I recall a time in grad school where every room had a chalkboard, sometimes two, and we used them regularly. One of my professors, I later learned, based our grades more on what he saw on the study room chalkboards than what we turned in for the final exam. I have access to whiteboard now, and use it occasionally, but it’s not quite the same, I’ve taken to carrying a sketchbook and pencil to take notes when a thought hits me, and this has more of the feeling of using a chalkboard (but less dust).
The SciAm article:
Original article in PNAS:
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2502791122
I was amused by the caption to figure 1, illustrating the method of data capture …
… by “Studying mathematicians’ sudden insights in their natural habitat.” 