In running down references, I've noticed that the citations some authors offer are in error more often than I'd expect. Here, in no particular order, are corrections to such errors. This list is probably not complete, as I dug up some references from other sources; only discrepancies I've noticed — particularly, errors that made references hard to obtain — are listed.
I've found the following errors in O'Connell's bibliography. If you own a copy of his book, you might like to note these corrections in the margin.
| Ref. number | printed | should be |
| -------- | ------------ | ---------------- |
| 16 | Chappel | Chappell |
| 22 | Glint | Glimt |
| 46 | 38 | 33 |
| 46 | 514-515 | 515-516 |
| 49 | 114 | 114-118 |
| 54 | Optics of the Air | Physics of the Air |
| Phys.Rev. | [omit — this is a book] | |
| 1919 | 1940 | |
| 65 | 214 | 215 |
| 72 | Köhl | Køhl |
| 84 | MacAdie | McAdie |
| 99 | 1886 | 1887 |
| 109 | 1878 | 1898 |
| 148 | 80 | 81 |
| 175 | Bergsoë | Bergsøe |
| 180 | 688 | 588 |
| 181 | O. Boulet | C. Boulet |
| 35 | BSAF 35 | |
| 185 | Buronnet | Baronnet |
| 194 | 34 | 38 |
| 206 | — [Ellison] | G. Napier Clark |
| 206 | 1906 | 1905 |
| 211 | Flaisleu | Flaislen |
| 233 | K. J. Lucaj | K. I. Luchai |
| Weltkunde | Mirovedenie | |
| 1927 | 1926
(see discussion) | |
| 238 | 1887 | 1886 |
| 282 | Senonque | Senouque |
| 56 | 256 | |
| 298 | 1917 | 1916 |
| 301 | (p.) 294 | No. 294 |
| 303 | 12 | 13 |
| 306 | 216 | 217 or 218 |
| 307 | 1925 | 1935 |
O'Connell's ref. 54 confuses Humphreys's 1919 article in J. Franklin Inst. (ref. 53) with his book, which is the intended citation (correct page).
O'Connell's ref. 206 is garbled. There is a GF note on the cited volume and page, but the author is Clark, not Ellison; and the year is 1905, not 1906.
O'Connell's ref. 233 is a nightmare; see the discussion of this problem on another page.
In sum, about 10% of O'Connell's references contain errors.
(See also my rediscussion of O'Connell's photographs.)
Both the old Dover (1954) and the new Springer (1993) editions of Minnaert's book contain a few errors.
P. 59 of the old (Dover, 1954) edition: Minnaert has “Whitnell” for “Whitmell”. As C. T. Whitmell was one of the most prolific of green-flash observers, publishing at least 18 notes in JBAA, Nature, Symons's Met. Mag., etc., this slip suggests how unfamiliar Minnaert was with the green-flash literature. The error is copied by the unreliable Miss Botley in Weather 26, 354-357 (1971).
Farther down on the same page, Minnaert has “Continho” for “Coutinho”. Again the error occurs in Miss Botley's article in Weather — one of the most error-laden publications ever printed on green flashes. I assume she got this one from Minnaert too.
P. 83 of the new edition gives the height of McLennan's aircraft observation as 39,000 ft., while the original reference gives 35,000 ft. I suspect the error lies in a mistaken conversion from feet to meters and back again.
The reference list in Feenstra Kuiper's thesis is full of errors. About half his references came originally from Mulder, and half from Fisher. Remarkably, he criticizes Fisher's paper as “swarming with misprints;” yet in 9 of his 22 errors in references taken from Fisher, Fisher has them right and Feenstra Kuiper has them wrong. Of the remaining 13 errors, which are all of the mistakes in Fisher's original list, Feenstra Kuiper has not corrected a single one. As he has not corrected any error of Fisher's, but added 9 more of his own, it is easy to see whose work swarms with errors. Indeed, Feenstra Kuiper even has the wrong year for Fisher's review paper.
Anyway, here's a list of the errors I've found in Feenstra Kuiper's references. The references are not numbered, so I have to list them alphabetically by author, as he did. He has mis-copied the names of many authors; I list them under the name as he spells it.
Many authors have multiple publications listed. In general I give only the page number or year that needs to be corrected; in cases where there are many papers, or more than one in the same year, I give fuller details.
