Rich made the following comment re Science.
From: rcs@xmission.com d) Confirming studies are not normally publishable.
Q: How does Mathematics treat papers which are new proofs of old results? We all know about Euler & Gauss & multiple proofs, but how are modern mathematicians treated in the published literature when they attempt to publish new proofs of old results? Has anyone counted the percentage of published math papers of new proofs/old results? BTW, I strongly disagree with Boltzmann's comment re "leaving elegance to the tailors"; part of the progress of modern math/science is to convert PhD thesis results into undergraduate homework or lab exercises. This is the only way to condense the incredible amount of material that a budding mathematician/scientist must learn before getting into new territory.