defects were raised but these have now been addressed. I think it is time to feature the article and help to make J. Willard Gibbs better known among the general public. Dirac66 (talk) 01:26, 13 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Support excellent work and sorry to be so slow to the table. A few comments, and these are mostly suggestions

Early years
  • "(In later years, he used glasses only for reading or other close work.[11])" I think this is far enough afield that it should probably be a footnote. Alternatively, you could add it to the next sentence, preceded by "though".
Done (I took your second suggestion). - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • "This was also the fifth Ph.D." I'd toss an "only" after "also".
Done. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • I don't think Natural Philosophy should be capped.
Done (I put it in quotes instead). - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • "dictated by such" dictated is an odd term for a lecture. Given?
Done. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • "in the Riviera" possibly "on the Riviera"
Done. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Middle etc
  • "at the age of 48, precluded further collaboration between him and Gibbs." this seems rather obvious. Perhaps "at the age of 48, ended the budding collaboration between him and Gibbs."
Done (I rewrote the sentence slightly). - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • "to systems composed of more than one kind of matter" Maybe "to systems containing matter in multiple states"? (if accurate and the source will justify)
I think it's fine as it is. The heterogeneous systems he considers can be composed of different substances, each possibly in different states (for instance, salt plus water as both liquid and ice). - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • Was there any dispute over credit between him and Heaviside?
No. Gibbs was not one to fight for credit, while Heaviside was an academic outsider. They were in friendly terms. Gibbs's only public controversy was with Tait and others who thought it sacrilegious to question Hamilton's quaternions. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Later etc
  • Gibbs died in New Haven, aged 64," I think you need to toss in the date of death. Were any tributes paid to him that are worth mentioning, either from those within or without New Haven? Or the funeral/burial site? The death just seems abrupt and I think a bit more could be said.
Done. I added the date, plus details of the funeral and the memorial at Yale. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not pretending to critique the science, I am not a physicist, although I can follow it a bit as a math major (in my time, somewhat before Leibniz)
Statistical etc.
  • " than what Maxwell and Boltzmann had achieved before him." I'd strike the word "what"
Done. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Vector etc.
  • "Hamilton's quaternions" I think it's worth a fresh link to "quaternion", it's been a long time since you mentioned it.
Done. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Physical optics
  • " luminiferous aether" "Aether" I believe to be a more British spelling, consider "ether".
Done. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • "Shortly afterwards, the electromagnetic nature of light was conclusively demonstrated by the experiments of Heinrich Hertz in Germany." Presumably this can be easily sourced.
Done. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • "members of the university" I've encountered that term most often with reference to British universities. It may need explanation. And is it accurate? Was Yale deemed a university at that moment? (picky, picky)
Done. You're right that at the time Yale was still only a "college". I changed it to "Yale faculty members". - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • " Gibbs's graphical formulation of the laws of thermodynamics only came into widespread use in the mid 20th century, thanks to the work of László Tisza and Herbert Callen" this is slightly ambiguous, it could be read to say that Tisza and Callen were responsible for the use, or that they were responsible for the delay.
Done. (They were responsible for the use, not the delay.) - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Scientific etc.
  • "granted honorary doctorates" awarded honorary doctorates, I think
Done. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • "remained at Yale" perhaps "remained in New Haven" to make it clear what is meant is his physical location, not his job.
Done. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • I suppose I cannot object to it taking second billing to Einstein, but I think that the fact that Gibbs's work survived quantum mechanics virtually unscathed should be more prominently featured in this section.
Done. I moved the Wightman quote up, before Einstein's assessment. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • "Gibbs was also the mentor of Lee De Forest, who went on to invent to the triode amplifier " There goes the perfect game! A surplus "to" prior to "the". I would delete "also", but that's purely stylistic.
Done. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • The material about Wheeler should be sourced. If an entire FA (as this will no doubt be once the formalities are completed) is sourced, it's easy to object when unsourced crap is added.
