Talk:Ulf Merbold

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 * http://www.gastreferenten.de/referenten/wissenschaft-und-technik/dr.-rer.nat.-ulf-merbold.htm
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Copy Editing article for clarity
I've reached out to Kusma in regards to the copy edit guild request for this page- it will be my first full article copyedit, if still desired.

For now I'm fixing a few superficial structural and grammatical points on the page, and listing in this talk thread the larger issues I identify:

First, I noticed that there's a somewhat unnatural interweaving in the "Life and Education" section between the subject's specific accomplishments and life events, and important supporting context about the geopolitical state of Germany at this time. Additionally, there is some jumping around on the topic of being separated from, then united with, his mother.

Given the go-ahead, I would likely choose to separate these three threads, keeping them all in the same section but handling them in deliberate order: likely first the context of East/West Germany, then his educational progress, then the impact of his educational locations on being able to see his mother.

Will continue to add thoughts here! Let me know if I make any mistakes- while I'm very experienced in English language editing, and moderately experienced in reading and translating from German sources, I'm brand new to the complexities of WP MOS ☺️

Chiselinccc (talk) 06:25, 15 September 2022 (UTC)


 * I also want to add that, while I will be detailing small issues with the write-up here, one of the reasons I wanted to start my CE journey with this article (besides my moderate fluency in German serving use) was because I found it so impressive in its depth and breadth.
 * I have no previous knowledge of the topics at hand, and am still able to follow even the more technical content without difficulty, learning a lot along the way!
 * I've been a Wikipedia fan and WMF donator for years, and this is by far one of the most detailed articles I've ever come across. Please accept any critiques I delineate here within the context of trying to further polish an *amazing* article to begin with! 🚀
 * Chiselinccc (talk) 06:31, 15 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Wondering whether "uretal stone" in Astronaut training paragraph 3 should be linked to "kidney stone" instead of "ureters".
 * From my initial review it seems like the same thing, but "ureter" is a highly technical term I'd never encountered before (and the linked article just addressing the ureters as medical organs, not the calcified "stone" of the medical condition being mentioned). Still pretty cool to learn what a ureter is, of course. Chiselinccc (talk) 06:35, 15 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Additional thoughts after first one-over:
 * The context of his experiments on microgravity are regularly invoked, and it might benefit readers new to this topic (like myself!) to link to what that means- the closest page I could find was this, is it correct to link microgravity to?
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-g_environment?wprov=sfla1
 * Additionally, we use the term "materials science" a number of times, and at least once it falls alongside "life sciences"- my admittedly un-expert assumption is that the grammatical form should be "material scienceS" just like "life sciences", but want a topic expert to confirm! Chiselinccc (talk) 06:58, 15 September 2022 (UTC)
 * The German original text in Merbold's book says "Harnleiterstein, which means a kidney stone that moves into the ureter and gets stuck. I've tried to translate that as closely as possible. I think both links are acceptable, but probably the kidney stone link is better at explaining the condition? I have linked microgravity as suggested. The expression "materials science" also confused me when I first saw it, but it is correct: it is the science (singular) of materials (plural). For example, you can study materials science and engineering. Some older books call it "material science" but the modern literature overwhelmingly uses "materials science". —Kusma (talk) 08:48, 15 September 2022 (UTC)

Date format
Hi, could you please revert this edit? The article has consistently used mdy for the last 20 years, and the issue has been discussed at the FAC (there are close connections to NASA). Please do not change long-standing date formats without consensus on the talk page. —Kusma (talk) 19:08, 28 November 2023 (UTC)


 * DMY is correct but whatever - either way the article was not consistent and used both DMY and MDY throughout. I have amended. GiantSnowman 19:27, 28 November 2023 (UTC)
 * It was consistent mdy when it passed GA and when it became a FA, and has been mdy for almost all of its history. —Kusma (talk) 20:16, 28 November 2023 (UTC)


 * The "close connections" to NASA is not relevant. Merhold is German, and the fact that he spent a few years at NASA doesn't override the fact that most of his career was in Europe. For mdy to be relevant to a European he/she should have had the overwhelming majority of his/her career in the US (or the few other mdy using countries). The referred disucssion at the FAC was not a discussion, it was a statement by a single user. Also, this discussion belongs on the talk page of the article, so I am copying it to here, and reverting. --Marbe166 (talk) 19:50, 28 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Of course it is relevant. I don't know whether this was what caused the original author to choose American English and mdy 20 years ago (he is dead so we can't ask). In any case I (main author of the expansion and FA nominator) don't see a strong reason to overrule MOS:DATERET, and neither did the several experienced reviewers at WP:FAC. The article's sources are mostly mdy or in German. —Kusma (talk) 20:36, 28 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Strong national ties to the topic exist by the fact that he is German, as explained above. Also, American English doesn't automatically mean mdy. --Marbe166 (talk) 20:48, 28 November 2023 (UTC)
 * I agree that he is German. His notability is mostly derived from working with NASA as the Federal Republic of Germany's first astronaut, a rather American experience that is the main focus of the article. —Kusma (talk) 21:02, 28 November 2023 (UTC)
 * He is an ESA astronaut, not a NASA astronaut. GiantSnowman 21:27, 28 November 2023 (UTC)