igon

Reviewing What The Dog Saw for the New York Times, Pinker slapped Gladwell like this: He ... quotes an expert speaking about an \ "igon value\" (that\'s eigenvalue, a basic concept in linear algebra).

David Quigg: Malcolm Gladwell and the Case For Endless Self-Googling 2009

Gladwell's original "igon value" essay appeared in The New Yorker in 2002.

David Quigg: Malcolm Gladwell and the Case For Endless Self-Googling 2009

Had someone noticed, "igon value" could have been switched to "eigenvalue" in time to deny Pinker the mocking bludgeon of the "Igon Value Problem."

David Quigg: Malcolm Gladwell and the Case For Endless Self-Googling 2009

This amounts to a ghastly parable for the conscientious writer, for any of you with a semi-obsessive impulse toward using the Internet as a tool to track your reputation, your triumphs, your "igon value" screwups.

David Quigg: Malcolm Gladwell and the Case For Endless Self-Googling 2009

But the blogger doesn't mention "igon value," doesn't even mention Gladwell.

David Quigg: Malcolm Gladwell and the Case For Endless Self-Googling 2009

He ... quotes an expert speaking about an "igon value" (that's eigenvalue, a basic concept in linear algebra).

David Quigg: Malcolm Gladwell and the Case For Endless Self-Googling 2009

I wanted "igon value" to be some legitimate alternate spelling.

David Quigg: Malcolm Gladwell and the Case For Endless Self-Googling 2009

So that gave Gladwell -- or his source for the story, or a reader -- seven years to notice the "igon value" error.

David Quigg: Malcolm Gladwell and the Case For Endless Self-Googling 2009

On the first page of Google results for "igon value," you find this blog post.

David Quigg: Malcolm Gladwell and the Case For Endless Self-Googling 2009

The new authority S.igon received on August 7 continued the practice of requiring the U.S. Ambassador and a senior S.uth Vietnamese official to approve, personally, each crop-destruction operation.

Operation Ranch Hand Buckingham, William A. 1982