March 4, 2005

Assumptions, Conclusions, and Evidence

To the Editor:

Is there no way to overcome the clichés by which new discoveries in science are reported, as exemplified by Richard Monastersky's "Ancient Mammal Dined on Dinosaurs" (The Chronicle, January 21)? It becomes a problem if the reporter confuses clichés with scientific theory.

For example, it is reported that the new fossil discovery forces "researchers to re-examine their assumptions." It's not assumptions about mammals' being picked on by dinosaurs that