Black Holes: This is what we call gravitational holes in space and time that look black.
Only rarely is “dwarfs” spelled as “dwarves.” Not to be confused with “dwarf” stars, which are main sequence stars such as the Sun, that burn hydrogen for fuel in their core. White Dwarfs: This is what we call little white dead stars. It is an evolutionary phase through which nearly all stars pass. Some Terms That Mean Exactly What They Say Red Giants: This is what we call big red stars. Consequently, terms of astronomy can be enlightening as well as mind-scrambling, but never boring.
There are romantic-sounding words, words that mean something different from what they say, words that are intentionally misspelled, words that sound like diseases, words that are historical relics, and most importantly, household words that mean exactly what they say. But what Juliet neglected to mention is that a rose by a five syllable term would make its way into much less poetry.Īstronomers, however, get the award for creating the most diverse set of terms ever assembled to communicate science. To Juliet Capulet (of Romeo and Juliet fame), …a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. These professions, and many others, are replete with polysyllabic terms that are precise yet devoid of romance. To a sociologist, your next-door neighbor is your residential propinquitist. To a medical doctor, a bruise on your jaw is a mandibular contusion. To a marine biologist, a household goldfish is a Carassius auratus. To a botanist, the North American rose is a Rosa nutkana. But in my (possibly biased) opinion, astronomy has the most entertaining jargon of any discipline-enough to warrant a chapter of its own. Yes, we all have our jargon, and we all use it to communicate with others in our field. He then scored to win the game on a payoff pitch to a batter who laid down a bunt for the squeeze-play with two outs in the bottom of the tenth. When was the last time you understood your car mechanic when you were duly informed of what was wrong with your car? And if baseball were not your passion, then the following plausible scenario would sound completely meaningless: The DH, who had homered in each of his first two at-bats, reached first on a pitcher’s balk, and two outs later advanced to third on a ground-rule double. But before you get indignant about this, consider that academic researchers are not exclusively guilty. An academic discipline that is sufficiently mature will have normally assembled for itself a jargon-filled lexicon. This chapter might possibly belong at the end of the book as a glossary, but our discussion of the methods of science would be incomplete without paying homage to the invention, development, and usage of jargon.
0 kommentar(er)
