User:Flying Jazz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I have two main historical interests:
1) The events near Boston at the start of the American Revolutionary War. The British regulars marched within a few blocks of where I live on their way to Lexington and Concord during the early morning hours of April 19, 1775. I have a few books, and I visit the historical sites.
2) The Second Temple period, especially the Hasmonean Dynasty, the Herods, and the siege of Jerusalem. I first read Josephus while visiting Jerusalem in the 80s, and since then I use the Whiston translation as an occasional cure for insomnia.
I have two main interests in literature:
1) Mark Twain
I have two main interests in cell biology (related to my thesis work):
1) Protein glycosylation.
I have two main interests in applied mathematics (again, related to my thesis work):
1) Metabolic engineering and metabolic flux analysis.
2) Stochastic Hamiltonian systems, especially the Totally Asymmetric Simple Exclusion Process (TASEP) and its variants.
Contents |
[edit] Contributions
[edit] Starting in May, 2005: Battles of Lexington and Concord and other historical/political matters
I bought Fischer's book Paul Revere's Ride a few years back and really enjoyed it. Soon after I joined Wikipedia, I saw that the Lexington and Concord article needed major improvement, so I basically worked my way through Fischer's text and added the factual bits to the article picking up images along the way, so at least the right information is out there. It's still not really great as an encyclopedia article though because of the single source.
Along the way, I created Powder Alarm (along with Great Bridge (Cambridge) and British Forces in Boston (Winter 1774-1775)] which will probably remain as stubs for some time). I also made significant contributions to Old North Church, Minutemen (militia), John Parker (Captain), and Joseph Warren. I also managed to figure out the difference between:
- this "Minute Man" statue
and that "Minute Man statue" 
After editing the Concord Hymn a little, I did a major edit to Shot heard 'round the world which is just one of those rare little powerful phrases in the English language that someone like me can grok over. An edit by someone else at "Shot heard 'round the world" led me to find information about Emerson's view of America in the world and led me over to the American exceptionalism article.
American exceptionalism was in disarray because of a first section that was both controversial and useful. I think my major edit of that section turned a stagnant, bad article into one that was so-so, and that seemed to bring some good editors back to the article who have more knowledge and interest in the topic than I have. I'm grateful that the writer of the original section left a favorable comment on my talk page.
[edit] Starting in June, 2005: Periodic Table and other chemical matters
After a lot of deep soul searching (not really but I looked at the IUPAC book and site), consultation with higher authorities (in the library), and bracing myself for the inevitable ensuing controversy, I changed the Wikipedia version of this:
| 4 | 19 K |
20 Ca |
21 Sc |
22 Ti |
23 V |
24 Cr |
25 Mn |
26 Fe |
27 Co |
28 Ni |
29 Cu |
30 Zn |
31 Ga |
32 Ge |
33 As |
34 Se |
35 Br |
36 Kr |
||
| 5 | 37 Rb |
38 Sr |
39 Y |
40 Zr |
41 Nb |
42 Mo |
43 Tc |
44 Ru |
45 Rh |
46 Pd |
47 Ag |
48 Cd |
49 In |
50 Sn |
51 Sb |
52 Te |
53 I |
54 Xe |
||
| 6 | 55 Cs |
56 Ba |
57 La |
* |
72 Hf |
73 Ta |
74 W |
75 Re |
76 Os |
77 Ir |
78 Pt |
79 Au |
80 Hg |
81 Tl |
82 Pb |
83 Bi |
84 Po |
85 At |
86 Rn |
|
| 7 | 87 Fr |
88 Ra |
89 Ac |
** |
104 Rf |
105 Db |
106 Sg |
107 Bh |
108 Hs |
109 Mt |
110 Ds |
111 Rg |
112 Uub |
113 Uut |
114 Uuq |
115 Uup |
116 Uuh |
117 Uus |
118 Uuo |
|
| * Lanthanides | 58 Ce |
59 Pr |
60 Nd |
61 Pm |
62 Sm |
63 Eu |
64 Gd |
65 Tb |
66 Dy |
67 Ho |
68 Er |
69 Tm |
70 Yb |
71 Lu |
||||||
| ** Actinides | 90 Th |
91 Pa |
92 U |
93 Np |
94 Pu |
95 Am |
