Talk:Christopher Columbus

October 2006 Peer Review

Can anyone please clarify which of his writings are extant?

Were they published and (or) translated into english? If so, when and by who? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.22.26.25 (talk) 17:06, 19 January 2012 (UTC)

Many of his letters are published and translated in Christopher Columbus: his life, his work, his remains, as revealed by original printed and manuscript records, John Boyd Thacher, Nueva York y Londres, G. P. Putnam’s sons, 1903-4. You may find it in Google books, it's in 3 volumes.Colon-el-Nuevo (talk) 05:45, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

New World?

The second to last sentence of paragraph three in the opening section. "They had, therefore, an enormous impact in the historical development of the modern Western world."

This event had impacts that reached far beyond the Western World. An examination of the agricultural effects alone would show that with many New World agricultural products now wide spread in parts of the world that are hardly Western. Corn. Turkey. Tomatoes. Potatoes. Yams (though probably initially dispersed by Polynesians). That's just a few, and just agriculture. This seems like a VERY narrow view of events. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.68.225.244 (talk) 04:52, 19 November 2011 (UTC)

Columbus's father was polish not Italian — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.185.211.34 (talk) 22:44, 29 November 2011 (UTC)

Fascinating. Reliable sources, please? Qwyrxian (talk) 01:42, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

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Cause of Death and Diagnosis of Reiter's Syndrome

The passage (in the "Death" section) which refers to Columbus having died of a heart attack and having suffered from reactive arthritis needs to be reworked. The WP article currently states, "According to a study, published in February 2007, by Antonio Rodriguez Cuartero, Department of Internal Medicine of the University of Granada, he died of a heart attack caused by reactive arthritis. According to his personal diaries and notes by contemporaries, the symptoms of this illness (burning pain during urination, pain and swelling of the knees, and conjunctivitis) were clearly evident in his last three years."

There are several problems with this passage.

1. The passage makes reference to a study "published" by Dr. Rodriguez Cuartero in February 2007; however, the newspaper article that is provided as a reference does not actually state that Dr. Rodriguez Cuartero published his findings. It says only that he conducted a study. If he did publish his study results, a reference should be provided for the publication; otherwise, the wording of the WP passage should be changed to refer only to a study, not to a published study. This is an important point because the newspaper article identifies Dr. Rodriguez Cuartero as being both a medical specialist and a university professor; publication of a study usually implies, in both medicine and academia, that the study has withstood the scrutiny of peer review and warrants more serious consideration than a non-peer-reviewed study or a mere best-guess opinion.

2. The WP passage says that the written record of Columbus' diaries and notes of his contemporaries documented that Columbus experienced burning pain during urination, a hallmark symptom of Reiter's syndrome. In fact, on the contrary, according to the newspaper article that is provided as a reference, Dr. Rodriguez Cuartero said, "No dicen nada de la uretritis que es el tercer síntoma, pero era muy frecuente entre los españoles por aquella época, por lo que es casi seguro que padeciera dicha enfermedad" (ie, Columbus' sons did not say anything about him having experienced burning pain with urination, which is the third symptom of the syndrome, but that symptom was very common among Spaniards of that period, so it's almost certain that he suffered from the disease).

3. The WP passage states that Dr. Rodriguez Cuartero's study indicates that Columbus died of a heart attack caused by reactive arthritis. However, in the reporting from the newspaper account, Dr. Rodriguez Cuartero sounds much more hesitant in offering a specific diagnosis. I'm also not sure that "heart attack" is the best translation for the diagnostic term he uses (as opposed to "cardiac arrest" or "heart failure"). The newspaper says, "Añade que Colón no pudo padecer 'enfermedades de viejo ni respiratorias, pues no fumó nunca' , por lo cual la causa de su muerte 'pudo ser un posible fallo cardíaco, provocado por un decaimiento orgánico' " (ie He adds that Columbus couldn't have suffered diseases of aging or a respiratory condition, as he never smoked, so the cause of his death could possibly have been heart failure, resulting from malnutrition. --- I'm not sure of the best translation for "decaimiento orgánico," but in this context, I think he means malnutrition or general physical decline, because in the previous quote Dr. Rodriguez had said that the great admiral had died sick, too poor to eat, dejected, and in complete anonymity; malnutrition is a well-established cause of heart failure.)

4. Dr. Rodriguez Cuartero offers a pretty dubious argument for why Columbus could not have had a sexually-transmitted infection ("no fue un mujeriego y guardaba la jerarquía" cuando escogía a una mujer, motivo por el cual Rodríguez Cuartero cree que "no pudo contagiarse de ninguna enfermedad sexual").

I think it would be fair to have a brief section in the WP article discussing symptoms Columbus was known to have experienced (eg the arthritis) and the diagnoses for those symptoms that have been hypothesized over the years, including the recent hypothesis from Dr. Rodriguez Cuartero. But to go beyond that runs a high risk of wandering into highly speculative territory. Doctors often have a hard enough time making a diagnosis for a patient sitting right in front of them today, even with all the modern advances in medical knowledge and access to sophisticated diagnostic tests. Trying to diagnose a patient who has been dead half a millenium is surely problematic even under the best of circumstances. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dezastru (talk • contribs) 21:04, 17 January 2012 (UTC)

crude errors

there is no definite proof that Columbus was born in Genoa. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.82.223.105 (talk) 00:40, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 30 January 2012

Is it possible to add WhoWasColumbus.com (http://www.whowascolumbus.com) to the external links? 212.204.130.90 (talk) 16:34, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

N Not done, not a reliable link, per WP:EL--Jac16888 ^Talk 19:02, 30 January 2012 (UTC)