Words of Science

by Isaac Asimov

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451615506
• ISBN13: 9780451615503
• Release Date: September 1969
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic Book!

Classic book by Asimov. Most people know him for his genre-defining science fiction, but he also did a number of non-fiction books. This one has a simple format: just a list of words with fascinating background stories for all of them. A great read for anyone.

book of words by a man of words

Isaac Asimov is a favorite writer because of his prodigious output of books before his death. In fact, he published over 500 works in science, language, Biblical history, in fact, nine out of ten of the Dewey Decimal categories (all except philosophy). During his lifetime he was one of the Big Three of science fiction writers (the other two were Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein). "Words of Science" is one of his works that crosses two genres: science and etymology (language). Asimov's own use of language is clear and easily processed. He states that one reason science is considered a "hard" subject is the scientific vocabulary. As he explains, Latin and Greek are international languages and still the language of science today. Because scientific words have the same meanings today as yesterday, any nationality can comprehend the meaning of science words. Since we no longer study Latin and Greek in school, actually discovering the meanings of words is still an exciting process of discovery. For example, we take the meaning of telephone for granted, but consider the etymology. "Tele" means "far off" and "phone" means "voice," so when we pick up the receiver, we expect to hear "a far off voice." He says that exploring the meaning of scientific vocabulary is really an adventure and "one of the most powerful attractions of science" (introduction) In "Words of Science" Asimov begins with "Absolute Zero." He explains "zero longitude" (see Meridian) and "zero Celsius" (see Centigrade) at the point that ice melts. However, William Thomson extended the idea of this limit to cold. He treated temperature as "an expression of the velocity of movement of molecules in a substance" (1). The colder a substance, the slower the motion until motion ceases at -273.18 degrees C. Now this is a real zero with "absolute" as "freed from all restraint" or "absolute zero." Fruit juices, which stand, ferment and become wine and, standing further, become sour. The expression "sour wine" in Old French is "vin egre" and later, vinegar. All this leads into the etymology of "acid" which is related to sourness. Asimov uses a page to explain each word's etymology and usually along the way several other words. Are you ready for "ammonia" and "amino acids" because the etymology of these related words is quite interesting and amusing. The Greeks not only spread their culture, but they also adapted the cultures of others into their own. An example is Amen or Amun, one of Egypt's gods. The Greeks built a temple to Zeus-Ammon (Amen) in the North African desert. As fuel was scarce and camel dung was plentiful, it was used in lighting the interior of the temple. The soot that settled contained salt-like crystals, called "sal ammoniac," "sal" for "salt," thus "salt of Ammon." I'm skipping the long explanation, but "amino acids," the most important substances in our bodies carry "a reference to the great god Amen of Egypt" (11). With the etymology of "erosion," Asimov tells a whole

Good Bathroom Reading

In 'Words of Science' Isaac Asimov presents the etymology of some 1500 terms from physics, chemistry, mathematics, astronomy, geology, biology and medicine. Asimov traces words like alcohol, isosceles, monosaccharide and yttrium to their Greek, Latin, Arabic and vernacular roots. Discoveries and inventions, both great and obscure, as well as the men and women behind them, are presented in 250 entries of about a page each. We read of the German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen who, in 1895, applied the mathematical variable X to the mysterious rays whose properties he was exploring. Later, the rays were renamed 'Roentgen rays' in his honor, but because their discoverer's surname was so difficult to pronounce by English speaking scientists, the term 'X-rays' stuck. The superstitions and serendipity that comprise so much of scientific history are related with clarity and wit. For example, the Romans considered a freak birth or deformity to be an omen from the gods; hence, from the Latin word 'monere' (a warning) we get the word 'monster'. 'Words of Science' is a handy reference for any library and makes good bathroom reading.