Given a collection of objectsthat intuitively seem related in some way, what should one observe, and what should one measure, in order to capture the shape of each object in a way that is rigorous, unambiguous, and includes all of the important observable parameters? . . . The mental processes of pioneering observers of nature as they develop a new description methodology include (1) careful observation of the shape of a large number of objects; (2) integrating these observations into a mental model of what constitutes the shared characteristi
