Talk:George Smoot

message: George's photo on this page http://aether.lbl.gov/www/personnel/Smoot-bio.html is published on the server of a US government institution. Does that make it public domain? My guess is yes, but i'd rather hear more opinions. The photo is here. Boud 12:12, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: See Template talk:PD-USGov-DOE.  LBL is managed under contract with the Federal government, but LBL employees are not Federal employees, so the federal government copyright exemption does not apply to them.  This should be kept in mind both for the image and for the text of the biography (which should not be copied verbatim).  Dragons flight 14:35, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  public domain photo? 

message: Another editor changed the year of his PhD from 1970 to 1971, citing http://alum.mit.edu/.  As an MIT alum, I can go there and validate that.  But non-MIT alums can't.  As we preference verifiability over truth, I've restored it to 1971, citing a MIT Press release from early this morning, which matches the biography at the  Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.  As we preference verifiability over truth, I think that the 1970 date should stay until we find verifiable sources that anyone can use.  But I expect the MIT alum site to be more accurate.  GRBerry 21:40, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Year of PhD 

message: I translated most of the Biography section from the French article, so please copyedit in case I made any mistakes. - SpLoT 03:43, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: That's the first time I see one of my wiki article translated elsewhere. Thanks. Alain Riazuelo 23:38, 8 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: No problem. It was a nice article anyways. Except for my rather awkward translation. - SpLoT 09:42, 9 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Actually most of the material was borrowed from English bios I found on some LBL or NASA website (I put them in the references section). So it's probably better if you directly go to those sources rather than translating my own translation, especially when dealing with technical terms (last scattering surface and not surface of last diffusion, for example). Alain Riazuelo 09:05, 11 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I didn't realize this at that moment. But still, nice french article. - SpLoT 03:26, 15 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Translation 

message: C'mon folk, there's gotta be a better picture of this guy.  At the very least crop out the booze. Andrew Lenahan - Starblind 01:40, 3 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It's possible, feel free to look. I think free > fair use though. --Falcorian (talk) 04:06, 3 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I went back through my pictures, and I found only one with Smoot in it. It might be perferable (although it's a little out of focus). Please feel free to recrop it and whatnot (I can even post the larger version I took it out of if someone would like to try). --Falcorian (talk) 07:10, 21 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeah, the booze has got to go. Would you see anything like this in a physial encyclopedia??? ask123 (talk) 15:37, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

text: This is my picture, so I'm biased...  but can someone please explain what's inherently bad about Dr. Smoot pouring himself a glass of champagne in celebration of winning the Nobel Prize?  I kind of feel that the picture being from that historical moment adds a certain amount. -- SCZenz (talk) 16:32, 16 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Better picture? 

message: Is any information about him religious beliefs to put in infobox?--Vojvodaeist 09:47, 9 August 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I've never heard him say, and I don't see any sources after a quick google search. --Falcorian (talk) 17:23, 9 August 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Just finished reading Smoot's "Wrinkles in Time" book on his work on COBE, and yes, he does appear open and sympathetic towards spiritual ideas on creation, and to philosophy in general, even though he does not push any particular denomination or specific theological viewpoint. He specifically notes that he does not agree with ideas that the universe has no meaning and is just an accident. At one point he even says he thinks that, in the future, scientists will consult with philosophers and theologians in a manner analogous to how they consult lawyers and other professionals now. He also compares the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang on with the development of an embryo being built from its genetic code. He uses this analogy several times, and it suggests that he believes that in a teleological viewpoint of the universe's development, that is, that it has some end purpose that was designed into it from the very beginning. Dawkins, or even Hawking, would probably disagree with the general mood of his thoughts, as vague as they are. But it was refreshing to see a first-rate scientist espouse a less authoritarian and nihilistic view of the universe than a lot of the rather arrogant stuff that is being promulgated by some scientists today.  Myles325a (talk) 04:51, 11 July 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Religious

message: George Smoot participated in the the Fox game show "Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader" on September 18, 2009 and was the first man to successfully win $1,000,000 on this show by guessing the correct location of of Acacia National Park.
* And that's in the article now. -- ArglebargleIV (talk) 02:44, 19 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Other Activities and Accomplishments 

message: I'm sure glad that this is the one of the only people in the world smarter than a 5th Grader... Otherwise the LHC would be run by elementary school kids haha. 72.220.125.54 (talk) 03:14, 11 October 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  5th Grader 

