When he addressed the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1870, Thomas Henry Huxley mused on a simultaneously frustrating and wonderful facet of scientific discovery. “The great tragedy of science” Huxley said, was “the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact.” As prolific a science communicator as Huxley was, he probably recognized a parallel in writing. There are few things more frustrating than the death of a detailed piece of writing by fortuitous events.

Until now, I explicitly avoided writing about this year’s ScienceOnline conference. Taking a modified version of John Rennie’s exhortation that context – not speed – is central to good science writing, I decided to wait a few