User:Boris Tsirelson

Professor of mathematics; details. Also a Wikipedian; details.

Articles that I created

Non-Borel set

Conditioning (probability)

Space (mathematics)

Probability space

Theory (mathematics)

Articles I've contributed to

Plane (geometry)‎

Line (geometry)

Articles approved by me

Neighbourhood (topology)

On approval

To a reader

Trust the information in the articles approved by me as much as you trust the information in mathematical textbooks. (In both cases errors are possible but quite rare.)

To an author (editor, constable etc)

Here is my opinion, probably controversial. All that is only about mathematical articles; about others I have no opinion.

Articles may be compared according to: importance of the topic; accessibility; scope; coherence, and many other criteria. Best articles may be rewarded somehow. However, the approval is not a kind of reward! The approval mechanism is the feature of CZ. If a trustworthy article remains "unapproved, subject to disclaimer, not to be cited", it is a loss for readers and CZ.

An approved article can and should be developed further. But (unlike software firms) we should not create versions like 5.3.7, nor even 1.1; after version 1 we should usually proceed toward version 2 (maybe after a year). Only in some regrettable cases version 1.1 becomes necessary.

Improvements of any kind to any article are welcome from everyone at any time, before and after the first approval. They should accumulate toward the next version. A burst of collective activity just before approval, is it a good idea? It can create fuss and bustle, and make an article somewhat mosaic.

Compare it to our Approval Standards Draft for discussion: "Approval should not be denied on the grounds that the article has omissions, unless these undermine the overall balance and accuracy of the article.

Approval is an ongoing process; even if an editor believes that the article has some significant shortcomings, then the article may still be approved, but the editor should declare any criticisms or reservations at the top of the article Talk page to direct further improvements to the article."

A quote

It is better for someone to never come to CZ than for them to come to CZ, get a bad first impression and never come back. --Chris Key 01:29, 18 April 2010 (UTC)