Virtual Words
Language on the Edge of Science and Technology
by Jonathon Keats
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Virtual Words
Copernicium…qubit…w00t. The worlds of science and technology have fostered a slew of new words like these—each describing an intriguing entity or concept, and each with a fascinating history. In Virtual Words, Jonathon Keats spotlights 28 such terms, each within its own concise, illuminating essay describing its origin and use.
Keats discusses words that first appeared in scientific papers (for example, “unparticle”) as well as words that gradually arose out of underground subcultures (“mashup”). You’ll encounter terms that were coined to suit new technological platforms (“k”), and those conjured to embody new concepts (“spime”). Scratching your head yet? Well, maybe this will help a little: unparticles were first proposed by an American physicist in 2007 as entities that interact with the same force regardless of the distance between them; a mashup is a song that combines vocals from one source with instrumentals from another; and k is an abbreviation for “OK” in texting parlance.
What prompted the coining of the term “gene foundry” to describe a laboratory where artificial life forms are assembled? How did the word “singularity”—already familiar to astronomers as an essential component of black holes—migrate to the realm of futurology, where it came to mean a hypothetical future moment when technology transforms the whole universe into a sentient supercomputer? You’ll read all about it in these pages. Readers will also discover when (and by whom) the term “Anthropocene” was coined to describe the current geological epoch; the relation between computer bacn and computer spam; and more.
Virtual Words offers a stimulating snapshot of the ways our technologies and our tongues interact.
Hardcover : 192 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press ( October 18, 2010 )
Item #: 13-206869
ISBN: 9780195398540
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.25 inches
Product Weight: 12.0 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
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