From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Msuck: nntp://news.gmane.io/gmane.science.mathematics.categories/6744 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Joyal=2C_Andr=E9?= Newsgroups: gmane.science.mathematics.categories Subject: Comments on a wikipedia article on a Timeline of Category theory Date: Thu, 7 Jul 2011 21:35:06 -0400 Message-ID: References: Reply-To: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Joyal=2C_Andr=E9?= NNTP-Posting-Host: lo.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Trace: dough.gmane.org 1310126618 26398 80.91.229.12 (8 Jul 2011 12:03:38 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@dough.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 8 Jul 2011 12:03:38 +0000 (UTC) To: "Ronnie Brown" , , "George Janelidze" Original-X-From: majordomo@mlist.mta.ca Fri Jul 08 14:03:33 2011 Return-path: Envelope-to: gsmc-categories@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from smtpx.mta.ca ([138.73.1.30]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1Qf9mO-0008Ev-Jv for gsmc-categories@m.gmane.org; Fri, 08 Jul 2011 14:03:32 +0200 Original-Received: from mlist.mta.ca ([138.73.1.63]:37120) by smtpx.mta.ca with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Qf9jy-0004DD-Tf; Fri, 08 Jul 2011 09:01:02 -0300 Original-Received: from majordomo by mlist.mta.ca with local (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Qf9jy-0003mh-1o for categories-list@mlist.mta.ca; Fri, 08 Jul 2011 09:01:02 -0300 Precedence: bulk Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.science.mathematics.categories:6744 Archived-At: Dear Ronnie and Georges, I had a quick glimpse on the wikipedia timeline of category theory. It can be criticised on many aspects, for example, for its inaccuracies. But it has also a good side. It shows for example that a lot of category theory has been developed by mathmaticians who are not formally category theorists. I suggest you propose an alternative timeline to the categorical = community before the destruction of this one.=20 An imperfect timeline is better than none. Best,=20 Andr=E9 -------- Message d'origine-------- De: Ronnie Brown [mailto:ronnie.profbrown@btinternet.com] Date: jeu. 07/07/2011 09:14 =C0: categories@mta.ca; George Janelidze Objet : categories: Comments on a wikipedia article on a Timeline of = Category theory =20 We would like to draw the attention of readers of this list to the = article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_category_theory_and_related_math= ematics We feel that this entry is slanted, unbalanced, and in many cases wrong. It gives credit to work at a given time often presented in the form of vague ambitious titles or conclusions that give no information on the actual theorems the authors either claimed or published at the time. It fails to give credit to many authors for their contribution to the development of category theory and its wider applications, and fails to describe many developments in the area. It also fails to give references, which is usually a requirement for wikipedia articles, and the `discussion' makes it clear that the author(s) of this entry have no intention of so doing, and have not done so since the entry was made in 2009. The anonymity of the entry is also a handicap. One of us has tried to make a correction, but this is using a sticking plaster on too great a problem. The entry fails to come up to the standards of wikipedia in scholarship, accuracy and presentation, is not really possible to correct, and should therefore be removed. We would be grateful for comments on this matter, and for agreement to support this proposal to wikipedia. Ronnie Brown George Janelidze [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]