Skip to content

Please be aware that some material may contain words, descriptions or illustrations which will not reflect current scientific understanding and may be considered in today's context inaccurate, unethical, offensive or distressing.

The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Referee's report by Thomas Ralph Merton, on a paper 'The constitution of the secondary spectrum of hydrogen' by William Mitchinson Hicks

Reference number: RR/28/105

Date: June 1923

Description

Sectional Committee: Physics

Not recommended for publication in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. The 'methods of selecting and dealing with the data are defective, and the greater part of the numerical relationships...appear to be fortuitous'. Refers to work of Thomas Ralph Merton, Barratt [?], Watson [?], Klas Bernhard Hasselberg, Camillo Porlezza, Charles Piazzi Smyth and Frost [?], showing where error had occurred in each set of results.

[Not published]

Endorsed on verso as received 8 June 1923.

Reference number
RR/28/105
Earliest possible date
June 1923
Physical description
Standardised form (type D)
Page extent
14 pages
Format
Typescript
Manuscript

Creator name

Thomas Ralph Merton

View page for Thomas Ralph Merton

Use this record

IIIF manifest

View​ IIIF ​ manifest Opens in new tab

Open in Mirador viewer Opens in new tab

Export this record

Download PDF Opens in new tab

Citation

Thomas Ralph Merton, Referee's report by Thomas Ralph Merton, on a paper 'The constitution of the secondary spectrum of hydrogen' by William Mitchinson Hicks, June 1923, RR/28/105, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/rr_28_105/referees-report-by-thomas-ralph-merton-on-a-paper-the-constitution-of-the-secondary-spectrum-of-hydrogen-by-william-mitchinson-hicks, accessed on 17 June 2025

Link to this record

https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/rr_28_105/referees-report-by-thomas-ralph-merton-on-a-paper-the-constitution-of-the-secondary-spectrum-of-hydrogen-by-william-mitchinson-hicks

Embed this record

<iframe src="https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/embed/items/rr_28_105/referees-report-by-thomas-ralph-merton-on-a-paper-the-constitution-of-the-secondary-spectrum-of-hydrogen-by-william-mitchinson-hicks" title="Referee's report by Thomas Ralph Merton, on a paper 'The constitution of the secondary spectrum of hydrogen' by William Mitchinson Hicks" allow="fullscreen" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="500px"></iframe>

Related Records

Hierarchy

This item is part of:

Related Fellows

Explore the collection

  • Referee Reports

    This collection contains reports on scientific papers submitted for publication to the Royal Society. Started in 1832 when the system was formalised, it is a record of the origins of peer review publishing in practice.

    Dates: 1832 - 1954

    View collection