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Nature 410, 637 (5 April 2001) | doi:10.1038/35070679

Why rename things?

Ralph A. Lewin1

As an acquisitive small boy, when my pockets became too stuffed and the drawers of my desk could be opened only with difficulty, my father made me empty everything and sort it into categories: acid drops with aniseed balls, matchboxes with chrysalids, solder splashes with bits of lead, farthings with sous, and so on. In due course it comes naturally to humans to sort, categorize and name things.