A Dictionary of Scientific Terms

Part 1

LITTLE BLUE BOOK NO. 452 Edited by E. Haldeman-Julius

A Dictionary of Scientific Terms

Leo Markun

HALDEMAN-JULIUS PUBLICATIONS GIRARD, KANSAS

Copyright, 1927 Haldeman-Julius Company

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A DICTIONARY OF SCIENTIFIC TERMS

PREFACE

Completeness is a virtue which this little Blue Book cannot, in the nature of things, possess. If any reader is disappointed not to find it here, I must respectfully direct his attention to the three ponderous tomes which make up a well-known dictionary of chemistry, to the still larger and more numerous volumes devoted to a dictionary of applied physics, and to other similar works. The sciences are many, and the words which they employ exclusively or in senses peculiar to themselves are exceedingly numerous.

Physics, chemistry, and biology contribute the greatest number of words to the present dictionary. A few terms used in other sciences are included, chiefly to show what I believe the proper scope of a dictionary of scientific terms to be. There is a genuine need for a large dictionary, which ought to be of about the same size as Webster’s Collegiate or the Oxford Concise, and which should deal with the vocabularies of economics, anthropology, sociology, and psychology as well as with those of mechanics, geology, astronomy, and all the older sciences. Such a dictionary should be written by specialists in the various fields of knowledge with the aid of a skilled etymologist, and under the supervision of an editor who is not himself a professional scientist. It would be his special task to see that the definitions are intelligible to non-specialists, and to literate laymen in particular.

Of course no dictionary can take the place of primers of the sciences. There are a number of excellent ones in this series, some of which I referred to in writing this book. It is in many cases impossible to give adequate explanations in a few words. Besides, the scientific writers themselves frequently quarrel about the true meaning of such a word as ether or instinct.

I have dealt here with a number of words which are of significance when we try to set the limits of science. Common sense, philosophy, theology, and superstition are examples. The claims of several branches of knowledge to be considered sciences are also taken up.

A DICTIONARY OF SCIENTIFIC TERMS

Abasia. The inability to walk, especially when it is caused by mental disorder.

Abdomen. The hind part of insects, spiders, etc. The belly, including the nutritive organs.

Aberrant. Diverging from normal type.

Aberration. The non-convergence of rays of light to a focus. The apparent displacement of the true position of a heavenly body.

Abiogenesis. Spontaneous generation.

Abnormal. Deviating from type.

Aborigines. The inhabitants of a region, or, in some cases, the plants and animals, found by colonists. Literally, those that have been in the land from the beginning of things.

Abort. Have premature delivery of a child. Remain undeveloped or sterile, or dwindle away.

Absolute. Pure. The absolute, philosophically speaking, is final and total reality.

Absorption. Disappearance through incorporation in something else. The solution of a gas in a liquid is called absorption. Rays of light may be absorbed in some mediums.

Abstract. Theoretical, aside from particular instances.

Abulia. Weakness of will.

Abyssal. Relating to the depths of the sea.

Acaulescent. Apparently stemless.

Acceleration. Rate of increase of velocity per time unit. Rate of change of the velocity of a chemical reaction. The acceleration of a star is the time it gains daily over the sun.

Part 2

Accident. A property which is not essential to our conception of a subject.

Achene. A small, dry, indehiscent, one-seeded fruit.

Achromatic. Colorless, transmitting light without decomposing it.

Acid. A substance that neutralizes and is neutralized by a base, and which contains hydrogen. A compound that produces hydrogen ions when it decomposes in aqueous solution.

Actinium. A radioactive substance, believed to be an element.

Actinozoan. One of a class of coelenterates including the corals.

Aculeate. Having a sting, prickly.

Acuminate. Tapering to a point.

Adiabatic. Maintaining a constant temperature.

Adrenalin. A crystalline substance obtained from suprarenal extract.

Adsorption. The condensation of dissolved substances on the surface of a liquid or solid.

Adventitious. Not in the usual place, as a root.

Aerial. Atmospheric.

Affect. Disease, emotional complex.

Afferent. Conducting inward.

Agoraphobia. The morbid fear of public places.

Agronomics. The science of crop production. The scientific management of land.

Agrostology. The study of the grasses.

Air. The atmosphere, a gaseous substance of which oxygen and nitrogen are the principal constituents.

