User talk:Kirwanfan

Course Instructor Permissions
Hi John! Sorry for the delay; I've given you the course instructor user right so that you can create a course page, and I'm happy to help as an online volunteer for your class. Let me know if you need any help! --ragesoss (talk) 16:31, 19 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Hi Sage! Thanks for clearing my instructor privilege. I have set up the course and would be thrilled to have you as an online volunteer for the class.  The course is at HSCI to Newton and the token is hsci3013. Kirwanfan (talk) 15:06, 20 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Great. I'll take a look this weekend.--ragesoss (talk) 13:40, 24 May 2013 (UTC)
 * I only got through about half (will try to get to the others tonight), but I wanted to draw your attention to the message I left on the course page: some of the articles related to history of science in Islam have troubled histories. That doesn't mean your students should stay away from them (indeed, it means there's a lot of good your students could do, potentially), but it's something to be aware of. Overall, it looks like you're giving excellent advice and the students are coming up with some great articles to improve.--ragesoss (talk) 16:16, 27 May 2013 (UTC)

Glad to help
I've noticed a few of your students editing pages on my watchlist (User:Khan ali10 on Book of Optics and User:SamuelBecket on The Reckoning of Time). I've already suggested some sources to Khan ali10 and will be available, as time allows, to comment on Talk Pages of articles on medieval science. --SteveMcCluskey (talk) 21:12, 29 May 2013 (UTC)


 * I appreciate your help and am sure my students will appreciate the sources. I'm not sure if you had time to look at my full course, but the class assignment is to edit a history of science article on an issue or person pre-1700.  Thus, many of my students are working in your area.  As I said, we appreciate any feedback you might have for each student, and if you notice any systematic problems with their work, please let me know. Kirwanfan (talk) 16:13, 30 May 2013 (UTC)

Student project page help
Hey John, I was just wondering what you thought about me working on the article Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam. It seems to have a fairly good start to it, so I'm not sure if it would be easy to improve, but it seems interesting to me and the article feels like its missing something, thought I can't quite put my foot on it. Anyway, let me know what you think! Loured36 (talk) 15:48, 22 September 2013 (UTC)


 * In looking at the page, it does seem like it could use some work. The main challenge would be not duplicating information that could be found elsewhere within Wikipedia.  One glaring deficiency is in practical alchemy.  Both the Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam and the Alchemy page focus on alchemical theory to the near exclusion of alchemical practice.  You could at least link in pages on pharmacy and other practical sides to Alchemy.  Whether this would be enough of an edit for the larger project would be the main question.  I would suggest writing down the list of areas that you think you could improve the page and at the same time looking for an alternate project.  Kirwanfan (talk) 20:26, 25 September 2013 (UTC)


 * What about chinese alchemy or ancient greek medicine? All of the articles I'm really interested in seem too well developed!Loured36 (talk) 18:08, 29 September 2013 (UTC)

John, I have most the info for the project on my user page to make it easier to grade. I also put a link to Indigo page, which is where I added most my info for the project. User:IndigoDeberry/sandbox Meganjeanne1 (talk) 18:58, 3 December 2013 (UTC)

Women in Science
My user page has a list of 10 women in science. The list came from the Dictionary of Women in Science, in the History of Science Library. Would you look through the list and point me to the one(s) you think would be good to improve in your class? Thanks Gaurd.vanforlife (talk) 22:18, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

Sup Prof! Get well soon! Modern Day Artista 18:36, 29 January 2014 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by ZachUnivOK (talk • contribs)

Possible pages to edit

 * Hello, this is Brittany Dennis. I found a few articles and I was wanting to let you know which ones I picked.
 * They are the following
 * John of Saxony (astronomer)
 * Kosmos (Humboldt)
 * Shapur ibn Sahl
 * Physics in medieval Islam
 * Thank you and have a great day

Denn4657 (talk) 15:20, 30 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Kosmos is late for our class (19th century), but the other three topics all look good. I think you should be able to find enough sources on John of Saxony (astronomer) or Shapur ibn Sahl.  The Physics in medieval Islam article has enormous potential, but it has a weird history.  If you decide to work on that one, we should talk about how to best write the article to not get it deleted.  Let me know if you want to talk about them further. Kirwanfan (talk) 16:16, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Editing pages

 * My name is Stanley Wilkinson and I was thinking about editing the pages: "A Treatise on the Astrolabe", "Oxford Calculators", and "Precursorism". I'll leave a message on Precursorism's talk page, and if you have any suggestions or references for me they'd be much appreciated.

