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Reviewer: Zawed (talk · contribs) 08:55, 18 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]


Comments

On reviewing this, I think it needs some work before it is GA, primarily to improve readability. I have made some initial comments, some of which suggest some trimming. In light of that, I will have a more detailed review of the text once you have reviewed and enacted/responded to my suggestions. I have still commented on a few things I picked up as I went along though. Part of my interest in this article is that I actually work in patent law. Admittedly that is in New Zealand, but I do have experience with the US patent system.

Background

  • As a general comment, the background is overly detailed, with some material that is quite tangential to the subject e.g. Johnston, Hanks, the purchase of the canoe, "Lincoln took this opportunity in the next six years of employment to acquire any learning material he could and consulted with scholars". I believe a critical eye needs to be turned on this section to keep it to the pertinent information.
Furthermore, the last two paragraphs feel like the belong in the Patent section, since they pertain directly to the subject of the article.


  • He eventually came up with an idea for inflatable flotation. suggest: "He eventually came up with an invention to achieve this, which involved flotation bladders".


  • Lincoln labelled his innovation Manner for Buoying Vessels to get them over shoals. I don't think the "to get them over shoals" is part of the title (which should be italicised). Also move the link on shoals to its first mention. Actually, I note that the title of the patent is "Buoying Vessels over Shoals", so that should be explicitly stated as well.


  • It is the only United States patent ever registered to a reigning President. This implies that Lincoln was president at the time he was granted the patent. Also this sentence is a little out of place here; I would suggest moving it to the end of the patent section.


  • Lincoln's patented invention model... this statement combines two separate things, one the patented invention, two, the model. Delete the reference to the model.


  • The filing date of the application for a patent is noted in the infobox but not explicitly stated in the article. As such it is uncited.


  • (beginning March 1847) I would actually integrate this into the text, rather than bracket it.


  • which became patent No. 6,469 on May 22, 1849 suggest "which was granted as Patent No. 6,469 on May 22, 1849."


  • The model probably would have been submitted to the USPTO with the application, so if the sources allow it, explicitly state that.

Interestingly, even today, if a patent application is filed for a perpetual motion machine, the patent examiner is allowed to request that a working model be submitted.


  • About that time, Lincoln took his four year old son... This immediately follows the comments of Paul Johnston on the merits of Lincoln's invention, which seem to have been made in 2006. Ergo, this sets the context for "About that time"


  • Link the patent office on first mention.


Patent

  • This section only consists of images. As noted above, I think some of the content from the background section should be moved here. For the image of the model, the caption starts: "Lincoln's patent showing...". It really should say something like: "The model submitted by Lincoln to the USPTO for his patent, showing..." For the patent drawings image, capitalise the p in "patent No. 6,469


Legacy

  • Lincoln is the only United States president to have taken out a patent. His invention on a device to buoy boats over sandbars was not a commercial success. I feel these two sentences would be better off in the previous section. Also, the first sentence repeats subject matters already expressed (see my comment above RE reigning president).


  • The U. S. patent law has a constitutional foundation... This doesn't quite read right, suggest "Patent law in the United States has a constitutional foundation..."


  • I would move the entire first paragraph of this section to the end. That way the legacy section starts off with Lincoln's exposure to patent law. It also puts things more chronologically.


  • Lincoln was himself a patent lawyer. this sentence should be moved to the start of the following paragraph.


References

  • Note 26 is to a catalog of books, including Emerson (listed as a source); should Emerson be cited instead?


  • Note 28 links to a different website altogether - doesn't strike me as a RS.


  • Note 30 (McLean) seems to be a book so should be listed with sources for consistency.


  • Note 32 the presentation of this cite seems inconsistent with the other journals cited.


Sources

  • An ISBN/ISSN for Dobyns?


  • AN OCLC for Writer's Project? Ditton Herndon and McCormick?


  • ISBN for Mable? Also it should be Heroes in the title


Images

  • Image tags look appropriate.
That's all for now and apologies for the delay in providing these comments. Zawed (talk) 02:59, 6 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

You missed some issues noted:

  • There is still some excessive detail in the background section.


  • It is the only United States patent ever registered to a United States President. As previously noted above, this sentence is out of place, suggest moving it to where it mentions congressman. I suggest something like "At the time the Patent was issued, Lincoln was a Congressman. He is the only United States president to be a patentee."


  • Lincoln labeled his innovation Buoying Vessels Over Shoals to get them over shoals. This sentence is about what he called the invention. The "to get over shoals" is about the use of the invention.


  • There is still a typo in the title of the Mabel ref.


That's just on a first pass of your changes. Zawed (talk) 07:25, 10 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Coming back to this now.

Lead

  • Abraham Lincoln conceived the idea of inventing a mechanism that would lift a boat over shoals and obstructions when on two occasions... this duplicates part of the previous sentence. Suggest "Abraham Lincoln conceived the invention idea of inventing a mechanism that would lift a boat over shoals and obstructions when on two occasions..."


  • Move the last sentence of the first para to the end of the second. Keeps things chronological.


  • This device was composed... suggest "Lincoln's device was composed..."


  • Add a sentence after the first of the 2nd paragraph, stating something like "Filed on March 10, 1849, Lincoln's patent was issued as Patent No. 6,469 later that year, on 22 May." This provides context/antecedence for the following sentence which refers to the successful patent application.


Background

  • There could be a bit more trimming here. My suggestion is to change the following sentence that appears in the first paragraph: "He, John D. Johnston (his stepmother's son) and John Hanks were hired as laborers by Denton Offutt to take a flatboat and its cargo of merchandise to New Orleans." Then delete the first three sentences of the second paragraph. That would keep this section more on point.


  • link for Old Sangamon town? Also mention that they were travelling on the Sangamon River (and link the river).


  • As the boat was sinking... the previous sentence stated the boat got "hung up", which I interpret as getting stuck, not sinking.


  • Lincoln started his political career in New Salem. Near the top of his agenda was improvement... suggest moving this to end the previous paragraph, "When Lincoln started his political career in New Salem, an important issue for him was improvement..."


Patent

  • There are a couple of sentences chronologically out of place here. Suggest "Robbins processedfiled the application on March 10, 1849. It was granted as..." then delete the "originally filed" sentence. The sentence "Lincoln's patent is the end result of Offutt's..." would work better to follow that where it is mentioned that it was "granted as"


  • The device was never produced for practical use.[1][2] There are doubts as to whether it would have actually worked... suggest "The device was never produced for

practical use[1][2] and there are doubts as to whether it would have actually worked." It combines two quite short sentences.


  • Lincoln took his four year old son... At this point, split this into its own paragraph and then whack the sentence "Lincoln's model that he submitted..." to end it.


Legacy

  • It led him to deliver two lectures on the subject,... In the lead, it explicitly says that these were delivered while he was president. It doesn't say that here.


References

  • In note 23 (McCormick), the year is bracketed which is inconsistent with the treatment of the other refs.


That's it for me. Zawed (talk) 10:08, 12 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

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