| Author as given | printed | should be | |
| ----------- | ------------ | ----------------- | |
| Mac Adie | Mac Adie | McAdie | |
| Baines | 52 | 53 | error is Fisher's |
| Braak | H en D 52 (1905) | p. 52 (1915) | error is Mulder's |
| Childe | 231 | 321 | Fisher is correct |
| G. Napier Clark | 182 | 183 | error is Fisher's |
| J. E. Clark | 26 | 25 |
error is Fisher's |
| Danes | 1918 | 1917 | error is Fisher's |
| Melzi d'Evril | d'Evril | d'Eril | error is Mulder's |
| Goodacre | 1940 | 1904 | Fisher is correct |
| Groff | 3,4 | (3) 4 (i.e., series 3, vol.4) |
Fisher is correct |
| Guebhart | Guebhart | Guebhard | |
| Guebhart | C.R. | Séances Soc. Fr. de Physique | |
| Guillaume | 38 | 33 | |
| Hawkes | Hawkes | Hawks |
error is Fisher's |
| Julius | Phys. Z. ... (1901) | Phys. Z. ...(1905) |
error is Fisher's |
| Mc. Knight | Mc. Knight | McKenzie Knight | Fisher has “McK.” |
| Mc. Knight | 79 | 78 | error is Fisher's |
| Kühl | 435 | 345 | Mulder is correct |
| Lippingcott | Lippingcott | Lippincott | Fisher is correct |
| Marckwick | Marckwick | Markwick | error is Fisher's |
| de Maubeuge | 1887 | 1886 | error is Fisher's |
| de Maubeuge | Rev. Sci. 12 | Rev. Sci. 13 | |
| [but that paper is not by de Maubeuge] | |||
| Mill | 70 | [last page of preceding item] |
error is Fisher's |
| Keatly Moore | Keatly Moore | Keatley Moore |
Fisher is correct |
| Perrine | 214 | 319 | |
| Piot Bey | 1915 | 1898 | Fisher is correct |
| Plasmann | Plasmann | Plassmann | |
| Schering | 1914 | 1905 | Fisher is correct |
| Soncke | Soncke | Sohncke |
Fisher is correct; error is Mulder's |
| Thunburn | Thunburn | Thurburn | error is Mulder's |
| Tréves | Tréves | Tréve |
Fisher is correct |
| Voûte | [vol.] 281 | [page] 281 | |
| Whitmell | E.M. 74, 86 (1902) | E.M. 74, 86 (1901) |
error is Fisher's |
| Whitmell | Leeds Astr. Ass. | Leeds Astr. Soc. |
error is Fisher's |
| Whitmell | N. 96 672 (1916) | [no such reference] | |
| A Fellow of the R.A.S. | 77 | 76 |
error is Fisher's |
| Passengers s.s.S.Laurant | Laurant | Laurent |
Fisher is correct |
In addition, I should point out that Feenstra Kuiper consistently mis-attributes the work of Libert to Cornu, in his discussion of the durations of green flashes on pp. 40 – 42 of his thesis.
Thus, nearly 20% of Feenstra Kuiper's references contain errors.
Although Fisher's slips were listed above under Feenstra Kuiper, it's convenient to list Fisher's here separately. Note that all of these errors were reproduced by Feenstra Kuiper, with none corrected.
| Fisher's # | printed | should be |
| ------- | ---------- | ----------- |
| 5 | 52 | 53 |
| 26 | 182 | 183 |
| 28 | 26 | 25 |
| 34 | 1918 | 1917 |
| 46 | 1906 | 1907 |
| 54 | Hawkes | Hawks |
| 62 | 1901 | 1905 |
| 66 | 79 | 78 |
| 84 | Marckwick | Markwick |
| 88 | 1887 | 1886 |
| 150 | 1902 | 1901 |
| 154 | Association | Society |
Fisher's numbers 97 and 98 specify separately the first and last pages of the paper cited; these should be combined.
Also, in Fisher's No. 67, if the volume is given as 13, it should be specified that this is in the Neue Folge (new series). The volume number is 29 in the whole series.
Fisher's No. 124 gives p.126, which is where green flashes are mentioned; the whole paper begins on p.125. I do not consider this a serious error. Similarly, his No. 173 gives p.77, while the paper starts on p.76.
There are a couple of other things one might quibble about in Fisher's list. His #62 and #129 are really the same paper (a review of Julius's work by Schering). His #163 is a short review by Arthur Mee of some correspondence, mainly a letter from J. F. Young, from which Mee quotes extensively. Fisher attributes this item to Young; I list it under “Mee,” as he signed it.
The overall error rate is about 8%.
Many thanks to Stephen Williams for assistance in checking Fisher's references!
