Science advances by such communication. Modern science, contrary to popular mythology, is not conducted in isolation or in a vacuum. Mad scientists in lab coats, cackling to themselves in backroom laboratories as they conjure up potions to change the world or build time machines that violate physical laws, are figments of imagination. Scientists, like everyone else, work with others and need to communicate with them. They use several ways to do so.
Scientists write for one another.
They write scientific essays, called papers, that are published in magazines, called journals. That is, some of the papers are published. Many fall by the wayside, not passing muster after tough critiques by colleagues, who may find fault with the data, with the interpretations of the data, or with the way in which the data and ideas are presented. Some journals have rejection rates of more than 50 percent. This year HVO scientists have published, or have had accepted for publication, some 26 papers.