http:\/\/www.space.com\/17001-how-big-is-the-sun-size-of-the-sun.html<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I copied some notes from it that were relevant to my point, stuck them among some other thoughts that I had jotted down for the piece, and then left off writing for a few days. When I came back, I checked the reference to the Lissauer and de Pater book and proceeded.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, though, a critic is publicly attacking me for plagiarism.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
His charge has caught my attention. \u00a0I agree that what I ended up writing is closer than it should be to my source. When I compared the two, frankly, the degree of that closeness surprised me.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
So I want to expressly and gratefully acknowledge my debt to Tim Sharp\u2019s article for material (particularly the numerical data) in the second and third paragraphs of my Introduction.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The possibility of this kind of thing has always concerned me. \u00a0When one writes a lot, drawing on a multitude of\u00a0sources, there is always the possibility for such a slip-up. \u00a0And, plainly, I slipped up.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The data that I cited are widely available, and not unique or proprietary to Tim Sharp\u2019s article, which was simply a convenient source that came up first in a Google search. Nor is his particular language especially ususual. \u00a0I could easily have rephrased my presentation of the data, and, honestly, I thought I had. \u00a0But, as it turns out, I hadn\u2019t. Not enough, anyway.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
At this point, I think the most efficient and practical thing to do is probably to acknowledge my use of Tim Sharp\u2019s article. \u00a0I\u2019ll see if it\u2019s possible and practicable to rephrase paragraphs two and three somewhat, but, to be honest, that seems to me a rather artificial exercise once the connection between what I wrote and what he wrote has been granted. \u00a0It\u2019s not as if I\u2019m trying to cover that connection up, or as if I could do so.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
It turns out that I can make stupid mistakes. \u00a0Who knew?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 I want to acknowledge a problem in a\u00a0short essay of mine that was published in Interpreter this afternoon: \u00a0 http:\/\/www.mormoninterpreter.com\/cloud-illusions-and-the-perfect-day\/ \u00a0 When I went looking for statistics on the size and mass of the Sun while I was thinking about the essay, I found an online item by Tim Sharp entitled \u201cHow big […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>