message: The article doesn't say what he won the Nobel prize for.--75.83.69.196 (talk) 16:20, 26 February 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: what he won Nobel for

message: Dr. Smoot's photohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Smoot#/media/File:George_smoot_06N7133a.jpg, accessed December 31, 2015. is subtitled "George Smoot at Ithaka Science Center's POVO conference 'Talent development in Science and Technology’ in Venlo, the netherlands."  It would be useful to (a) spell out the POVO acronym and (b) add links to the conference during which the photo was taken. The Ithaka Science Center archive page"Ithaka Science Center - Prof. Dr. G. Smoot", URL: http://www.myithaka.nl/en/events/archive/smooth.html, accessed December 31, 2015. suggests it was a conference in 2009 and that Smoot is interested in the subject (he was to be the key note speaker).  The page says "It is our pleasure to announce the POVO-Science & Technology conference: 'Scientific Talent Development', on June 18, 2009. We are honored and pleased to have Prof Dr. George Smoot, Nobel Laureate -Physics in 2006, as the conference key note speaker." (The page has a no-cache tag, so can't be webcite'd.)  I don't speak or read Dutch, but using Google translate I think POVO is an acronym for "primair onderwijs ... voortgezet onderwijs".  I haven't found a page that identifies the acronym and the Dutch phrase explicitly, and explains what the Dutch mean by POVO and how broad the activity is, but it seems to be essentially an effort to improve students' transitions from primary to secondary school.  For instance, see POVO-013"POVO: Home", URL: http://www.povo-013.nl/index.html, archived at http://www.webcitation.org/6eB60scyi on December 30, 2015 that says "POVO-013 is a collaboration between primary education (PO) and secondary education (VO) in the Tilburg region."  Could someone who knows Dutch and/or knows the POVO subject matter, add material about POVO and Smoot's activity and/or interest in it?  Thanks.  Updated. Inkwzitv (talk) 06:53, 31 December 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  explanation of POVO acronym and Smoot's interest in it 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
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*Added archive https://web.archive.org/20090922222702/http://www.hulu.com:80/watch/96145/are-you-smarter-than-a-5th-grader-episode-27 to http://www.hulu.com/watch/96145/are-you-smarter-than-a-5th-grader-episode-27
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Before removing pieces of information pertaining Smoot's scientific activity judging arbitrarily them as trivial, please discuss your points here. Please, do not be destructive. Act in a constructive way. Thank you. Best regards. Redwheel (talk) 22:49, 22 October 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: *On which basis do you argue that 'Universe' is an 'obscure' journal? Have you the competences to say that? Is the importance of a fact pertaining an individual estabilished by what the individual himself would allegedly think about the fact, or by its impact on the rest of the community? Let us suppose, say, that somebody with an article in Wikipedia kills somebody else: he would certainly  not like that this fact is reported in her/his article, but this would certainly not be a reason to exclude it. Furthermore, on which basis do you argue that Smoot does not deem as important his membership in 'Universe' only because this fact is not reported in his CVs? It is a mere speculation of yours. Have you checked the date of the last modifications of his pages, curriculm, etc.?  Your censoring smells strongly as an ad-hoc action to support your unjustified desire to have 'Universe' article cancelled. Redwheel (talk) 08:49, 23 October 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: *Please humor me and read WP:AGF? Thanks! You are right, I have no evidence that Smoot does not consider being on the board trivial. The problem is, there is no evidence of the opposite either and that is what we need to include this here. As for Universe being obscure: if there are no sources on a journal except its own website, it has not been included in any selective databases, is published by a minor publisher, has been in existence for only a very short time, then, yes, I think it is justified to call a journal "obscure". Of course, I cannot exclude that Universe will become the hottest journal in physics ever (I dropped my crystal ball yesterday), but at this point, we just don't have any evidence for that. So while it may be a boon for the marketing of such a journal to add a Nobelist to its board, it is far from a scoop for the Nobelist to be on that board. And please, once more, please stop casting aspersions on my motives. I am not accusing you of unduly trying to promote this journal either, so why not calmly provide your arguments so that we can address this issue as scientists: rationally, instead of emotionally. Thanks. --Randykitty (talk) 09:04, 23 October 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: * Likely, you are not a scientist at all: certainly, you are not a scientist working the field covered by 'Universe' able to jusdge on the topics you are speaking about. You deliberately ignore every single piece of information which do not fit your unjustified judgement. Your only weapon, behind which you hide, is OTHERCRAPEXIST or something like this, which you use a rod to stop immediately any rational discussion. I am not even sure you really know the Wikipedia rules on academic journal's notability: I've read them, and I can see that they leave room for cases like this. Indeed, you deliberately ignore that NASA ADS indexed it (oh, but NASA ADS does not release a commercial Impact Factor...How can it be judged as selective?...), that it returns reads, downloads and citations to Universes published articles. Do you want  a Herald Tribune article? Or by new York Times? You deliberately ignore the Altmetric's buzz on 'Universe' s article (and those by Smoot in particular). You have no competences to judge if the coverage by Emerging Citation Index is selective or not, not to say about the other databases. The fact that the publisher is minor or not (and also in this case, you have not competences to say that) does not count anything: only the journal matters (incidentally, Wikipedia has articles on other journals by MDPI). The only thing you understand is the Impact Factor so that if the worst journal in the world has an Impact Factor, then it deserves an article in Wikipedia. Plain and simply. You are so incompetent and ignorant of very basic facts that you are not even able to realize that what it matters in a journal is its Editorial Board and what it publishes: you do not even know who the members of the board are. You are not even able to realize that if a Nobel Laureate decide to join the board of a journal (and to publish in it twice) after some months of life of the journal, well it is an obvious (not for you, clear..) sign by itself of notability (but, perhaps, before joining, Smoot should have consulted some Wikipedia's rule on notability, of course, it is clear....Ah,ah, ah, ah!). Oh, yes, clearly, you now will say that OTHERCRAPEXIST, sure...Your only criterion of a rational, not emotional discussion is OTHERCRAPEXIST-if-you-do-not-like-'Physics Essays'-ask-for-a-deletion-of-it. All the articles on academic journals existing in Wikipedia look like mine, relying upon the same kind of information I provided for 'Universe': oh, yes, certainly OTHERCRAPEXIST: this is the only thing you are able to repeat. You are by no means able to conduct such a discussion in good faith. Please, go away and focus on a topic you are really able to follow in a competent way without appearing as ridicolous as you are now. Best regards Redwheel (talk) 09:38, 23 October 2016 (UTC)