798wilkinson (talk) 19:55, 2 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Hi Stanley. In the future, whenever referencing pages within wikipedia, put two brackets "" in front and behind the article title to create a link to that page.  The [[Precursorism article would be very interesting but challenging.  The article is meant to focus on the historiographical problems with looking for precursors, so to expand on the article you would mostly be looking at sources about how to properly do history.  If you are a history major or are interested in historiography, this could be very useful and interesting.  If you're not, it may be a bit dry.  The other two articles are both great for this class and there should be good sources.  If you want to stick with the Precursorism article, let me know, and I'll give you some sources. Kirwanfan (talk) 16:38, 3 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Hey Professor Stewart, I listed my resources on my talk page. They are all books so when I put brackets around the titles they highlighted in red. They are all valid sources but if you need me to change the way I listed them please let me know.798wilkinson (talk) 00:49, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Ideas of pages to edit.
Hello, my name's Cara Lindsey, and this is the list of articles I've looked at and would possibly like to do my edit over.
 * Crell's Annalen
 * Maria Ardinghelli
 * Shapur ibn Sahl
 * Catherine de Parthenay

I have also left a suggestion on the talk page for Maria Ardinghelli on how it can be approved.

Lind6710 (talk) 23:09, 2 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Hi Cara. Crell's annalen is a bit late for our class, but I'm very interested in the subject, so I'd allow it.  There might not be a ton of sources, and some might be in German, so make sure you can fill out a bibliography before choosing that one.  The other three articles would definitely fit with our class, but sources may again be thin.  One or two other students are thinking about the Shapur ibn Sahl article, so if you decide to work on that one, you will need to seek out those students and find a way to productively collaborate.  I'd suggest looking for sources and picking whichever topic you can find the most information on.  Let me know if you need any help.  Thanks Kirwanfan (talk) 16:38, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

Possible pages to be edited

My name is Andrew Zerby and here are some of the possible article that I have though about editing if approved.

Greek mathematics (commit left on talk page) mariner's astrolabe medicine in ancient rome

Any thoughts or feedback would be great Lizzygabbie (talk) 01:30, 3 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Hi Andrew. All three of these articles would be good for our class.  The Greek mathematics article is decent right now, so I like your idea of focusing first on straightening out the citations.  You will need to add some substantial information to the article for the final project, so make sure there are some topics you can expand upon in the article. Thanks, Kirwanfan (talk) 16:38, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

Ideas of pages to edit
I found a few pages I might want to edit and I would like your feedback.
 * Equant
 * George N. Saegmuller
 * Julius Weisbach
 * Jane Colden

I also left a comment on the talk page of Julius Weisbach on how to improve the article. --Apollo721 (talk) 01:37, 3 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Hi Apollo721. The Saegmuller and Weisbach articles are both a bit late for the scope of our class (pre 1700).  You can still work on either, but I'd like you to also work on an article covering a subject pre-1700.  If you decide to go this route, you'll split your work over the two articles.  The Jane Colden article is also a little late, but close enough for our purposes.  The Equant article would be interesting, and seems to have a lot of room for historical information.  If you decide to go with that one, leave some comments on its talk page with an idea of what you want to do and see what kind of feedback you get back.  You may get pushback from people who think that the article shouldn't get too historical, but you may not.  Let me know if you want any advice, or if you end up needing help with sources. Thanks Kirwanfan (talk) 16:38, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

Editing Ideas
This is my list of pages I'm considering editing.

Leav5419 (talk) 03:22, 3 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Tellurion
 * Radioactive quackery
 * Aquascope
 * Zsofia Torma


 * Hi Leav5419. The Tellurion and Aquascope articles both look really interesting, although sources may be a bit scarce.  The Radioactive quakery and Zsofia Torma articles also look interesting, but they are outside the scope of our class (pre-1700).  I would suggest choosing whichever of the instruments you can find more sources on.  Let me know if you need help with sources or want to discuss other possibilities. Thanks Kirwanfan (talk) 16:38, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

I could not find anything on the tellurion or the aquascope, literally anything. Would it be alright if I switched to the alchemist Andreas Libavius? The article on it is not a stub, but I do think more could be added to it.Leav5419 (talk) 00:12, 17 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Libavius would be a good choice. There should be plenty on him, including general histories of alchemy. Good luck. Kirwanfan (talk) 00:36, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Ideas for Pages to Edit
I've left the pages I'm interested in editing on my User page, but they are also listed below. Ive also added to the the talk page of Fluid Theory of Electricity with suggestions on how to improve the artice. I would like to request feedback on my choices.


