Re: [ccp4bb] vitrification vs freezing

[Boaz Shaanan]

And then change the name of the journals to Acta Anticrystallographica A-E         Boaz     Boaz Shaanan, Ph.D.                                         Dept. of Life Sciences                                      Ben-Gurion University of the Negev                          Beer-Sheva 84105                                            Israel                                                                                                                  E-mail: bshaa...@bgu.ac.il Phone: 972-8-647-2220  Skype: boaz.shaanan                  Fax:   972-8-647-2992 or 972-8-646-1710                          From: CCP4 bulletin board [CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK] on behalf of George Sheldrick [gshe...@shelx.uni-ac.gwdg.de] Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2012 10:35 PM To: CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK Subject: Re: [ccp4bb] vitrification vs freezing As usual, Wikipedia has it right: "The antifreeze capabilities of ethylene glycol have made it an important component of vitrification (anticrystallization) mixtures .." Perhaps we should call it anticrystallization? George On 11/15/2012 09:15 PM, James Stroud wrote: On Nov 15, 2012, at 10:59 AM, Tim Gruene wrote: I have heard this discussion before and reminds me of people claiming strawberries were nuts - which botanically may be correct, but would still not make me complain about strawberries in a fruit cake I ordered at a restaurant. My Pengiun English Dictionary states (amongst other explanations) freeze: "to make extremely cold", Tim's comment strikes at the heart of the problem. I think the scientific community should decide a few points. 1. What is the approved language and dialect for science? 2. Within this dialect, what should be the authoritative dictionary? 3. Will we allow use of definitions that are not the primary definition (second, third, fourth). 4. Will we allow the use of homonyms? 5. If not, which homonyms should prevail? These are all very important questions if we completely disregard context in writing. James -- Prof. George M. Sheldrick FRS Dept. Structural Chemistry, University of Goettingen, Tammannstr. 4, D37077 Goettingen, Germany Tel. +49-551-39-3021 or -3068 Fax. +49-551-39-22582