Jo-Ann Baena Cruz exaggerates by a factor of four when she claims I "took five paragraphs to expound on one bit of information" (VERITAS, Jan. 12).

In fact, I needed only one paragraph to summarize what Edmund Halley actually did. I needed the four other paragraphs to point out the errors Mrs. Cruz committed on this "one bit of information."

But even if I grant that Mrs. Cruz is four times less verbose than I am, since when did brevity excuse inaccuracy?

POLLY HERNANDO