Thoughts on the ACS webinar

As I was watching the ACS webinar on scientific writing it occurred to me how much of the basic English grammar that I learned as a child I have forgotten. Simple terms like "predicate" and the difference between active and passive voice are not as recognizable to me anymore. I guess this is just an example of the "use it or lose it" that I have heard many times. It frankly made me immediately think about the show "Are you Smarter Than a 5th Grader," which I watch from time to time, and how many academically astute people I have seen lose all of their winnings on seemingly simple questions. As we get older and further our education we tend to focus on one specialty which tends to override all of the other important information we have learned along the way. There are times when even basic biology slips my mind and I have to go back and remind myself about certain aspects. It really is a shame to let so much knowledge that is acquired over the years to go to waste, but there are just not enough hours in the day to use it all. Fortunately I have a teenager who still had things fresh on his mind, so maybe he can start proofreading for me....