User:Spiral Wave

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This is a Wikipedia user page. If you were looking for the mathematical curve, you want this article: Spiral. This is not an encyclopedia article. If you find this page on any site other than Wikipedia, you are viewing a mirror site. Be aware that the page may be outdated and that the user this page belongs to may have no personal affiliation with any site other than Wikipedia itself. The original page is located at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Spiral_Wave.

For any other types of spiral, please see the spiral disambiguation page.

If you're still not satisfied, then perhaps you really were looking for me, in which case you've probably seen my edits and either concluded I'm quite clever or quite stupid. Either way, I aim to please.

[edit] About me

I am an astronomer working on theories of planetary formation: methods of formation, planetary migration, the protostellar disc, accretion, dynamics etc. This is where I expect I'll be doing most of my major edits. I only graduated recently so I'm no expert, but hopefully I can put what I know to good use here.

In my spare time, among my solo pursuits I enjoy reading and videogaming, and nipping round the local countryside on my bike. I'm skilled with mathematics, and enjoy the applied side (also known as theoretical physics, if you're a physicist) of it very much. I've always been fascinated by the very big (general relativity and the universe at large) and the very small (quantum physics).

I'm here to try and help out where I can, but I'll inevitably make a mess of something sooner or later, or get a bit carried away reverting someone else's changes. If this happens, please point out my mistake (and how not to make it again) or politely ask me to stop causing trouble, and I'll snap back onto my best behaviour immediately.

[edit] Me, myself and Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a fundamentally flawed concept. There's no getting around that; anyone can come in and add incorrect or even deliberately misleading information, and all quite aside from vandalism.

Rather than moaning about it though, I'd rather join in and try to do something about it. Wikipedia can only improve by having contributors working towards making it better; if the number of 'good' edits outweighs the number of 'bad' edits, Wikipedia improves. (And even 'bad' edits can provide useful content to be worked upon and improved.) I use Wikipedia often, and thought it was about time I put something back in. Astronomy seemed the obvious choice.

Ultimately, Wikipedia will never be 100% reliable. It's not something to trust inherently as an authoritative source; it shouldn't be used as the 'last word'. But it is a great place to start learning about something, especially from structured, well-written articles with good references. And that's what I'm here to try and help create.

		The E=mc² Barnstar
		I've never awarded a barnstar before, and I wasn't sure how to carry it out, but I think you've done some excellent work and that you deserve to have one. :) Serendipodous 09:43, 24 April 2007 (UTC)