Talk:Tris(ethylenediamine)cobalt(III) chloride

Krystiillchen

Krystiillchen, is that German? V8rik 21:08, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

A surprise spelling for me too, but that's what he wrote.--Smokefoot 00:10, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

But what's the purpose of quoting that in the original language? Why not say "golden-yellow needle crystals" or something like that? --Itub (talk) 14:54, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

I thought that the a quote from Alfred Werner describing his important compound lent some authenticity and spice to this article. In general, WE-Chem articles would benefit from occasional (i.e. rare) succinct quotes from discoverers. But if the people want to translate the phrase because my instincts are too romantic, I would understand. --Smokefoot (talk) 23:17, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

I agree that a quote can add spice to an article, but it needs to be a "spicy" quote, not a plain description of the color and shape of the crystals. As an example of a memorable quote from a scientific paper, I like "It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material" by Watson and Crick, in what has been called "the most famous scientific understatement".[1]. I also think that quoting in foreign languages looks pretentious and makes the article less accessible. You can translate the quote and include the original version as a footnote in case the reader wants to read the original. --Itub (talk) 08:46, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

Your comments are helpful. I'll see if I can find something pithy.--Smokefoot (talk) 14:01, 7 December 2007 (UTC)