Periodically I ask my fourth graders to read nonsense words to check their ability to read phonetically, to see if they insert or omit words. Basically to see if they are reading or are they predicting what they think they are reading.
Today I had a very similar experience.
Nancy asked me to help her. She is hard at work on her dissertation, and she needed part of what had already been published in PDF format earlier this year to be checked against a word copy that will be part of the completed dissertation. My job was to read the PDF as she checked it against the word document.
I read things like:
In particular, sedimentation equilibrium analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) is an extremely useful and accurate method for confirming or invalidating stoichimotries observed in crystal structures.
and:
Moreover, if a system is reversibly associating in a solution, these experiments can additionally provide access to key thermodynamic parameters for the reaction, such as the equilibrium constant; knowing this value, the oligomeric species distribution can be predicted over wide ranges of concentration, and the biological significance of oligomeric species can be better understood.
You might think that I just tried to find the part of her dissertation with the biggest words. I didn't. I just picked up a random page.
And after reading 25 pages like this, I'm not sure I understand any better what she does.
But I do have A LOT of respect for what she does, that's for darn sure.
4 comments:
when i read things like that, i feel so stupid and insignificant. its tragic, really...
Nonsense. Really. No one understands what Nancy does. And I've read a lot about it.
Hard to find a mistake when you have no idea what they are talking about. You live with smart people.
Your fourth graders asked me to have you read nonsense words to check your ability to read phonetically...
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