A New Literary Style of Science: The Rise of Acronyms in Physics and Astronomy

Research articles in all branches of modern science are crowded with the abbreviated technical terms known as acronyms, a phenomenon that was essentially unknown before World War II. Apart from an introduction to the notion of acronyms and its short history, the paper discusses from a historical per...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysics in perspective Vol. 25; no. 4; pp. 175 - 198
Main Author Kragh, Helge
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cham Springer International Publishing 01.12.2023
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Abbreviations
Astronomy
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Pulsars
Names
Quasar
DNA
Sonar
Maser
Laser
Eponyms
Abbreviations
Acronyms
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Summary:Research articles in all branches of modern science are crowded with the abbreviated technical terms known as acronyms, a phenomenon that was essentially unknown before World War II. Apart from an introduction to the notion of acronyms and its short history, the paper discusses from a historical perspective the connections between acronyms and eponyms in science. Moreover, it charts how acronyms and abbreviations became so common in physics and astronomy that the excessive use of them came to be considered a symptom of a contagious disease. While many science acronyms are exotic and little used, and some downright bizarre, others have become household words that in some cases are not even recognized to be acronymic constructions. The paper briefly examines the naming histories of some of these successful acronyms in physics and astronomy, among them radar, sonar, maser, laser, and pulsar.
ISSN:1422-6944
1422-6960
DOI:10.1007/s00016-024-00306-9