Air pump. A pump for forcing air into, or taking it out of, hollow places.

Albino. An animal, especially a human being, characterized by the congenital absence of coloring pigment in the skin, hair, and eyes. The typical albino has very light skin and hair and pink eyes.

Albumen. A substance, usually edible, found between the skin embryo of seeds.

Albumin. A class of proteids found in blood serum, milk, and muscle.

Alcohol. Ethyl alcohol, the substance which causes intoxication, and a whole class of substances which are similar to it. They are hydroxides of organic radicals.

Alga. Seaweed. Chiefly used in the plural: algae.

Alkali. Caustic hydroxides which form soluble soaps with fatty acids and turn red litmus paper blue.

Allotropy. Variation of physical properties without change of substance. Carbon, for example, may exist as lampblack, graphite, or the diamond.

Alloy. A mixture (not a compound) of metals.

Part 3

Alluvium. The deposit of earth and other materials by the mechanical action of running water. More familiar is the adjective: alluvial.

Alpha rays. Becquerel rays which have less power of penetration than beta rays but greater power of inducing conductivity in gases.

Alpine. Relating to a mountain district so high that it has arctic climate.

Alum. A double sulphate of aluminium and potassium. Other sulphates of similar crystalline form are also known as alums.

Aluminium. A metallic element. The spelling given is the usual one in Great Britain, and it is also the one employed by American chemists. In ordinary use in the United States: aluminum. The symbol: Al.

Amalgam. An alloy containing mercury. To amalgamate is to form an amalgam.

Ammeter. An instrument for measuring the strength of electric currents in amperes.

Amorphous. Uncrystallized.

Ampere. Sometimes spelled: ampère. The unit of electric current, the current that one volt can send through one ohm.

Amphibia. A division of Vertebrata, intermediate between reptiles and fishes, including the frog. The study of Amphibia is known as amphibiology.

Amplexicaul. Encircling or clasping a stem.

Anabolism. Constructive metabolism.

Analogy. Functional correspondence between parts of different origin and structure.

Analysis. Resolution into simple elements, as by chemical processes. In mathematics, algebraic investigation.

Anandrous. Without stamens.

Anaphylaxis. Excessive susceptibility to an albuminous substance.

Anatomy. The science of bodily structure.

Anemograph. An instrument for recording the direction and force of wind.

Aneroid barometer. A barometer in which there is no liquid, the pressure of the air being measured by its action on the elastic lid of a box in which a partial vacuum has been created.

Angiosperm. A plant of a class which has its seeds in a closed ovary.

Anhydrous. Without water of crystallization or water in general.

Animal. A living being distinguished from plants in that it is capable of voluntary motion and sensation. Some recent investigations appear to lead to the conclusion that other differentia will have to be adopted. The human being, incidentally, is an animal, although popular language sometimes distinguishes man from the animals.

Animalcule. A minute animal, usually one which cannot be seen with the naked eye.

Anion. A negative ion.

Annual. A plant that lives only for a year.

Annulate, annulated. Ringed.

Anode. A positive electrode.

Antenna. Feeler, sensory organ found in pairs on heads of insects and crustacea. Irritable processes found in some male flowers. An elevated conductor for receiving or transmitting electric waves. Plural: antennæ.

Part 4

Anther. The part of the stamen which contains the pollen.

Anthropogeography. The science which treats of geography as applied to man. That part of anthropology dealing with the effect of the environment on human beings. There are a number of compounds beginning with anthro-. The meaning may often be understood by remembering that the Greek word anthropos means man, not as opposed to woman but as excluding the non-human.

Anthropology. The study of man as an animal, with respect to race, distribution, culture, and social organization.

Anticlinal. Forming a ridge with strata leaning in opposite directions from an axis. Having an upright spine toward which spines on both sides lean.

Anticyclone. An outward and rotary flow of air from an atmospheric area of high pressure.

Antidote. A medicine used to counteract a poison or disease.

Antimony. An element of metallic appearance. Symbol: Sb.

Anus. The posterior opening of the alimentary canal.

Apetalous. Without petals.

Aphasia. Loss of speech from a brain injury.

Aphelion. The point in the orbit of a planet or comet farthest from the sun.

Apheliotropic. Turning away from the sun.

Apogee. The point in the orbit of a planet or the moon where it is farthest from the earth.

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