In article ,
Roy Lewallen wrote:

Some time ago, Barrie Gilbert, for whom the "Gilbert cell" is named,
gave a talk at a local ham club. He began by showing a copy of the
patent for the "Gilbert cell", and emphatically pointed out that his
name isn't on it. As he explained, he didn't invent the circuit nor did
he have anything to do with its invention. At the time it was patented,
he was an application engineer, and he wrote a lengthy article in one of
the trade magazines about the circuit and its applications (and giving
proper credit to the inventor). Shortly after that, through no action of
his own, someone dubbed it the "Gilbert cell". The name stuck, and
Barrie has spent the time since trying to straighten out the record --
without success. As far as I know, he gives the explanation every time
he presents a talk.

#chuckle#

Harry Stubbs (who wrote quite a few SF novels using his middle name -
Hal Clement) has had a similar problem. In his 1950s (I think) novel
"Needle", he mistakenly thought that an organism which was taking part
in a symbiotic relationship was a "symbiote", and he spelled it that
way - the correct Greek word is "symbiont".

The incorrect word was picked up by the SF community, spread, and has
gained common use. He formally retracted the incorrect word when he
published the sequel "Through the Eye of a Needle", but his comments
make it clear he doesn't think there's a chance in hell that his
neologism will be replaced in popular use by the correct term.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
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