REPLY Please Capitalize System Dynamics (SD6332)

[SDMAIL Bob Eberlein]

Posted by  Bob Eberlein <bob at vensim.com>

Bill Harris and I had a small exchange on this. Bill points out that
many style guidelines push away from capilization in a case such as 
this (psychology, economics, quantum physics, mathematics - none use
caps). But psychologists study psychology, economists study economics 
and so on. Our field is unique in that, as John Sterman points out, 
"system dynamics" does not necessarily mean the same thing to different
people. 

Bill's research results are below - I don't think this is the right forum
for the fine points of style - perhaps an informal committee can convene 
itself over dinner or drinks during the conference and issue a ruling.


... 


You might have a problem getting that past editors, at least those who
follow the Chicago Manual of Style, and those non-editors who know the
CMOS might wonder at your usage.  See, for example,

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/CMS_FAQ/Capitalization/Capitalization01.html

Here are a few style guides I found this morning in print and online
that seem to have varying degrees of authority:

  _Keys for Writers_, Ann Raimes, Second Edition, p. 353

    "Do not capitalize general classes or types of people, places,
    things, or ideas: government, jury, mall, prairie, utopia, traffic,
    court, french fries, the twentieth century, goodness, reason."

  _Handbook of Technical Writing_, Alred et al., Sixth Edition, p. 82

    "Types of organizations are not capitalized unless they are part of
    an official name."  From that, I presume that both "System Dynamics
    Society" and a "society devoted to system dynamics" are correct.

  http://www.sc.edu/webpresence/editorial_guide/capitalization.html

    From points 9 and 18 of their capitalization rules and 2 and 3 of
    the do-not-capitalize rules, I gather they'd write "system dynamics"
    unless it were the name of a specific class or degree.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Capitalization#Capital_letters

    Perhaps less authoritative, the Wikipedia style guide says not to
    capitalize systems of thought or musical genres; they point to
    http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/CMS_FAQ/CapitalizationTitles/CapitalizationTitles_questions01.html.  

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalization#What_to_capitalize

    This article suggests that the trend is towards fewer capitals; I
    would agree that Wikipedia isn't necessarily authoritative unless
    one can confirm it against other sources.

  http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/capital.asp

    By omission, I think this author of a book on grammar would have one
    use lower case for system dynamics.

  http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/capitals.htm

    This seems to be a teaching reference for students.  They say, "We
    do not capitalize majors or academic disciplines unless they refer
    to a language, ethnic group, or geographical entity: Roundbottom is
    an economics major, but he loves his courses in French and East
    European studies," which I think is relevant.

  http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000050.htm

    They seem to say the same thing by example.

  http://dictionary.reference.com/writing/styleguide/capitalization.html

    The Miscellaneous section seems to say not to capitalize "system
    dynamics" unless we had called it "Forrester system dynamics law,"
    in which case only his name would have been capitalized.
    Interestingly, according to this reference, had system dynamics been
    a satirical law, we could have apparently written "Forrester System
    Dynamics Law."  I think that's inconsistent, and I'm discounting
    this reference.

  http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~lingpub/misc/style_sheet.pdf

    Section 19b of this document is the first one I found that might
    suggest System Dynamics as the proper form.

Bill Harris via Bob Eberlein
Posted by  Bob Eberlein <bob at vensim.com>
posting date  Sat, 17 Mar 2007 15:42:14 -0000