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Talk:Hans Bethe/GA1

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

I am happy to undertake to review this article over the coming days. James^x1 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.
  • Y 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?
  • Y Moved to the first paragraph of the lead. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:08, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "He influenced the White House..." - is that the White House, the president, the committee?
  • Y Changed to "Kennedy Administration" Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:08, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "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.
  • Y Done. That's the other thing that editors seem to agonise about: the religious beliefs of famous scientists. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:08, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• Ref 8 is capitalised "I Just didn't believe" at the end.
  • Y Well spotted. Corrected. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:08, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "excellent mathematicians" - maybe "distinguished" or "first-class"
  • Y To me, "excellent" is myself and other students who get As on their undergraduate mathematics examinations; "distinguished" is notable professors. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:08, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "which presented mathematics without reference to the other sciences." - probably needs a ref.
  • Y Added. Now that you've reminded me, that was the way that my mathematics professor taught it too, although his article implies otherwise. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:08, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "who shredded his lab coat by spilling sulphuric acid on it" - does sulphuric acid "shred"? - I thought it would be "burned" or "destroyed"
  • Y 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.
  • Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:08, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• By moving the picture to the left, it could be made to appear under the Early years header.
  • Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:08, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "to move into nuclear physics" - needs a source again
  • Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:50, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "filling in gaps in the older literature." - space after ref
  • Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:50, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "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.
  • Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:50, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "Rose Ewald, the daughter of Paul Ewald," - is that important? It just seems a bit too much detail.
  • N I don't think so. It establishes a familial relationship with another notable person. And I've noticed a pattern of the daughters of professors marrying professors. Military historians call this prosopography. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:50, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• I see he does identify as American here, so keeping the dual nationality makes sense.
  • Y Yes. See above. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:50, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "This work was later useful to researchers investigating ballistic reentry." - needs ref again, I think
  • Y Removed this sentence. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:50, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "a crash project for the hydrogen bomb" - I would avoid idioms - an "accelerated project," maybe.
  • Y 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.
  • Y The section is cited. All the sections in the article are cited. There is a reference at the end of the paragraph. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:50, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• 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.
  • N No, the model is one per paragraph. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:50, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "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.
  • What's not clear? It succinctly summarises his later line of research. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:50, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • It's quite mathematical - I don't know if that matters. Ditto above.
• 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.
  • Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:50, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• The external links could well be trimmed. I might get on and do that myself.
  • Y Feel free. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:50, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• There are a few broken links to be fixed
  • Y 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. James^x12345 20:47, 26 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• "was not a religious person" - could be abbreviated to "was not religious" - equally clear
  • Y done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "as professor and director" - is a director not normally an elevated kind of professor?
  • I don't know about elevated. At some places it rotates amongst the professors. I can't vouch that a director is always a professor. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "—his matriculation examinations—" - where something is linked, I think it is normally left unexplained (the meaning can be assumed from the context here anyway)
  • Y I'd like to think so, but a lot of editors feel it is a huge imposition on the reader to have to click on a link. Removed. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "Bethe next chose to" - the "next" could be omitted - it sounds a bit like interrailing
  • Y It was just intended to let the reader know he was still on his scholarship. Re-worded. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• " The town was..." could be linked with "One of the first laws..."
  • Y Removed. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• " Bethe collaborated with his friend Teller, on a theory" - is the comma needed?
  • Y Removed. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "which is used in microwave waveguides such as those used by radar sets" - change second "used by" to "in"?
  • Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "Stan Frankel and others" - comma after Frankel
  • Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "in Bethe's account he personally hoped" - the "in Bethe's account" can probably be omitted.
  • Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "to the famous Teller-Ulam priority dispute" better link for "Teller-Ulam" would be History_of_the_Teller–Ulam_design#Ulam.27s_and_Teller.27s_contributions
  • Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• Again, for Oppenheimer, there is an article Oppenheimer security hearing
  • Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "non-relativistic" you could have a link again here
  • Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "research on supernovae, neutron stars, black holes" - more links - some readers may be interested
  • Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• which would be measuring the gravitational waves from merging neutron stars and black holes." - I would say - "designed to detect" here
  • Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "that the Russian reactor" - I'm not sure how best to describe it, but I don't think "Russian" is correct. (I believe the reactor was of Russian design, but I don't think that is what it implies.)
  • Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "exploring the Alps and the Rockies" - Alps is linked, but Rockies is not.
  • Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• "He became a Fellow of the" - Fellow could be linked
  • Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• Should "Publications" be "Selected publications"? I think he published more than that.
  • Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

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.

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. James^x12345 09:12, 28 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]