<p>“An arithmetical prodigy, the Swede taught himself to read at the age of three and watched his father compute math as a land surveyor for Uppsala University, despite the wishes of his parents, Svante Gustav and Carolina Thunberg Arrhenius.”</p>
<p>I am reviewing a friend’s paper and I am not sure…I appreciate the help.</p>
<p>Eh not really.</p>
<p>no its not …</p>
<p>okay that’s good.</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>Savante Arrhenius is quite interesting :)</p>
<p>But it is rather awkward, so I would recommend rewording it. Reviewing isn’t just for technical mistakes; it’s to make the writing better overall.</p>
<p>Besides, it’s not really clear whose parents are being mentioned…the Swede’s or his father’s.</p>
<p>No, it’s fine. In response to the above, it’s clear who the reference is, if you put the optional comma before and:
“An arithmetical prodigy, the Swede taught himself to read at the age of three,(COMMA) and watched his father compute math as a land surveyor for Uppsala University, despite the wishes of his parents, Svante Gustav and Carolina Thunberg Arrhenius.”</p>
<p>That makes the sentence read:</p>
<p>“An arithmetical prodigy, the Swede taught himself to read at the age of three, despite the wishes of his parents, Svante Gustav…”</p>
<p>It should be like this…
Swede, an arithmetical prodigy, taught himself to read at the age of three, and watched his father compute math as a land surveyor for Uppsala university. Despite the wishes of his parents, Svante Gustav and Carolina Thunberg Arrhenius blah blah blah</p>
<p>thanks everyone</p>
<p>I will follow the great advice :)</p>