User talk:Holeung

Hi Holeung. I hope you like the place and choose to stay.

Some links that may be of use:

• Wikipedia:Welcome, newcomers
• Wikipedia:How to edit a page
• Wikipedia:Village pump - ask questions you may have here, or leave a message on my talk page

Have fun, and keep contributing :) Dysprosia 05:28, 17 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Nice to meet you. I'm sure your expertise will come in handy around here.168... 17:30, 12 Jan 2004 (UTC)

ucb

my god, you sound smart. Goodralph 11:02, 27 Dec 2003 (UTC)

DNA

Elsewhere you wrote:

Another interjection here from a scientist in the field of DNA structure. To be precise, a strand is a molecule. But scientists (myself included) are sloppy with language and often refer to the double helix as a molecule. But when it really matters whether it is a single molecule or not (crystallography, mass spectrometry, annealing, single molecule experiments, chemical modification, etc.), it is the strand that is recognized as a molecule. In addition, in cases of uncertainty, I suggest consulting review papers or reference texts , such as texts on nucleic acid structure and chemistry, rather than web pages or introductory biology textbooks. Cheers. Holeung 10:09, Jan 12, 2004 (UTC)

What interests me here is that, from a linguistic point of view, you seem to be saying that the word "molecule" has two meanings: a technicial meaning and one that people use when they are "sloppy". My main question for you is: what do scientists mean when they use the word in a "sloppy" sense? Obviously, I am not expecting there to be a "precise" meaning. My hunch is that what you think of as the "sloppy" meaning actually accords precisely with one of the standard definitions given even in scientific dictionaries, e.g.

The smallest physical unit of a substance that retains all the physical and chemical properties of that substance. [1]

Peak 17:19, 12 Jan 2004 (UTC)

I hope you aren't dissing Streiwieser when you refer to "introductory biology text books"! (his is an organic chemistry textbook with chapters on hybrid electronic orbitals and antibonding). I think you have a point that nucleic acid research papers are one of the best places to look for usage and the authors of these papers represent one of the groups of people who are "DNA experts" and might be invited to have the last word. But DNA extends beyond one group's research interests. I think we have to make a subjective judgment call when we decide which experts to pick to give us the right language for a general readership such as WikiP is trying to reach. My preference was to ask a physical organic chemist, and I could offer reasons for it, if you are interested. I encourage you to be more open minded about the Web as a research tool. For example, if you were to read Nucleic Acids Research online, you could save yourself a trip to the library.168... 17:21, 12 Jan 2004 (UTC)