Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Mikhail Katz

Mikhail Katz

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Not notable William M. Connolley (talk) 10:45, 18 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Science-related deletion discussions. — • Gene93k (talk) 13:50, 18 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Academics and educators-related deletion discussions. — • Gene93k (talk) 13:50, 18 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Comment. Would the nominator care to expand on his reasons for this nomination? Xxanthippe (talk) 22:56, 18 May 2011 (UTC).[reply]

Not really. He just isn't notable. Is there any more to be said? William M. Connolley (talk) 09:03, 19 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Delete. Average academic mathematician. Based on Google Scholar search, his h-index appears to be about 17 which is nothing special for a mathematics professor with tenure at a reputable research university. No evidence of notability beyond normal academic activities. Perchloric (talk) 02:18, 19 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

It would be valuable if you would source your data on the h index of mathematicians. Although there is general agreement that some subjects (like neurobiology) get higher cites than others (like systematic theology), there seems to be a lack of quantitative data on such issues, and judgements about notability tend to be made on the basis of past precedent. Although h index is certainly not the only factor to be considered in assessing notability (the above average professor [1]) it does have the advantage of being objective (after making allowance for subject differences, self-cites etc.) Xxanthippe (talk) 04:37, 19 May 2011 (UTC).[reply]

Keep Perchloric is correct that the subject's citation rates, viewed as statistics alone, do not appear to rise above the level of a typical math professor with tenure at a reputable research university (say, top 50-70 worldwide). However, I feel that departs somewhat from the "average academic" rule and sets the bar too high. Researchers significant enough to be awarded tenure at research universities are those judged by their peers to be of such benefit to the profession, that they are given lifetime appointments at decent salaries for little teaching, purely on the belief that they will continue to do good research. Those who fulfill that promise in a long and fruitful career are not insignificant in their contribution to human knowledge, and they are far and away above average. Ray^Talk 05:32, 19 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

WP:PROF applies I presume. You assertion that merely being tenured is enough looks to be wrong William M. Connolley (talk) 09:03, 19 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

My assertion is that "merely" being tenured at a top ranked research university and hundreds of citations in a low-citation field (in other words, being known and greatly respected among peers) is enough. This is quite different from your typical tenured prof at a middle level university who teaches 4 sections of 120 calculus students each per semester. Ray^Talk 13:20, 19 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Keep He wrote a book in a prestigious series that is cited by leading mathematicians. (Katz, Mikhail G. Systolic geometry and topology. With an appendix by Jake P. Solomon. Mathematical Surveys and Monographs, 137. American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI, 2007. xiv+222 pp. ISBN: 978-0-8218-4177-8 MR2292367) If Mikhael Gromov finds Katz's work to be notable, then it's notable, regardless of h-indexing (where h seems to stand for hoi polloi!). This is a short article, and doesn't seem to be a vanity piece. It's less clear that the educational work is notable or need be mentioned. Kiefer.Wolfowitz 06:31, 19 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Keep. Marcel Berger in his popular article "What is... a Systole?" lists the book as one of two seminal books in systolic geometry. The author contributed a section to the widely influential book "metric structures for Riemannian and non-Riemannian spaces" (over 800 cites in google scholar). Tkuvho (talk) 08:30, 19 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The article cited by Tkuvho was from the Notices of the American Mathematical Society, and was in the series discussing recent clever ideas (What is ... ?). The book cited by Tkuvho was written by the aforementioned Gromov. Kiefer.Wolfowitz 09:16, 19 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Comment Just to clarify the "What is...?" series does not describe recent clever ideas. It describes mathematical objects that are not typically encountered in standard set of graduate courses. To quote the AMS on the subject they say The “WHAT IS...?” column carries short (one- or two-page), nontechnical articles aimed at graduate students. Each article focuses on a single mathematical object, rather than a whole theory. The Notices welcomes feedback and suggestions for topics for future columns. Messages may be sent to notices-whatis@ams.org.

Counter-point: Contrary to Tkuvho, Berger's article never uses the word "seminal", which would have implied originality and influence. It just says that Katz's book "covers almost all the results and references for recent developments". Katz's book is a review; it's a textbook based on a course he taught. It has 24 citations in Google Scholar. That does not make it, or him, notable. It just means he has written a decent review that one of the experts in the field said is useful. Perchloric (talk) 01:49, 20 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Delete Per WP:Academic, the best case to be made for him is 1, but as a professional mathematician it is my personal opinion he has done solid work but not significant. I would go on to point out that writing a book is neither uncommon for mathematicians, the fact that having a book is not considered significant is even listed in the notes to criteria 1, and they use a mathematics book that gets reviewed on something like mathscinet as an example. He is a good mathematician, but just not especially notable. Thenub314 (talk) 18:52, 19 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]