Flinn's feature fuels forum

The entertaining note by Edward A. Flinn (Information transfer in verbal presentations at scientific meetings, Eos, 62, 179, 1981) brought to mind a somewhat similar discussion of this problem by the Scottish physicist, James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879). Evidently, in response to a query from Professor Guthrie about the role of a physical society, which was something like an AGU meeting, he wrote in 1873 to W.G. Adams [Campbell and Garnett, 1884; p. 294]: For the evolution of science by societies the main requisite is the perfect freedom of communication between each member and any one of the others who may act as a reagent.