Thursday, June 24, 2010

The Etymology of "Physics"


Physics

Etymology: Latin physica, plural, natural science, from Greek physika, from neuter plural of physikos of nature, from physis growth, nature, from phyein to bring forth.

That was fun, lets try another word:

Phenomenology

Pronunciation: \fi-ˌnä-mə-ˈnä-lə-jē\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural phe·nom·e·nol·o·gies
Etymology: German Phänomenologie, from Phänomenon phenomenon + -logie -logy
Date: circa 1797

1 : the study of the development of human consciousness and self-awareness as a preface to or a part of philosophy
2 a (1) : a philosophical movement that describes the formal structure of the objects of awareness and of awareness itself in abstraction from any claims concerning existence (2) : the typological classification of a class of phenomena b : an analysis produced by phenomenological investigation

I don't like that definition, it's rather incomplete, but I don't expect anyone at Merriam-Webster to understand Science.

What would Wiki do? What does Wiki say?

It says this:

Phenomenology may refer to:

Phenomenology (science) is rather important. Without it, we don't get Quantum Mechanics therefore all these wonderful toys, as The Joker would say.

It's also important (currently) regarding the upcoming conference to be held in 3 weeks at Nordita in Sweden, here:








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