HIST406-11skenn

HIST406 Critique of microwave oven

The Wikipedia article about the microwave oven is effective in describing the history and functions of the microwave oven in reasonable detail. The article is very readable, as it is adequately written with no major grammatical or spelling errors. It is moderately thorough, compared to other Wikipedia articles covering similar type’s inventions and technologies. The article is complete with pictures, next to certain sections, that show the development of the microwave oven over the years as well as the internal parts that make the ovens work. Aside from explaining historical background and functionality, the article also happens to be practical. It goes through safety features of microwave ovens and their effects on food and hazards. However, some of the smaller sections, like “Uses” and “Efficiency” are redundant and state either previously mentioned or assumed facts about the microwave oven. These sections could be replaced by more information about how the microwave oven actually works, which is an area that the article is currently insufficient in. There are 39 references for the article, which given the length of the article, seems like too many. However, the references at the top of the list are useful and found throughout the article. These include reliable sources like the actual J.G. Chafee microwave patent and a microwave oven regression model. The validity of the majority of references is in my opinion above average for a standard Wikipedia article. Overall, I thought this article was well written and did a good job of explaining the microwave oven. I feel like it could be shortened by eliminating some unnecessary sections, but the length of the article is a non-issue. After reading the Wikipedia article on the microwave oven, I have a more comprehensive understanding of the history of the microwave oven. — Preceding unsigned comment added by HIST406-11skenn (talk • contribs) 03:17, 5 October 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the detailed critique. In reponse to your main point, I've removed the "uses" section since some of it was covered in the lede, and what new material remained, could be used to improve the lede (which now contains almost all the material one what microwave ovens are used for). The "efficiency" section was short and actually contained unique and important material, and was not original research (these facts are well-known and accurate) although it needs a reference. I've moved it up nearer the principles section, and added a "cite needed" tag. Personally, I don't agree this article has too many citations. It's a magnet for people to add cite tags when they run across material which contradicts common misconceptions, and stuff they thought they knew. It should be heavily referenced if it is to remain most-useful. SBHarris 18:09, 5 October 2011 (UTC)