'lay understanding' and so you have a detailed understanding - enough to implement or use the concept in question - are quite different things, though. Though I find the language most scientific papers are written in to be obtuse and annoying, there are times I've gone back over the same passage several times, extracting additional subtelties and meaning that wouldn't be apparrent from a cursory read or simplified language yet are neccessary in order to actually use the concepts described.
Good papers, of course, explain the concept in simple, easy-to-understand terms at the beginning of the paper, then go into obtuse details later, so you can skip the bits you don't care about. |
