| Sort | Content | Brief description | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| A distracting genetic code | Thinking about WAYS to code gave rise to a mechanism that called for 20 amino acids specifically (also of interest: non comma-free codes, etc.) | PNAS paper | |
| Gamow and the holes-for-amino-acids | A central question in information flow is how nucleic acids 'call for' amino acids. Early thinking was "because they fit together" |
Nice blog summary |
|
| Pauling's inside-out DNA | It makes sense--alpha helices have the 'interesting bits' (sidechains) on the outside; for DNA, if the bases 'instruct', shouldn't the instructions face out as well? | Paper (overkill) | |
| Phlogiston | Everything about burning was backwards once. Instead of wood being reduced (able to be oxidized = gain oxygen), it contained 'phlogiston' used up by burning | Wiki link | |
| Geocentrism | Because what else are you going to put at the center of the Universe? | ||
| Magic, the belief system | There was actually some logical thinking there--'contagion' (once together, always linked) and 'sympathy' (if two things are alike, there's a physical linkage) | ||
| RNA can't be an enzyme | Because... hmmm. Because we've not found one that is yet? | ||
| 'Action at a distance' | Because DNA only exists in 2 dimensions | ||
| Alchemy | Anything that gave birth to Chemistry can't be all bad... | ||
| The 4/5 elements | An early effort to explain the diversity of substances by looking for smaller, common... elements. Now supplanted by the Periodic Table |