Boy brings encyclopaedia to book
A schoolboy has uncovered several mistakes in the latest edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica – regarded by readers as an authority on everything.
Lucian George, 12, from north London, found five errors on two of his favourite subjects – central Europe and wildlife – and wrote to complain.
The book’s editor wrote back thanking him for “pointing out several errors and misleading statements”.
I think this is quite ironic given the article written last year concerning the lack of authority of the Wikipedia by Al Fasoldt and former Encyclopædia Britannica Editor in Chief Robert McHenry’s views.
I have to say that the following statement made by Lucien’s father Gabriel George comes as a bit of a surprise to me.
Gabriel, who works as a publishing editor, was not surprised by his son’s discoveries.
He said: “I know how easy it is to make mistakes. Hopefully they can be corrected.
“The encyclopaedia cost me £700 [$1,320] and it’s nice to know you can rely on it.
“It’s a huge work and is full of fascinating information on virtually everything. The other night we had an argument about the depth of the English Channel and all the facts were there.”
I would have thought that he would be quite aggrieved given that he has paid hundreds of pounds for an encyclopaedia that has mistakes that his son discovered in an area where he has some expertise and who knows how many mistakes that his son hasn’t discovered in areas that he has lesser knowledge of.
I’m not sure how he can be sure he can rely upon it now that he is aware of the fact it contains mistakes, or how any argument can now be settled by facts contained within concerning the depth of the English Channel.
This of course does nothing to solve the problems of the Wikipedia but it does undermine the Encyclopædia Britannica’s claim of superior authority.
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