)\/(ark Lewis:

ML> there's  nothing  wrong  with that sentence... "several"
ML> specifically means "three or more but not too many more"
ML> ;)
ML>
ML> the  prepending  of "In this article" doesn't really add
ML> anything to the sentence...
ML>
ML> why did the chief of a computer-science laboratory think
ML> there was a problem with it?

My friend's account of it was so vague and incomplete that I
daredn't try retell it here. It  included,  for  example,  a
contrast  with  "a function of several arguments", which the
chief considered correct and which is in fact an interesting
example of `several' used in technical language with a mean-
ing that is wider than the general one: any naturual  number
greater than unity.

As to my friend's article, he has decided to replace `sever-
al' with `a number of' because he likes it better.

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