[pfortuny]

There is an editorial problem with that (which nowadays, with electronic publishing should not be an issue): space is (used to be) a scant resource. Hence density of content was more important than clarity of exposition.

Nowadays I guess everything boils down to a custom of which we (yes, I am part of the problem) have not been weaned. It looks more scientific to write things densely and more or less cryptically.

Also, we scientists are a bit afraid of publicly (I mean, to the general public) explaining our way of understanding things, because we know it is somewhat blurry, informal, possibly even comical to a lot of people. And we tend to be introverts.

I guess things like arxiv.org etc. are going to create a new way of explaining scientific discoveries much more interesting and enlightening.