[firedrake] Fwd: New College regulations on Lectures start today

[David Ham]

Dear All,

I feel duty-bound to forward to you this morning's Imperial College policy
change.

David

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Director of Mathematics Undergraduate Studies <ma.dug at imperial.ac.uk>
Date: 1 April 2015 at 08:52
Subject: New College regulations on Lectures start today
To: Maths - All Research Associates <ma-all-ras-dl at imperial.ac.uk>, Maths -
All Academic Staff <ma-all-academic-staff-dl at imperial.ac.uk>


Dear All,

In an attempt to combat plagiarism and inadequate referencing in student
projects, the College has decreed that academic staff should lead by
example. It is now a strict College regulation that “whenever a lecturer
mentions a source by name, an appropriate reference must be supplied.” This
sounds reasonable, but I am afraid it will have some unfortunate
consequences for us all.

>From the start of this month, whenever in lectures we use the name of a
mathematician (or other scientist) whether living or dead, we must also
provide a full reference. So for example “Poisson’s equation” must
henceforth be accompanied by a written reference such as:

S.D. Poisson d’Avril, "Remarques sur une équation qui se présente dans la
théorie des attractions des sphéroïdes" Nouveau Bull. Soc. Philomathique de
Paris, 3 (1813) 388–392.

Notes and Clarifications:

(1)     When citing a dual source, BOTH authors must be credited. So for
example Cayley-Hamilton, Euler-Lagrange, Bolzano-Weirstrass, Bose-Einstein
each require two references.
(2)     If a topic is sufficiently standard that the name does not require
a capital letter, then no reference need be supplied. Thus “Cartesian
coordinates” requires a reference to René Descartes, but “cartesian
coordinates” does not.
(3)     Adjectives, such as Bayesian or Jacobian, will require referencing
to the appropriate author.
(4)     The Head of Dept has been asked to report any failure to comply
with these regulations to the pro-rector for Quality Assurance in the
Communication of Knowledge (QUACK).

Usually, I manage to insulate the department from foolishness of this sort,
but alas, not today. If you feel you wish to express concern about these
changes, the heads of department or faculty, r.craster at ic.ac.uk or
fonsdean at ic.ac.uk always welcome any constructive criticism.

    All the best,

           Jonathan,      April 1st 2015



-------------------------------------------------------------
Jonathan Mestel, Professor of Applied Mathematics
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Mathematics Dept, Imperial College London
Tel: 0207 594 8513 Room: Huxley 630
ma.dug at ic.ac.uk



-- 
Dr David Ham
Departments of Mathematics and Computing
Imperial College London

http://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/david.ham
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