 * Fluid Theory of Electricity
 * Yuri Filipchenko
 * Plutonism
 * Whole Number Rule
 * Hefner Lamp
 * John of Saxony

OKRVA15 (talk) 04:30, 3 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Hi OKRVA15. Several of your choices are late for our class.  I'd prefer that you pick an article on a subject from the pre-1700 period.  If you are really excited about one of these articles, you can also split your attention between articles on a modern subject and an older subject.  From this list, John of Saxony would definitely work and both the Fluid Theory of Electricity and Plutonism articles are close enough to our time period.  Let me know if you need help with sources or want to discuss other articles.  Thanks, Kirwanfan (talk) 16:38, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

I've left suggestions on the page Ylem, and I also have a list of ideas on my talkpage. I would love your input! Triforce.Cat (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 06:20, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

Page Edits
For my project I am interested in adding to or creating the pages of Tabitha Babitt, Sarah Mather, the Hand cannon, the Brace (tool), and Dom Perignon (monk).

I have posted on the talk page for the Leyden jar suggestions for improving the article.Down6263 (talk) 17:57, 3 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Tabitha Babbitt, Sarah Mather, and the Brace (tool) are all a bit for late for our class. The Hand cannon and Dom Perignon would both work for our class, but you would need to make sure that you can find something substantive, related to science, to say about those subjects.  I'd suggest building a bibliography for those articles and continue brainstorming more possibilities. Thanks, Kirwanfan (talk) 02:03, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

I've done some looking into Dom Perignon and I think finding information on him will be fairly achievable as well as the impact his discoveries and innovations to the making of champagne as well as the science behind his innovations such as blending and the use of cork wood. I've compiled this bibliography and will be adding to it.

Fetter, Richard L. Dom Perignon: Man and Myth. N.p.: Fetters Pubns, n.d. Print. Gandilon, Renee. "Naissance Du Champagne: Dom Pierre Pérignon." The Economic History Review 22.3 (1969): 610. JSTOR. Web. 8 Feb. 2014. . Guy, Kolleen M. ""Oiling the Wheels of Social Life": Myths and Marketing in Champagne during the Belle Epoque." French Historical Studies 22.2 (1999): 211-39. JSTOR. Web. 10 Feb. 2014. . Knoll, Alfred P. "Champagne." The International and Comparative Law Quarterly 19.2 (1970): 309-16. JSTOR. Web. 15 Feb. 2014. . Ludwig, David, George L. Watt, Richard Blum, and Peter Sichel. "A Lawyer's Look at Wine." American Bar Association Journal 60.11 (1974): 1382-387. JSTOR. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. . McFee, Michael. "Champagne." Poetry 166.5 (1995): 261. JSTOR. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. . Down6263 (talk) 17:10, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Pages to Edit
My name is William Wood, and these are the articles I was considering for editing:
 * Julius Weisbach
 * Radioactive quackery
 * John of Saxony
 * Isabella Cortese
 * Celia Grillo Borromeo

Wood7229 (talk) 05:29, 4 February 2014 (UTC)


 * The Weisbach and Radioactive quackery articles focus on topics that come well after our 1700 cut-off. I would suggest choosing whichever of the other three articles you can find the most sources on.  Several people are thinking about doing each of these, so keep an eye on the course page to see if you want to collaborate with someone else working on the same article.  Thanks, Kirwanfan (talk) 11:28, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

Possible Articles to Edit
Hi Dr. Stewart here are a list of some articles I'm interested in editing for the wikiproject.

