When I write a column, Electronic Design’s editors catch some of my errors, and I catch some of theirs. After I print out a column and proofread it twice—for enjoyment and feel and for philosophy—I read it again. Sometimes I even catch errors on a fourth reading. Usually, it’s a matter of my lousy, dubious word usage, not just typos.
I have proofread several books—and for good money. I proofread a couple of my own books, which is pretty hard, of course, as I’m too familiar with my own material. But I did well. And my columns rarely are published with a typo.
One time I was editing a book that had been typeset in a foreign land. I thought I was going crazy, but I found that some of the “compositors” were inserting sabotage errors into pages that had been good. That really kept me on my toes! I hollered and screamed, and I think we got all the errors out.
I’ve never taken a proper course on proofreading. But I’ve graduated from the University of Hard Knocks (UNH), and I’m pretty good at checking things. I know how to do it. I know that when it’s really important to get it right, reading a text out loud nice and slowly (in teams of two or three people) can catch errors that aren’t findable any other way.
How else do you explain the “Vinegar Bible,” where Chapter 20 of Luke was about “The Parable of the Vinegar” rather than the “Vineyard”? Or the “Wicked Bible” where Exodus 20:14 said, “Thou shalt commit adultery”?
I know where there used to be a highway sign, “Equestrinas Prohibited.” Now, is an equestrina a guy on a female horse, or a female riding a horse? I also know where to find a sign that says “Pedestrians Porhibited.”
Ideally, I should have written about “wireless” topics to go along with this issue’s “Wireless Everywhere” theme. I rarely run wireless signals, though I do sometimes chop out wires. One way to run some power or signals up to 100 kV+ is to use a vibrating column of air, with power transducers on the ends. Or, vibrate a teflon rod that can stand off those volts while transmitting mechanical energy.
Comments invited! czar44@me.com —or:
R.A. Pease, 682 Miramar Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94112-1232
BOB PEASE obtained a BSEE from MIT in 1961 and was a Staff Scientist at National Semiconductor Corp., Santa Clara, Calif.