Talk:Stokes' law

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the debate was Do not move. —Wknight94 (talk) 00:03, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Requested move

Stokes' law → Stokes's Law – Currently, the main article is at Stokes' law and Stokes's Law redirects to it. The two should be reversed, since Stokes's Law is the gramatically correct name (see Saxon genitive). Capi 23:33, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Survey

Add "* Support" or "* Oppose" followed by an optional one-sentence explanation, then sign your opinion with ~~~~

• Support, I was the nominator. Capi 23:37, 25 August 2006 (UTC)
• Oppose --Philbarker 16:26, 31 August 2006 (UTC).
• Oppose. Good research by Phil Barker below. Andrewa 19:32, 31 August 2006 (UTC)
• Oppose on grounds of euphony, plus "Stokes' law" is What I Was Taught. --Trovatore 00:35, 1 September 2006 (UTC)
• Oppose, looks silly. Melchoir 23:11, 1 September 2006 (UTC)
• Oppose, Stokes' is how most texts write this. --Polaron | Talk 03:29, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Discussion

Add any additional comments

I'm not altogether happy about this one. Google seems to show that Stokes' law and Stokes law are more common than Stokes's law, although all three have currency. Brittanica goes with Stokes's law. Interesting. Andrewa 03:33, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

(you may have read some of this elsewhere) Are you going to put in a redirect request for Achilles' heel? Fowler's Modern English Usage ISBN 0198691157 has an article on "possive puzzles", the jist of which is that --s' used to be the norm and is still retained in poetic and reverential contexts; otherwise add the s, so Stokes' Law--it predates the 's usage, and is to some extent reverential. --Philbarker 16:24, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

ps, other --s' examples: Bayes' theorem, Reynolds number, War of Jenkins' Ear, St James' Park (but not St. James's Park) and Davey Jones' locker. Also see: Apostrophe#Possessive_forms_of_nouns_ending_in_s. --Philbarker 17:04, 31 August 2006 (UTC) (amended 1 September 2006)

Good points IMO, which should be added to the policies and guidelines. In my brief career in Physics, it was always Stokes' law or Stokes' Law when being formal (textbooks papers etc) and Stokes Law on the blackboard. So I'm thinking Brittanica is wrong here. Andrewa 19:36, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

Quibble: "Reynolds number" is not a possessive; "Reynolds" is being used appositively, as in Gödel number (not Gödel's number). --Trovatore 01:10, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

you're only saying that because it's true :-) --Philbarker 08:42, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.