Elena Cornaro Piscopia

Catherine de Parthenay

Mathematical folklore

Marie Crous

Petejhua (talk) 22:15, 5 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Any of these would be great. I would suggest picking whichever one you can find the most sources for.  The biographical dictionaries in the history of science collections would be a good starting place, but afterward you might try scholar.google.com. Kirwanfan (talk) 18:23, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

List of pages possible to edit
This is the list of some possible articles that I would like to edit: Tusi-couple Jonathan Couch Hugo Benioff Alfonsine tables Daniel Solander Duythai25 (talk) 07:40, 7 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Hi. The Tusi-couple and the Alphonsine Tables articles are best fitted for our class.  Daniel Solander is close but a bit late and Jonathan Couch and Hugo Benioff are too late.  You could split your time between one of the later figures and an earlier figure if you need to do that to maintain interest.  Otherwise I'd suggest going with one of the earlier topics.  Let me know if you want to talk about the topic any further or if you want to pursue other ideas.  Thanks, Kirwanfan (talk) 15:50, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

Finding sources
I am having trouble finding sources for the shadow square article, you mentioned you might have some I could look at?

Also would the claw of archimedes article be an acceptable topic?

Keelanca (talk) 19:41, 16 February 2014 (UTC)


 * It's fine if you want to switch to the claw. Let me know which way you want to go so i will know about the book that I mentioned. Kirwanfan (talk) 00:34, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

I am going to stick with the shadow square article, if you could let me know the book you had on it that would be great. I am also interested in maybe doing the edit-a-thon you mentioned on March 27th, that seems like a good way to knock out the project, if we are allowed to do that.

Keelanca (talk) 23:17, 3 March 2014 (UTC)


 * There are several good sources on scholar.google.com if you do a search for shadow astrolabe. You are welcome at the Edit-a-thon though it would be nice if you find a woman to work on while you are there.  You could split the project over two subjects, the shadow square and a woman, which would limit the amount of information you would need to find on each.  Thanks, Kirwanfan (talk) 16:01, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

Article Choice and Sources Help
Hi Professor Stewart,

I have looked into improving the article Fumifugium which fits in with the pre-1700 time period requirement. I have noticed there are a few good sources include the text on the internet but I was unable to find any reference books in the library. Do you have any suggestions on where to find other good sources for this topic?

I have also posted my topic and bibliography to 2 new sections on my user talk page!

OKRVA15 (talk) 01:12, 17 February 2014 (UTC)


 * That's a great topic. A couple of sources: Steven Smith, "John Evelyn and London Air,"  History Today 25 (1975), p. 185-189. Gillian Darley, John Evelyn: Living for Ingenuity, Yale University Press, 2006.  Thanks, Kirwanfan (talk) 17:49, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

— Preceding unsigned comment added by OUlivi (talk • contribs) 21:51, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Women in science 15-17th century
My article is a women in science before the 21st century stub ill be revising the Cleopatra the alchemist page

here are my sources"

"The Origins of alchemy in Graeco-Roman Egypt" -Jack Lindsey "Hypatia's Heritage women in science from antiquity to the nineteenth century"- Margret Alic OUlivi (talk) 21:55, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Article Choices
Hello! I listed my article choices on my user page, but I thought I should go ahead and list them again here. I'm looking at Magistra Hersend, Jane Sharp, and Mansur ibn Ilyas. I don't have any bibliography info compiled for any of these yet, so I would appreciate it if you could take a look before I really dig into that. Thanks

Rochelle Lunsford (talk) 05:44, 19 February 2014 (UTC)


 * All three of these look really interesting. Finding information is going to be the hard part, so use whichever you can find the most on. Let me know if you need help digging for information. Kirwanfan (talk) 15:58, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

Agnodice Elinor Sneshell Helen Dean King Mary Esther Murtfeldt David S. Adams Golden age of cosmology Faraday Society 1903 Here's my choices. I think some are past the time we go up to for our course. -Randall
 * Hi Randall. Use four tildas to sign your name on Wikipedia.  That will insert your username and provide links to your talk page.  I think the Agnodice and Elinor Sneshell articles would both be great to work on, but it might be hard to find sources.  The other articles are a bit too late to be the primary focus of your project, but you are welcome to do one of the earlier articles and one of the later articles.  As long as you put in work on one article from our time period, you can do the rest of your work on a later article.  Hope that helps. Kirwanfan (talk) 13:59, 19 May 2014 (UTC)

Great! I was interested in cleaning up and adding a medicine section to Agnodice article. I listed some references that I wanted to check if they are good? http://www.doctorsreview.com/history/apr05_history/ http://www.historyandwomen.com/2009/03/agnodice-first-woman-gynecologist.html http://www.voltairenet.org/article30299.html http://womenshistory.about.com/od/physicians/p/agnodice.htm Procsworld (talk) 23:42, 21 May 2014 (UTC)Randall

topics
Hello Professor! These are my choices for topics. Thanks! Wdjeremy (talk) 15:34, 15 May 2014 (UTC)

Potential Topics
Hey!

