Technical jargon…

When someone asks me for an explanation of some esoteric physics topic—say, “What’s dark matter?”—I know I can’t go on very long before I lose the person, because I’m that way too! (That’s why I subscribe to Science News. Asimov did too, so I’m in good company.) The reasons for this vary from not really caring (that someone…or me…is just trying to make conversation, at a cocktail, for example) to lack of attention (cocktails start having effect…or Jameson whiskey, in my case).

Most people are...