KEN BAAKE loves the way language and knowledge twist and turn around each other. His intelligent unpicking of how the language we use to convey complex ideas sometimes helps but often hinders is fascinating. Remember how hard it was to shake off the idea that molecules are made up of sticks and balls stuck together? And even a common language is no guarantee of mutual understanding. For example, the technical use of the word “equilibrium” is worlds apart for a physicist and an economist.
Baake spent time at the Santa Fe Institute investigating how scientists work to overcome these barriers.…