96 Cm |
97 Bk |
98 Cf |
99 Es |
100 Fm |
101 Md |
102 No |
103 Lr |
||||||
to this:
| 4 | 19 K |
20 Ca |
21 Sc |
22 Ti |
23 V |
24 Cr |
25 Mn |
26 Fe |
27 Co |
28 Ni |
29 Cu |
30 Zn |
31 Ga |
32 Ge |
33 As |
34 Se |
35 Br |
36 Kr |
||
| 5 | 37 Rb |
38 Sr |
39 Y |
40 Zr |
41 Nb |
42 Mo |
43 Tc |
44 Ru |
45 Rh |
46 Pd |
47 Ag |
48 Cd |
49 In |
50 Sn |
51 Sb |
52 Te |
53 I |
54 Xe |
||
| 6 | 55 Cs |
56 Ba |
* |
72 Hf |
73 Ta |
74 W |
75 Re |
76 Os |
77 Ir |
78 Pt |
79 Au |
80 Hg |
81 Tl |
82 Pb |
83 Bi |
84 Po |
85 At |
86 Rn |
||
| 7 | 87 Fr |
88 Ra |
** |
104 Rf |
105 Db |
106 Sg |
107 Bh |
108 Hs |
109 Mt |
110 Ds |
111 Rg |
112 Uub |
113 Uut |
114 Uuq |
115 Uup |
116 Uuh |
117 Uus |
118 Uuo |
||
| * Lanthanides | 57 La |
58 Ce |
59 Pr |
60 Nd |
61 Pm |
62 Sm |
63 Eu |
64 Gd |
65 Tb |
66 Dy |
67 Ho |
68 Er |
69 Tm |
70 Yb |
71 Lu |
|||||
| ** Actinides | 89 Ac |
90 Th |
91 Pa |
92 U |
93 Np |
94 Pu |
95 Am |
96 Cm |
97 Bk |
98 Cf |
99 Es |
100 Fm |
101 Md |
102 No |
103 Lr |
|||||
instead of this:
| 4 | 19 K |
20 Ca |
21 Sc |
22 Ti |
23 V |
24 Cr |
25 Mn |
26 Fe |
27 Co |
28 Ni |
29 Cu |
30 Zn |
31 Ga |
32 Ge |
33 As |
34 Se |
35 Br |
36 Kr |
||
| 5 | 37 Rb |
38 Sr |
39 Y |
40 Zr |
41 Nb |
42 Mo |
43 Tc |
44 Ru |
45 Rh |
46 Pd |
47 Ag |
48 Cd |
49 In |
50 Sn |
51 Sb |
52 Te |
53 I |
54 Xe |
||
| 6 | 55 Cs |
56 Ba |
* |
71 Lu |
72 Hf |
73 Ta |
74 W |
75 Re |
76 Os |
77 Ir |
78 Pt |
79 Au |
80 Hg |
81 Tl |
82 Pb |
83 Bi |
84 Po |
85 At |
86 Rn |
|
| 7 | 87 Fr |
88 Ra |
** |
103 Lr |
104 Rf |
105 Db |
106 Sg |
107 Bh |
108 Hs |
109 Mt |
110 Ds |
111 Rg |
112 Uub |
113 Uut |
114 Uuq |
115 Uup |
116 Uuh |
117 Uus |
118 Uuo |
|
| * Lanthanides | 57 La |
58 Ce |
59 Pr |
60 Nd |
61 Pm |
62 Sm |
63 Eu |
64 Gd |
65 Tb |
66 Dy |
67 Ho |
68 Er |
69 Tm |
70 Yb |
||||||
| ** Actinides | 89 Ac |
90 Th |
91 Pa |
92 U |
93 Np |
94 Pu |
95 Am |
96 Cm |
97 Bk |
98 Cf |
99 Es |
100 Fm |
101 Md |
102 No |
||||||
Yes, I'm the one. Blame me. I know those lines of 15 elements don't match the f-block. I know it doesn't look like the table on your t-shirt. I know the really long table is best. Why did I do it? How could I possibly have done such a thing?
Well, initially...because I was writing a book and I needed more space on the page, but then I started to get emotionally involved and well... Actually, there are very good reasons why the current Wikipedia version is the best version even though all three are "correct". A far out over-the-top conversation about this is at a Webelements.com discussion forum. They're probably the ones who sold you that T-shirt. See the post where I said I had a girlfriend? Obvious lie. Also check out the second-to-last-page here showing the IUPAC recommendations for the names of chemical series of elements. Now stop picketing in front of my house...
I also created the oligosaccharyltransferase article, edited bathochromic shift and hypsochromic shift, added the chemistry content to the list of famous experiments, and valiantly negotiated solutions to petty disputes over the subject of redshift.
[edit] Exergy
My academic background in chemical engineering in combination with a do-gooder attitude in ecology and a slightly unhealthy (but fortunately, relatively mild) interest in metaphysics have all joined forces in a powerful desire (similar to a compulsion) to continue a self-destructive trend in my life by further delaying the completion of my thesis in order to perform a complete rewrite on the exergy article which (also fortunately) will not contain rambling self-referential sentences like this one.
- "Thermodynamics is a funny subject. The first time you go through it, you don't understand it at all. The second time you go through it, you think you understand it, except for one or two small points. The third time you go through it, you know you don't understand it, but by that time you are so used to it, it doesn't bother you any more."
-
- —attributed to Arnold Sommerfeld (I'm too uninterested to add this to Wikiquote)
-
