30 JUL 2013 by ideonexus
Scientists Read the Book of Nature
IN IMAGINATION there exists the perfect mystery story. Such a story presents all the essential clues, and com- pels us to form our own theory of the case. If we follow the plot carefully, we arrive at the complete solution for ourselves just before the author's disclosure at the end of the book. The solution itself, contrary to those of inferior mysteries, does not disappoint us; more- over, it appears at the very moment we expect it. Can we liken the reader of such a book to the sci...But unlike a detective novel, they can't flip to the last page and they may not even find an answer.
06 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Genetics and Atomic Theory
Genetics is to biology what atomic theory is to physics. Its principle is clear: that inheritance is based on particles and not on fluids. Instead of the essence of each parent mixing, with each child the blend of those who made him, information is passed on as a series of units. The bodies of successive generations transport them through time, so that a long-lost character may emerge in a distant descendant. The genes themselves may be older than the species that bear them.Folksonomies: analogy
Folksonomies: analogy
Are analogous in their relationships to biology and physics.
28 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Science and Art, the Few and the Many
In science, address the few; in literature, the many. In science, the few must dictate opinion to the many; in literature, the many, sooner or later, force their judgement on the few. But the few and the many are not necessarily the few and the many of the passing time: for discoverers in science have not un-often, in their own day, had the few against them; and writers the most permanently popular not unfrequently found, in their own day, a frigid reception from the many. By the few, I mean ...Folksonomies: communication two cultures
Folksonomies: communication two cultures
Interesting way to frame a difference between the two as they relate to their audiences.