Date: 27 Feb 96 13:19:01 EST
From: TERRY KING <101522.2625@compuserve.com>
To: Multiple Recipients <alt-photo-process@vast.unsw.edu.au>
Subject: Copy of: Re: Manual Hate Session
FROM: TERRY KING, 101522,2625
TO: Henk Thijs, INTERNET:tys@masadm1.mas.eurocontrol.be
DATE: 27/02/96 17:37
Re: Copy of: Re: Manual Hate Session
Henk
Thanks
I want to scream when I read computer manuals. In fact for the non 'anorak ,(UK
English for 'nerd')' the manual is worse than useless; one has to learn by
doing. They are often written by illiterates who are debasing the language.
As to foreign accents, in our salad days we used to start and finish our
holidays in Amsterdam. At the end of the holday, when we drove over the Dutch
border, we always felt at home again.
My main problem with alternative photography manuals, apart from the accuracy
and credibility of the 'recipes', is that one finds that a small idea is
expanded to fill 300 pages. The anology of Boyle's law comes to mind. I have
examples on my shelves of books meeting this description over the past 100
years.
I think that the authors sometimes assume that as they have never followed the
instructions themselves that nobody else will be foolhardy enough to do so. The
difficulty is that when the authors get the chemistry wrong, the non chemist is
not going to know that the proportions of the chemicals in the recipe cannot
physically react in the way the author suggests. In general, it is essential to
clear the recipes with a chemist or the punters will start killing themselves.
One might ask why not ask a chemist to write the book. One's experience is that
chemists can be worse than writers of computer manuals in assuming that because
they understand everybody else will, e.g. 'the ferrous salt is reduced to the
metallic state' means 'the salt is changed to iron'. There have been examples
posted on this list. It is like a plumber expecting everyone to know what a
'back return scrunge grommet' is. I made that up, but it would look quite good
in a dissertation for a degree in' the built environment'.
I still find the two RPS booklets on 'Pigment Printing Processes' by
T.I.Williams and ' A History of the Photographic Bichromate Processes' by
Arthur T Gill in their 32 and 11 pages respectively, are among the most useful
'books' on my shelves. One of the two was the headmaster of a primary school,
his lecturing style was not good, but his book is. One wonders why. They are
both still available from the RPS in Bath. Anybody who is interested in
alternative processes who does not own these two books is doing himself a
disfavour.
I remember that early in my career I had to read the financial cases for capital
expenditure in Eurocontrol. They were more effective than Mogadon.
I assumed from your earlier posting that you were aware of the Dutch derivation
of 'poppycock'.
Terry
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