...well that makes a lot more sense now. Flashing back to my undergrad biology class, I honestly never understood what was so important about the "central dogma" or why it was so important to spend so much time on. Now, reading its origin story, it is immediately apparent why it's interesting and such an important feature of life to understand. (Tangent: anyone who complained about mRNA vaccines "corrupting your DNA" fell afoul of exactly what the central dogma is about.)

More broadly, it is fascinating to see how often this happens. So many ideas that are spread or taught in their "modern form" are trite or difficult or just disconnected. And then you see them in their original place, often in the original discoverer's words... and it's immediately obvious what they really mean and why they're so important. (Another example: Einstein's (special) theory of relativity. Read his original papers! They're short and explain everything!) I'd suggest the solution is just reading more primary source material, but unfortunately the opposite is also true: plenty of stuff is illegible in its original form, too. (Maxwell's formulation of Maxwell's equations comes to mind here.)