I think I'm going to focus on the women of science as potential articles to improve. Here are some of the women I am thinking about researching: Constance Calenda Pythias Elinor Sneshell

What do you think?

Jhareemy (talk) 05:21, 16 May 2014 (UTC)


 * All three choices sound good. I suggest looking to see which woman you can find the most information on and writing about her.  Elinor Sneshell seems to be a popular pick, so if you decide to work on her, make sure to talk to anyone else working on her. Kirwanfan (talk) 14:06, 19 May 2014 (UTC)

Potential Topics
I have only the vaguest of topics in mind at the moment, should have something more concrete in about 16 hours. As it stands, what I have in mind is roughly in the direction of Islamic advances in astronomy and their relationship with trade and the growth of empire...but it's still quite vague and loose at this point. Bmrule (talk) 07:17, 19 May 2014 (UTC)

Potential Topic
Hey, Professor this is Emmanuel, It had taken me some time to figure out which topics/stubs that I would like to work on. Please let me know which one if any of them will worth being edited.

1674 in science Aristyllus François d'Aquilon John of Saxony Emmanuel.O.Danso (talk) — Preceding undated comment added 16:30, 20 May 2014 (UTC)

Chosen article
Hello Prof. Stewart! I have chosen the article Aurora consurgens. It looks like the article has a lot of room for improvement and a quick Google search yielded several potential sources. Thanks! JmFrioux (talk) 01:25, 22 May 2014 (UTC)

Change in your user rights
Your Wikipedia account was previously granted a user right called "course instructor" by the Wiki Education Foundation. That right enabled you to create a course page through the EducationProgram MediaWiki extension. Starting in fall 2015, the Wiki Education Foundation has discontinued its use of this extension. Going forward, users should create course pages through the Wiki Education Foundation website. That application is more user-friendly, and any content is automatically mirrored to Wikipedia. To prevent confusion, we'll be removing your "course instructor" user right, as it is not needed with the new system. This is simply a notification of the technical change to your account. No action is needed from you at this time.

If you plan on teaching with Wikipedia for the fall 2015 term, please email me (helaine@undefinedwikiedu.org) for instructions how to create your next course page using our new system. --Helaine (Wiki Ed) (talk), sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:34, 21 July 2015 (UTC)

A page you started (Millicent Hathaway) has been reviewed!
Thanks for creating Millicent Hathaway, Kirwanfan!

Wikipedia editor Animalparty just reviewed your page, and wrote this note for you:

"Note that the Template:Infobox scientist might be more appropriate than the more generic Template:Infobox person"

To reply, leave a comment on Animalparty's talk page.

Learn more about page curation.

Welcome!
Hello, Kirwanfan, and welcome to Wikipedia! My name is Adam and I work with the Wiki Education Foundation; I help support students who are editing as part of a class assignment.

I hope you enjoy editing here. If you haven't already done so, please check out the student training library, which introduces you to editing and Wikipedia's core principles. You may also want to check out the Teahouse, a community of Wikipedia editors dedicated to helping new users. Below are some resources to help you get started editing. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me on my talk page. Adam (Wiki Ed) (talk) 19:03, 26 January 2017 (UTC)

Comment for Newspapers project?
Hi, I'm working on an article about the Newspapaers on Wikipedia project. Might you take a few minutes (ideally in the next 48 hours) to fill in a few answers on this form? It would be a big help! Thanks, -Pete Forsyth (talk) 02:25, 26 September 2018 (UTC)

Answering question on my talk page
Hi Kirwanfan, I saw your post on my talk page about citing the same source multiple times but with differing page numbers. The easiest way is to cite the book once, and then reuse the citation. You then use a template called "rp" (stands for "reference page") after the citation to specify which page is being cited. I have further instructions on how to use "rp" here. Thanks, Elysia (Wiki Ed) (talk) 21:24, 24 April 2020 (UTC)