Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Laurence Clancy

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The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete.  Sandstein  19:30, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Laurence Clancy

Laurence Clancy (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs) (delete) – (View log)

Totally unsouurced biography for person of doubtful notability, whose only Google appearance appears to be this article RolandR (talk) 12:44, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

  • Please retain. I created the article on Laurence Clancy for one reason. I have cited his book Aerodynamics many, many times. I contribute to Wikipedia in the area of aerodynamics, fluid mechanics and aviation. Clancy's book is brilliantly clear and well-written. It is my source and inspiration for most of my work. Readers of Wikipedia are entitled to ask "Who is this L.J. Clancy? Does he or she have credibility on this subject?" I created the biographical article as a stub to provide a little information about this author, and in the hope that others would expand the stub. I am a resident of Australia, a long way from Bradford University and Cranfield where Clancy worked so I am reliant on others to provide some up-to-date information.
In the field of aerodynamics and fluid mechanics there are other cited authors who have a biographical article to shed some light on their background and therefore their credentials. For example, see the WP articles on the following authors, all of whom are cited in articles such as Hydrodynamics:
George Batchelor
John D. Anderson
Horace Lamb
Lev Landau
Evgeny Lifshitz
When I cite Clancy, or write about him, there is no conflict of interest. Dolphin51 (talk) 13:02, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
I am sorry, but are you seriously comparing Clancy to George Batchelor? The latter produces impressive GoogleScholar results, with his book "The Theory of Homogeneous Turbulence" scoring 1533 cites and the other book "An Introduction to Fluid Mechanics" scoring 488 cites[2]. By cpmparison, Clancy's book does not even register in GoogleScholar[3], nor does anything else by him[4].
In any event, general WP:ILIKEIT, WP:USEFUL and WP:OTHERSTUFF arguments are insufficient; you need to produce positive and verifiable evidence of notability. It might be that Clancy's "Aerodynamics" book is notable and that for some reason GoogleScholar and Web of Science are missing a large number of citations. If it can be shown that the book is notable per WP:BK then it is better to have a WP article about the book rather than the person. It would be easier to satisfy the notability requirements there. Even then, you would have to do some serious preparatory work before creating an article about the book. Look for sources that cite it, reviews of the book, evidence that it was used for courses, etc. Since you are an expert in the field, it should be easier for you to do this than for other people. In the meantime, I suggest that you look up the existing notability guidelines such as WP:BIO, WP:PROF, WP:N, WP:BK etc. Nsk92 (talk) 13:51, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
I am not even talking about your comparison of Clancy with Lev Landau, a Nobel Prize winner and a scientific giant. Preposterous, don't you think? Nsk92 (talk) 13:56, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Hi Nsk92! I have not compared Clancy with anybody; not Batchelor, not Landau, nor anyone else. You are the one who has introduced the concept of comparison of one person with another. If you carefully read my words on this page you will see I wrote only that certain articles (eg Hydrodynamics) cite certain authors and provide links to biographical articles about those authors. (eg Batchelor et al). My words are statements of fact. Thank you for the links to WP articles. I will study them. Dolphin51 (talk) 23:52, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

  • delete per Nsk92, no evidence of notable impact as a academic, or otherwise. Pete.Hurd (talk) 18:36, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
  • Keep. Clancy is the author of Aerodynamics. This is a 587-page textbook in the field of Aeronautical Engineering. It is one of the Pitman Aeronautical Engineering Series.[1]
Aerodynamics was published in the United Kingdom. [2] Its content reflects over seven years of teaching aerodynamics to students at the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell UK.[3] It was widely used as a textbook in the UK, Australia and other British Commonwealth countries. It was also published in the USA by John Wiley and Sons, Inc.[4]
Clancy qualifies as a notable academic using Criterion No. 3 given here. He also matches Example No. 1 given here. Dolphin51 (talk) 03:01, 15 May 2008 (UTC)
The fact that the book was intended to be used as a textbook does not imply that it has been widely used as a textbook. If you provide actual evidence of the latter, that would be convincing in terms of satisfying WP:PROF.Nsk92 (talk) 11:16, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Advisory Editor of the PAES, Air Vice-Marshal A.C. Kermode R.A.F. (Ret’d.) has written “The books in this series are intended primarily as textbooks for students at universities and technical colleges who are studying aeronautical engineering in one or more of its various branches with the aim of obtaining degrees or diplomas in aeronautical engineering or allied subjects.” Clancy, L.J., Aerodynamics, page ii
  2. ^ Clancy, L.J. (1975), Aerodynamics, Pitman Publishing Limited, London ISBN 0 273 01120 0
  3. ^ ”This book is the product of over seven years of teaching aerodynamics to officer cadets and student officers at the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell.” L.J. Clancy. Author’s preface (p. xv), Aerodynamics, Pitman Publishing Limited, London
  4. ^ Clancy, L.J. (1975), Aerodynamics, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York NY ISBN-13:9780470158371 ISBN 0470158379


The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.