An abstract that says nothing

This abstract comes from a recently published in an atmospheric science journal: Previous studies have shown that numerical diffusion plays a crucial role in the ability of mesoscale models to reproduce features similar to sub-meso motions found in observations, particularly in terms of spectral energy distribution. In this study, the impacts of surface heterogeneity and … read more

Very short abstract

From arXiv.org: Can apparent superluminal neutrino speeds be explained as a quantum weak measurement? M. V. Berry, N. Brunner, S. Popescu, P. Shukla (Submitted on 13 Oct 2011) Abstract Probably not. [Thanks to Dan Housley for pointing this out.]

Who wrote the first abstract in a scientific journal article?

I have often wondered how we came to the modern scientific article. One question that I had that I researched, but was unable to turn up anything on was who started the boldface and italics in the reference format for journal volume number and journal name (varies by discipline and by journal). One question that … read more