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[Stephen Wilson]

Glen Turner wrote:
>> [Steve Wilson wrote] Call me old fashioned, but is there any solid research 
>> as yet that shows there is a better way of rigorously conveying
>> difficult, complex concepts than via carefully written text?
> 
> Try a simple experiment:
>  - Explain the structure, replication and transcription of DNA
>    using only text.
...
> [see] Watson JD & Crick FHC
>       "A structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid"
>       in Nature, vol.171, no.4356, pp.737, 1953-04-25.
>       http://www.nature.com/nature/dna50/watsoncrick.pdf

You may have missed the smiley in my original jibe, but I will play your 
retort with a straight bat!

Certainly visualisation is essential; text alone seldom works well in 
the sciences.  But even the Watson & Crick paper, while it is a paragon 
of brevity, is nevertheless rich in text.  The actual argument for the 
helix structure is in writing.  I think all argumentation probably has 
to be in writing.

And my favorite bit of the paper, where the very deep implications lie, 
is such pure crystalline text that it reads almost like poetry:

"It has not escaped our notice
that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests
a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material".

I can just about feel the earth shake still as I read it.

Cheers,

Steve.