Latin as the language of science and learning Frontmatter Contents Acknowledgements and practicalities Introduction Part 1 Semantics of the term ‘science’ 1 Modern languages: Wissenschaft science наука επιστήμη 2 Terms for ‘science’ in Greek and Latin 3 The wider semantic field of ‘science’ in the classical languages 4 What is science and how does it relate to Denkstil 5 The demarcation problem Part 2 Diachronic panorama of Latin science and learning 6 Introductory remarks on Denkstile epochs and genres 7 Greek science and its language in Antiquity 8 Foundations of Roman science in Latin 9 The age of the artes liberales 10 The adoption of the Greek Denkstil 11 University science: An Aristotelian Revolution 12 New approaches in the Renaissance 13 New science in the old tongue 14 The demise of Latin as language of science 15 Niches where Latin survived longer 16 From Latin to vernacular science Part 3 Changes in the language of science 17 Introduction to the linguistics of scientific language 18 Linguistic development studied in a general scientific corpus 19 Conclusions on the Latin used in scientific texts 20 Specific corpora: Arithmetic historiography scientific poetry 21 How are new scientific concepts expressed 22 How was Greek science imported into other languages 23 The reuse of Latin in the modern languages of science 24 On the relation between science culture and language Summary and concluding remarks Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Bibliographies General Index This book investigates the role of the Latin language as a vehicle for science and learning from several angles. First the question what was understood as ‘science’ through time and how it is named in different languages especially the Classical ones is approached. Criteria for what did pass as scientific are found that point to ‘science’ as a kind of Greek Denkstil based on pattern finding and their unbiased checking. In a second part a brief diachronic panorama introduces schools of thought and authors who wrote in Latin from antiquity to the present. Latin’s heydays in this function are clearly the time between the twelfth and eighteenth centuries. Some niches where it was used longer are examined and reasons sought why Latin finally lost this lead role. A third part seeks to define the peculiar characteristics of scientific Latin using corpus linguistic approaches. As a result several types of scientific writing can be identified. The question of how to transfer science from one linguistic medium to another is never far: Latin inherited this role from Greek and is in turn the ancestor of science done in the modern vernaculars. At the end of the study the importance of Latin science for modern science in English becomes evident