Bothered Quote by Anonymous
“In my own field, x-ray crystallography, we used to work out the structure of minerals by various dodges which we never bothered to write down, we just used them. Then Linus Pauling came along to the laboratory, saw what we were doing and wrote out what we now call Pauling's Rules. We had all been using Pauling's Rules for about three or four years before Pauling told us what the rules were.”
About This Quote
Source Interview: Reflections on crystallography, 1970s
Scientists often use tacit knowledge until someone formalizes it, turning intuition into explicit rules.
In simple terms: Unwritten practices become formalized when documented.
Key Takeaway
Document and share tacit knowledge.
Themes
science methodology
knowledge transfer
historical development
Mood
inquisitive
analytical
Type
educational
reflective
When to use this quote
- laboratories
- research teams
- education curricula
- industry training
Key Concepts
implicit learning
standardization
academic collaboration
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we balance documentation with innovation?
- What tacit skills remain undocumented?
A Different Perspective
Formalization can stifle creativity if applied rigidly.
![“The present rate of progress [in X-ray crystallography] is determined, not so much by the lack of problems to investigate or the limited power of X-ray analysis, as by the restricted number of investigators who have had a training in the technique of the new science, and by the time it naturally…” quote by William Lawrence Bragg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e46/william-lawrence-bragg-102464_accounts_the-present-rate-of-progress-in-x-ray-cr_2391720.jpg)