Steve Williams has also compiled an index to Mulder's references. In checking through them, we have found several typos in Mulder's book. More were found by Walter Nissen, and are included in this list:
| Mulder's page # | printed | should be | |
| ---------------- | ------------ | ------------ | |
| 1, 4th line up | discribed | described | |
| 2, line 16 | opeing | opening | |
| 4, 11th line up | rohten | roten | |
| 4, 11th line up | eben so | ebenso | |
| 19, line 1 | Soncke | Sohncke | |
| 19, note 1 | Soncke | Sohncke | |
| 20, note 1 | 189 | 1890 | |
| 22, line 1 | 1898 | 1893 | |
| 22, line 18 | q'un | qu'un | |
| 24, note 1 | 1898 | 1893 | |
| 25, line 12 | Kieslingh | Kiessling | |
| 27, line 3 | Chas. F. Whitmell | Chas. T. Whitmell | |
| 27, note 1 | 1987 | 1897 | |
| 29, line 6 | Switserland | Switzerland | |
| 30, last paragraph | 1889 | 1898 | |
| 33, middle | [Groff] 1893 | 1898 | |
| 33, middle | [Mallet] 1898 | 1897 | |
| 37, line 14 | whit | with | |
| 38, 3/4 down | Schulke | Schülke | |
| 38, note 1 | dellá | della | |
| 38, note 3 | p. 10 | p. 16 | |
| 40, note 2 | C. F. Whitmell | C. T. Whitmell | |
| 47, 8th line up | distincly | distinctly | |
| 48, line 17 | then the | than the | |
| 48, note 2 | Mai | May | |
| 50, 9th line up | circumference | diameter | |
| 50, note 1 | [minor errors in title] | [see p.121.] | |
| 50, note 1 | 1905 | 1915 | |
| 53, 13th line up | momentarely | momentarily | |
| 54, line 11 | orangs-red | orange-red | |
| 54, (twice) | Keatly Moore | Keatley Moore | |
| 54, (thrice) | Keatly Moore | Keatley Moore | |
| 55, 6th line up | Whittmell | Whitmell | |
| 56, 2/3 down | WHITTMELL | WHITMELL | |
| 56, 2/3 down | Whittmell | Whitmell | |
| 58, note 1 | Nachtrichten | Nachrichten | |
| 60, 2nd line up | Saint-Adresse | Sainte-Adresse | |
| 62, note 1 | . . . | Vol.15 (1905) | |
| 65, line 11 | on for | one for | |
| 66, 4th line up | ad | and | |
| 67, note 1 | C. F. Whitmell | C. T. Whitmell | |
| 67, note 1 | VVI | XVI | |
| 68, line 2 | diffraction | refraction | |
| 69, line 6 | savely | safely | |
| 69, 1/4 down | Dr. Ball | Dr. de Ball | |
| 70, note 1 | green ray | Green Flash | |
| 70, note 1 | 19 . . . | 1905. | |
| 71, 1/3 down | 1905 | 1906 | |
| 72, 1/2 down | Maclaer | Maclear | |
| 73, 10th line up | untill | until | |
| 73, 5th line up | Rambant | Rambaut | |
| 74, line 8 | meteorologist | meteorologists | |
| 75, line 11 | discribe | describe | |
| 77, 13th line up | observator | observer | |
| 81, 2/3 down | A. C. Cann Lippincott | R. C. Cann Lippincott | |
| 84, note 1 | Thunburn | Thurburn | |
| 86, line 13 | beyond is | beyond it | |
| 87, top half | Thunburn | Thurburn [3 places] | |
| 87, line 15 | effected | affected | |
| 87, line 18 | effect | affect | |
| 88, middle | Mc. Kendrik | McKendrick | |
| 90, note 1 | 1906 | 1907 | |
| 91, line 3 | [omitted sentence] | This slowly diminished
until it disappeared. | |
| 92, note 1 | R. c. Cann | R. C. Cann | |
| 92, note 1 | 1906 | 1907 | |
| 92, note 2 | Dämmerungsbeobachtingen | Dämmerungsbeobachtungen | |
| 96, line 11 | verschwinden | versinken | |
| 97, note 1 | R.C.F. | R.C.T. | |
| 98, note 1 | van | von | |
| 99, line 15 | saw na | saw a | |
| 100, note 1 | 56 | 829 | Kühl's error |
| 108, note 1 | Eeine | Eine | |
| 114, line 7 | d'Evril | d'Eril | |
| 116, note 1 | bij | by | |
| 117, note 1 | bij | by | |
| 118, 4th line from end | juist | just | |
| 119, line 12 | When ever | Whenever | |
| 119, 8th line up | inexplicable | inexplicable save | |
| 122, line 3 | sonsecutive | consecutive | |
| 123, 10th line up | first bright | very bright | |
| 124, line 11 | uper | upper | |
| 125, 14th line up | In all | Of all | |
| 128, last line | occurence | occurrence | |
| 130, 6th line up | spectrocope | spectroscope | |
| 131, line 10 | specrte | spectre | |
| 135, line 19 | i.g. | e.g. | |
| 136, line 14 | says, p. 66 | says, p. 67 | |
| 137, line 16 | shutt | shut | |
| 138, line 10 | uper | upper | |
| 139, lines 10, 13 | d'Evril | d'Eril |
Many of the errors listed above are in the references; some are in the body of the text.
One of the more peculiar errors is the mistaken reference to p. 56 of Arrhenius, on p.100 of Mulder's book. This error is copied directly from Kühl's paper. P.56 of Arrhenius's book discusses variable stars, and is clearly irrelevant. The green flash is discussed on p.856; but the item being referenced, namely the value of 29" for the dispersion at the horizon (which Arrhenius attributes to Montigny), does not appear there, but on p. 829.
About a quarter of Mulder's references contain errors.
Many thanks to Stephen Williams for indexing Mulder's references!
If you find additional corrections, please send them to me by email.
© 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005 – 2007, 2014 Andrew T. Young