Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Euclidean algorithm/archive1: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:42, 11 May 2009

Revision as of 23:06, 11 May 2009

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**<s>"The algorithm was first described in Europe in the second edition of Bachet's ''Problèmes plaisants et délectables'' (1624)." Which algorithm? The EA? Or the Chinese Remainder Theorem? Also, do you have a translation for that French title?</s>

**::Clarified EA, translated title. [[User:Proteins|Proteins]] ([[User talk:Proteins|talk]]) 03:35, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

**<s>"In the 19th century, Carl Friedrich Gauss used the Euclidean algorithm to demonstrate unique factorization of Gaussian integers by 1815 (published 1832), although he did not mention the algorithm in his earlier work, Disquisitiones Arithmeticae (1801), except as a method for continued fractions." If you include specific years, "In the 19th century" is redundant. Also, I'm confused by the 1815/1832 thing. Also, the second chunk is somewhat misleading. Suggested rewrite: "though he had mentioned the algorithm in his earlier work, Disquisitiones Arithmeticae (1801), simply as a method for solving continued fractions."</s>

**::Yes, this was worded awkwardly. I've re-arranged the material and added a topic sentence so that it flows better (I hope). The 1815/1832 issue is that Gauss did the calculation in 1815 (as we know from his notebooks), but didn't publish it until 1832. [[User:Proteins|Proteins]] ([[User talk:Proteins|talk]]) 06:42, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

**:::Ah, so much better! --'''[[User:Cryptic C62|Cryptic C62]] · [[User talk: Cryptic C62|Talk]]''' 23:06, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

**<s>"[[Dirichlet]] seems to have..." A person's full name (or at least their first name) should be given the first time they are mentioned.</s>

**::OK, Peter it is. [[User:Proteins|Proteins]] ([[User talk:Proteins|talk]]) 06:42, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

**<s>"would hold true for any other system of numbers in which the Euclidean algorithm could be applied" Should be "to which the", right?</s>

**::Right on! thanks, 06:42, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

**"Dirichlet's insight likely inspired Richard Dedekind to develop theories for new types of numbers, the algebraic integers, and more generally Euclidean domains." As this is written, it implies that Dedekind might or might not have developed those theories. Also, the ending construction implies that "new types of numbers, the algebraic integers, and more generally Euclidean domains" are all separate items in a list, but my hunch is that the second is an example of the first. Suggested rewrite: "Richard Dedekind's theories for new types of numbers, such as algebraic integers and Euclidean domains, may have been inspired by Dirichlet's insight." If you do end up rewriting this sentence, be sure to tweak the following sentence to make sure it flows logically.

**::I made a draft - does it read better now? [[User:Proteins|Proteins]] ([[User talk:Proteins|talk]]) 06:42, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

**:::Looks very good up until this sentence: "Dedekind also defined the concept of a Euclidean ___domain, a number system in which (roughly speaking) a version of the Euclidean algorithm can be defined." Unfortunately, the speaking is so rough that I have no idea what it means. "(roughly speaking)" is unencyclopedic, and the statement that follows doesn't provide any real information.

**<s>"In 1829, Sturm showed..." Not sure why this chunk comes after the Dirichlet/Dedekind bit. I'm assuming that Dirichlet/Dedekind did their work after 1832, which may not be correct. If that is correct, then this section is somewhat out of order. If is not correct, then this is still out of order and specific years should be added for clarity (if possible).</s>

**::I was trying to discern between two developments of the EA in the 19th century: the ''general'' development of new number systems and ''specific'' applications of the EA such as Sturm's theorem. [[User:Proteins|Proteins]] ([[User talk:Proteins|talk]]) 06:42, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

**:::Ah. This distinction is clearer now. --'''[[User:Cryptic C62|Cryptic C62]] · [[User talk: Cryptic C62|Talk]]''' 23:06, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

**"In 1829, Sturm showed that the algorithm provided an efficient method for counting the number of real roots of polynomials in any given interval." Again, be sure to include given names when introducing people. Also, "efficient method" is currently linked to [[Sturm chain]]. [[WP:MOSLINK]] advises that the article being linked to should be made clear by the words being linked. In this case, I fully expected the phrase to link to an article about the efficiency of algorithms. I suggest rewording the sentence to include "Sturm chain" and then linking that directly.

**"A generalization of this result is known as [[Sturm's theorem]]." The use of the indefinite article "a" implies that there are multiple generalizations of the result, in which case I would recommend swapping out "a" with "one" or explaining the other generalizations. Or both. If this is the only significant generalization, I recommend swapping out "a" for "the". I wouldn't worry about it too much though; if the number of pertinent generalizations was not made clear in your research, "a" will do just fine.

**"No new general algorithms were developed until 1979" Erm, I seriously doubt this. I think you may need something more specific than "general algorithms".

**"The PSLQ algorithm, a "jazzed up" version of Euclid's algorithm, has been recognized as one of the top ten algorithms of the 20th century." This is totally irrelevant trivia and really doesn't fit in with the section.

**I'm not sure that the Game of Euclid section belongs in the ''Historical development'' section. It does seem to be worth mentioning in the article, but it really doesn't fit in with the content introduced here. It might be better off being listed in the See Also section.

--'''[[User:Cryptic C62|Cryptic C62]] · [[User talk: Cryptic C62|Talk]]''' 19:59, 3 May 2009 (UTC)

:::Thank you very much for your careful reviewing! The article is definitely improving. [[User:Proteins|Proteins]] ([[User talk:Proteins|talk]]) 10:32, 4 May 2009 (UTC)