On Sat, 2003-04-26 at 16:33, Daniel Mayer wrote:
For example there are specialists for almost everything so the result would be that Almost Everything In Wikipedia Would Be Capitalized:
Anyone know where the Clam Dip is? Hip Hop is a form of Rap Music. Some say that Global Warming and Ozone Depletion will kill us all. What type of Map Projection is that Topographic Map in? The Crystal Structure of lithium is Cubic Face-Centered. John Doe is a Computer Science pioneer in Integrated Circuits. At work I help to design Roundabout Intersections for Transit Villages.
Look at those straw men burn! "Clam Dip" is a generic food; if it were a specific recipe, like "Martha Stewart's Famous Clam Dip", then it would be capitalized. "Global Warming" and "Ozone Depletion" are not specific scientific phenomena, nor would they be capitalized as such by specialists in climatic and atmospheric science. "Map Projection" also is a class, not a particular thing, as is "Topographic Map". Etc.
The irony is that the one thing that could *almost* be plausibly capitalized above (other than "John Doe"), is lithium, which you didn't capitalize.
The second irony is that by and large I agree with his position on capitalization. Looking, for example, through the American Birding Association checklist ( http://www.americanbirding.org/checklist/chklst1.htm ) I see basically no names that in general publications are capitalized. One doesn't normally write "The Corn Crakes chattered as Bobby Talmidge walked down the dusty road" or "The Turkey Vulture, counter to popular stereotype, attends to its young with tender care."
On the other hand, for uncommon or somewhat ambiguous species, it would be odd to write "Shy albatrosses greeted Sir Putney Drake when he first set foot in Newfoundland." instead of "Shy Albatrosses greeted Sir Putney Drake..."
Whatever the case, I don't think we'll be hurt either way, and I don't think it's worth antagonizing useful contributors by changing their work (and making no other contributions) and then implying that they're elitist bastards for complaining.