Done. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • I would relink Fisher, it's been a very long time and not everyone reads the whole article.
Done. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • "For his part, mathematician Norbert Wiener" I would strike the first three words, they add nothing to the reader's understanding.
Done. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Commemoration
  • "In 1910, the American Chemical Society established the Willard Gibbs Medal, through the initiative of William A. Converse, a former chairman and secretary of the Chicago Section." Rather than devote that space to the obscure Mr. Converse, perhaps use the same space to say what the medal is for. Yes, you have a link, but the reader can use the same link to find out about Mr. Converse, and I think it more likely that the reader, seeing the name of the medal, would want to know what it is for, rather than about Mr. Converse.
Done. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • " the Josiah Willard Gibbs Lectureship in 1923 to increase public awareness of mathematics and its applications." Similar objection. Presumably that society is trying to increase public awareness in many ways, perhaps be a little more down to earth about what it is/does.
Done. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • " (Onsager, like Gibbs, worked primarily on the application of new mathematical ideas to problems in physical chemistry.)" I don't think the parentheses are needed, the sentence can stand on its own.
Done. I also reorganized this slightly. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • "has a J. Willard Gibbs Professorship of Thermomechanics, presently held by Bernard D. Coleman" I think you should say "held as of 2014" and update the "retrieved on" date of the source. This is not prominent enough to have the electronic masses rush to change it when the incumbent leaves the post.
Done. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • "located near the eastern limb of the Moon," I've never heard a location on the Moon described in this way. Please double-check use of terminology (limb?)
It's fine, I think, and consistent with the usage in Gibbs (crater). Because of tidal locking, we see essentially the same moon face at all times. The limb is the edge of that face and "eastern" tells you which way to go (with respect to the moon). I added a link for the use of the term "limb". - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • "E.A. Guggenheim" presumably the Edward A. Guggenheim previously referred to? I'd call him "Edward Guggenheim" to avoid stirring dark doubts about identity in the reader's mind.
Done. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • " William Giauque et al. suggested using" to avoid the Latin, suggest "William Giauque and others suggested in a paper that the term "gibbs" should be adopted …" or similar
Done. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • The image of the Gibbs Labs is pushing the next section heading to the right on my browser. Suggest the image be moved up one paragraph.
Done. I also reduced the sizes of the images in that section slightly. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • Just as a note, on the Gibbs stamp, there may have been a first day of issue ceremony, either in New Haven or elsewhere, and New Haven may have been one of the designated first day of issue. You might find something useful in that direction.
Done. I added some details on the first day ceremony. - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

No action required, as there is on none of this (other than the sourcing and the typo), I'm very impressed with the quality of this article. Good luck.--Wehwalt (talk) 13:26, 23 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Many thanks for your input and support! - Eb.hoop (talk) 11:01, 24 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Support. I supported this article at the previous FAC. The small changes made since have strengthened an already excellent article. Aa77zz (talk) 11:26, 29 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Source review: I checked sources #1 (aps.org), #7 (st. andrew's), #46 (yale alumni), and #115 (iowa state) for copyright issues. All came back clean, and the quotes noted are in the reference (7) provided. Reliability appears okay as well. As for formatting, I found two minor issues. Refs 105 and 110 are simply Rukeyser 1988 and Wheeler 1998, respectively, without page numbers. Since you do use page numbers for those sources elsewhere, this should be rectified. Wizardman 14:38, 8 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the feedback. The reason why Refs. 105 and 110 had no page numbers is that they were only intended to document that the respective biographies had been written by the author and on the date indicated in the article. This same issue was raised in the previous FA review, but then dropped after I explained why no page numbers were given. Nonetheless, I have now edited both references to try to improve things a bit. For Rukeyser, I have instead given a reference to a chapter in a recent academic study that discusses her biographical work, including the poem and book on Gibbs. For Wheeler, I have indicated the page numbers corresponding to the preface, where he explains the circumstances in which his bio. of Gibbs was written. - Eb.hoop (talk) 00:48, 10 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.
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