Abstract
Hyperbole has become a common and accepted practice in science nowadays. We sell our results, we hide our ignorance and we use stock terms that gain spurious weight through repeated use. I illustrate from the field of developmental genetics.
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Acknowledgements
Thanks to M. Bretscher, M. Levine and A. Woollard for advice.
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Roel Nusse's Wnt gene homepage
The web's first edition of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare
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Lawrence, P. Science or alchemy?. Nat Rev Genet 2, 139–142 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35052571
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35052571
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