Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!swbatl!texbell!sugar!ficc!jeffd From: jeffd@ficc.uu.net (jeff daiell) Newsgroups: news.groups Subject: Re: The Topic that wouldn't go away (re: sci vs. talk) Summary: Science Message-ID: Date: 7 Feb 90 18:56:30 GMT References: <3284@iitmax.IIT.EDU> <3285@iitmax.IIT.EDU> <1990Feb7.113634.29231@agate.berkeley.edu> Organization: Ferranti International Controls Corporation Lines: 34 In article <1990Feb7.113634.29231@agate.berkeley.edu>, gsmith@garnet.berkeley.edu (Gene W. Smith) writes: > In article <1990Feb7.005905.1037@twwells.com>, bill@twwells (T. > William Wells) writes: > > >Something that may make a difference: Merriam-Webster's is a > >descriptive dictionary: it describes the langauge as used. > > It is also worth remembering in this context that it takes more > than a brief dictionary entry to supply all the nuances. If one > were to use the phrase, "the science of cooking", that would be > correct. If one were to say, "Cooking is one of the established > sciences", then that would *not* be correct. Why not? because > that is how the language is used, and usage needs to be respected > if communication is to be achieved. > > >That is a non sequitur. I would say that you've been mislead by > >the modern fad of using 'science' to refer to the natural > >sciences only. > > I think this is more than a fad--it is linguistic change. > 'Science' increasingly means the natural sciences *only* in most > discourse, a reflection of how important the natural sciences > have become in the XX century. I suspect it's because in school, "Science" is used only to refer to the natural sciences. When an elementary school student says he's "taking Science fifth period", he means geology/chemistry/physics/ biology/astronomy/the like, not philosophy, economics, psychology, etc. Jeff -- Thank you for not coercing.