text: * Oh, another little question; I forgot it, sorry...Why did you not (yet?) censored the membership of Universe of other scientists like Gron, Alexander, Odintsov, Zhang? I see that you censored it only in the Smoot's page; why? Please, go to the pages of Gron, Alexander, Odintsov, Zhang and remove immediately that they are in the board! Ah, ah, ah, ah!! Redwheel (talk) 09:45, 23 October 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: *I am not a powerful Admin like you, who can decide the life and the death of whatever you want here; why do not you go to Physics Essays and ask for a deletion of such a rubbish journal? It seems that your severe remarks on 'Universe' apply even to it (oh, wait a moment...No! There is SCOPUS coverage...it is clear that it is notable..Ah, ah, ah) You are in good faith, right? Ah, ah, ah, ah!! Ooops..sorry...I forgot OTHERCRAPEXIST....Redwheel (talk) 09:49, 23 October 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: *I'm not going to respond to this ranting. I have politely asked you to discuss the issues rationally and refrain from personal attacks. --Randykitty (talk) 09:53, 23 October 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: * Are you rushing to cancel the Universe membership in the articles by Gron, etc.? Ah, ah, ah!  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Redwheel (talk • contribs) 09:57, 23 October 2016 (UTC)

text: * Thank you for your useful and constructive edits at the page of the other members of the editorial board of 'Universe'. By the way, I think that if  it is allowed to have their membership to 'Universe' listed in their articles, the same should occur for Smoot as well. Best regards.Redwheel (talk) 10:52, 23 October 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: *If you allow that Universe's editorial membership is in the articles of Gron, Odintsov, Alexander, etc., then you must do the same for Smoot as well. Redwheel (talk) 16:23, 31 October 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: * 1/ As the journal has been judged non-notable by the community, we should perhaps remove its mention from those articles, too. 2/ I gingerly suggest that those scientists are not of the same caliber as Smoot. So being on the board of a journal, even a non-notable one, may be slightly less trivial for them than it is for Smoot. --Randykitty (talk) 17:05, 31 October 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Please, discuss here the changes to be made

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thread_title:  External links modified