Wikipedia: Rouse History of Mathematics/Open letter

This is a rough draft of a letter someone suggested we write to Dr. Wilkins asking about the copyright status of the Rouse Ball book. Revisions, additions, complete rewrites solicited.

A brief tour of Dr. Wilkins' own [website], shows that he may be interrested in contributing to the Wikipedia himself. He seems to have personally transcribed the W W Rouse Ball book, along with biographies of other Mathemeticians.

Dear Dr. Wilkins,

I'm writing in regards to the text you have on your website listed as being from A Short Account of the History of Mathematics. by W. W. Rouse Ball. I'm a contributor to wikipedia ( http://www.wikipedia.com ), an online, open content encyclopedia. We are interested in using some of the text from this source, but have been having problems verifying the copyright status. I wonder if you could point us to your path in verifying that it is in the public domain. The encyclopedia is new and still limited in its finances, so we're very interested in avoiding any sort of legal challenge.

Thank you,

KQ Editor

Eventi Editor

LMS Editor in Chief

Looks good to me! --LMS

Too funny. I just sent you an email asking you and Jimbo to look it over. --KQ

Perfect! Now who signs it? Larry's got the best credentials... --Eventi

I do?! :-) Well, if you want, you can add my name to it, or, if you want to supply me with an e-mail address, I can send it myself. I'd prefer the former though. :-) --LMS

Doesn't matter to me. It needs some rephrasing if it's from Larry, though, as he's not just a contributor. Eventi? is this a question to me? --Eventi

I've added one possible variation of a joint signature. KQ & I should probably use real names and email addresses though. Pending that, I'll mail it if no-one has any objections. --Eventi

What's the need for all the ceremony? Send it off! :-) --LMS

Alright, sent Aug-24-2001. Keep fingers crossed --e