[lisper]

> The specific forms of bow ties which are formal dress are not what the small minority of men who wear bow ties in other contexts generally wear.

Well yeah, sure, but that doesn't help the situation at all. Clowns, for example, wear bow ties informally, but that's not exactly the kind of image I would like scientists to associate themselves with either. Yes, there was a time when bow ties were fashionable as non-formal wear among non-clowns, but as you yourself point out, those days are long gone.