The Internet has fundamentally changed research.
I had to write a paper on Damascus Steel for a Metallurgy class. This kind of steel is what is used in swords, developed separately in Japan (Samurai) and in the Middle East and India (Wootz), then imported to Toledo, Spain. This kind of steel is made by taking very pure iron and firing it with charcoal. The steel is then hammered, folded, hammered, folded, hundreds of times, then quenched in oil. What you get is very fine-grained iron with layers of carbon. Fine-grain steel is very strong and hard but brittle. Takes a very sharp edge, but snaps when bent. The intervening layers of carbon act like slides, allowing the layers of iron to move slightly past each other and snapping back without cracking. What you get is the best of both worlds: takes and holds a very sharp edge, but is tough and can withstand a lot of abuse. The ideal sword material. Or springs, for that matter.
After finding some books in the library, I also did an Internet search. What was interesting is that after about the third Google page, I started seeing papers citing the same core references over and over again. Different than what I found in my books, suggesting most college students go straight to the Internet and hand it in. Academics somehow accept this, but it's so much easier to find a quick answer these days. Wikipedia is a two-edged sword - fast, but subject to error, since it is based on the collective entry of lots of people. Look up G-bodies there some time...
I had to write a paper on Damascus Steel for a Metallurgy class. This kind of steel is what is used in swords, developed separately in Japan (Samurai) and in the Middle East and India (Wootz), then imported to Toledo, Spain. This kind of steel is made by taking very pure iron and firing it with charcoal. The steel is then hammered, folded, hammered, folded, hundreds of times, then quenched in oil. What you get is very fine-grained iron with layers of carbon. Fine-grain steel is very strong and hard but brittle. Takes a very sharp edge, but snaps when bent. The intervening layers of carbon act like slides, allowing the layers of iron to move slightly past each other and snapping back without cracking. What you get is the best of both worlds: takes and holds a very sharp edge, but is tough and can withstand a lot of abuse. The ideal sword material. Or springs, for that matter.
After finding some books in the library, I also did an Internet search. What was interesting is that after about the third Google page, I started seeing papers citing the same core references over and over again. Different than what I found in my books, suggesting most college students go straight to the Internet and hand it in. Academics somehow accept this, but it's so much easier to find a quick answer these days. Wikipedia is a two-edged sword - fast, but subject to error, since it is based on the collective entry of lots of people. Look up G-bodies there some time...