• Question: Why do things in science have really weird names?

    Asked by thamminb to David, James, Mike, Suze, Will on 15 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: William Eborall

      William Eborall answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Hi thamminb. Things in science have weird long names because there are so many things to give names to that we need to make them big so we can make them different 🙂 We also often resort to giving things their Latin or Greek name, partially to make it sound better, and partially because all scientists used to have to study “classical languages.” An example of this is chromatography which comes from the Greek words (I think) for colour writing.

    • Photo: Mike Dodd

      Mike Dodd answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Hi thamminb, Will is right about having so many things to name, that they have to be so long. I think some times the Latin/Greek names are used because they sound fun or interesting!

    • Photo: James Marrow

      James Marrow answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      We also use such long names for accuracy and also as a shorthand for the technique. My favourite at the moment is “Double-loop electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation”. It means “go up and down in voltage twice at a constant rate while measuring the electrical current from a metal surface reacting in a liquid solution” – the full name is basically a translation of that, but is easier to write!

      (actually, we just call it DL-EPR for short) 🙂

    • Photo: Suze Kundu

      Suze Kundu answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Heya!

      I think it depends on what it is that you’re thinking of. Chemical names are long, and sound funny, but actually they’re really useful because they tell you what a chemical molecule is made of, breaking it up into the smaller bits that make up the bigger molecule!

      In biology, some things are named after people, and a lot of animals are named because they follow a whole load of rules that people made up centuries ago. Unfortunately in science, once something is set in stone, it’s very difficult to change!

      In physics, I think you’ve got a good point. Some things have ridiculous names! I think they just try and make it harder than it needs to be, so that they can scare people, and make themselves sound cleverer than they are 😛

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