Jump to content

Talk:Hans Bethe/GA1

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

GA Review

[edit]

Article (edit | visual edit | history) · Article talk (edit | history) · Watch

Reviewer: Jamesx12345 (talk · contribs) 15:27, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I am happy to undertake to review this article over the coming days. Jamesx1 2345 15:27, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Don't take my comments too seriously. They're mostly pedantry and personal preferences.

GA review (see here for what the criteria are, and here for what they are not)
  1. It is reasonably well written.
    a (prose): b (MoS for lead, layout, word choice, fiction, and lists):
  2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.
    a (reference section): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR):
  3. It is broad in its coverage.
    a (major aspects): b (focused):
  4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.
    Fair representation without bias:
  5. It is stable.
    No edit wars, etc.:
  6. It is illustrated by images and other media, where possible and appropriate.
    a (images are tagged and non-free content have fair use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):
  7. Overall:
    Pass/Fail:
  • "a German and American" - I know this was the case with many physicists of that era, but did he ever identify himself as American over German? I would personally omit the American if that is not the case, as it is obvious that he worked there for much of his life.
    • checkY In the quote in the article: "I am much more at home in America than I ever was in Germany. As if I was born in Germany only by mistake, and only came to my true homeland at 28." It appears that in America people identify themselves with an ethnic group. The articles get a fair bit of traffic related to this. No one has claimed that he was French... yet. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:08, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • "For most of his career..." - this sentence seems a little abrupt and out of place. Perhaps it should be in the third paragraph of the lead?
  • "He influenced the White House..." - is that the White House, the president, the committee?
  • "he was raised a Protestant in the religion of his father." could be abbreviated to "he was raised as a Protestant like his father." - not so precise, but more readable. Maybe.
  • Ref 8 is capitalised "I Just didn't believe" at the end.
  • "excellent mathematicians" - maybe "distinguished" or "first-class"
  • "which presented mathematics without reference to the other sciences." - probably needs a ref.
  • "who shredded his lab coat by spilling sulphuric acid on it" - does sulphuric acid "shred"? - I thought it would be "burned" or "destroyed"
    • checkY It comes from Bethe's own words. "My lab coat was always in shreds because I kept spilling sulphuric acid on"
  • "and a seminar series one evening a week." - I would link this to the next sentence to reduce confusion.
  • By moving the picture to the left, it could be made to appear under the Early years header.
  • "to move into nuclear physics" - needs a source again
  • "filling in gaps in the older literature." - space after ref
  • "But the Germans wanted $250 to release her furniture." - could be abbreviated to "In need of $250 to release his mother's furniture..." which is rather less clumsy.
  • "Rose Ewald, the daughter of Paul Ewald," - is that important? It just seems a bit too much detail.
  • I see he does identify as American here, so keeping the dual nationality makes sense.
  • "This work was later useful to researchers investigating ballistic reentry." - needs ref again, I think
  • "a crash project for the hydrogen bomb" - I would avoid idioms - an "accelerated project," maybe.
    • checkY It's not an idiom. It is a technical term used in military project management. Deleted. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:50, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
      • I never knew that. I suppose that's where the idiom comes from, and not the other way around?
  • "In 1954, Bethe testified .... a major role in the revocation of Oppenheimer's security clearance." - this section is uncited, so needs a few refs.
  • No explanation of relationship between energy and frequency. A bit more elaboration might help some readers.
    • E = fh. Where are we talking about here? Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:50, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
      • Not everybody reading this article might be aware of that, but, I suppose, if they don't know that then a large proportion will be equally inaccessible. I'd just leave it, in that case.
  • This section is quite short on references - it should be close to one per sentence.
  • "Bethe believed that .... which have densities similar to those of nuclei." - This section isn't especially clear - it doesn't seem so well suited to a biographical article.
  • Some of the material under Political stances, as well as the paragraph about his wife and children, could be moved to a new Personal life section.
  • The external links could well be trimmed. I might get on and do that myself.
  • There are a few broken links to be fixed
    • checkY Repaired, with the help of the trusty Wayback machine. It was checked before being nominated, but some links broke in the last weeks. I had a sports article back in May 2013 that had been nominated in November 2012 - six months before - and it had broken links everywhere. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:50, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Overall, very good, but in places short of citations. Since you have access to some sources, that won't take much. You clearly know vastly more about the GA process than me, so I am happy to take any criticisms of my criticisms you may have. Regards. Jamesx12345 20:47, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

More points

[edit]

That's all I can find for now. I might come back for a third read through, but it looks very good as it is. Regards.

Success

[edit]

I would say this definitely now meets the criteria. I would personally like more citations, but I can't say that, and since they are mostly to books anyway, it doesn't matter so much. Good luck with the Wikicup - another Manhattan biography of great importance and close to GA status is Richard Feynman, if you're looking for something. Well done. Jamesx12345 09:12, 28 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]