Far from being the school swot,Lucian,who spends his evenings watching The Simpsons and chatting on the internet,
made the discoveries thanks to his interest in his Polish roots.
His mother,Elizabeth,is Polish and every year he spends a month on a farm in Yamy,southwest Poland.
"He has always been fascinated by Polish history. “
On the farm he has long chats with his 90-year-old great grandmother about how she survived the pogroms of the Nazis."
10 days ago, the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 10
which was first issued by the Society of Gentlemen in Scotland between 1768 and 1777 in Edinburgh,wrote to Lucian.
Anita Wolff, the senior editor,thanked him for pointing out several errors and misleading statements 《
and promised that a geography editor was working on a major revision of our Poland coverage
and would make the changes as requested.
In spite of the mistakes,Lucian said he still considered the encyclopaedia to be the single best source of information.
The errors,too,while serious,were arguably less egregious than one in the first volume,which declared California to be an island.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica was founded in 1768 in Edinburgh by Colin Macfarquhar,a printer,and Andrew Bell,an engraver,1768
with the first edition published one section at a time over a three-year period.