Scientific Babel
Subtitle: the language of science
By: Michael Gordin
Publisher: Profile Books
Published: 2015
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9781847659583; 9781781251140
Subjects: Communication in science; History; Technical writing; English language; Technical English; SCIENCE; Philosophy & Social Aspects
Description: Today scientists are a resolutely monoglot community, using exclusively English - but the rise of English was anything but inevitable and only very recent. In a sweeping history, from the Middle Ages through to today, Michael Gordin untangles the web of politics, money, personality and international conflict that led to the English language dominated world of science we now inhabit. He takes us on a journey from the fall of Latin to the rise of English, telling how we lost Dutch, Italian, Swedish and many other languages on the way. The significance of language in the nationalistic r.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Copyright Page; Dedication; Contents; Introduction: Talking Science; Chapter 1: The Perfect Past That Almost Was; Chapter 2: The Table and the Word; Chapter 3: Hydrogen Oxygenovich; Chapter 4: Speaking Utopian; Chapter 5: The Wizards of Ido; Chapter 6: The Linguistic Shadow of the Great War; Chapter 7: Unspeakable; Chapter 8: The Dostoevsky Machine; Chapter 9: All the Russian That's Fit to Print; Chapter 10: The Fe Curtain; Chapter 11: Anglophonia; Conclusion: Babel Beyond; Acknowledgments; List of Archives; Notes; Index.