It’s called Sodium in English because an English chemist Sir Humphrey Davy discovered it & named it “Sodium” He was able to isolate it via separation of caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) and therefore named it after the caustic soda “soda-ium”. A few years later, a German chemist (Ludwig Wilhelm Gilbert) was able to isolate it and named it “Natronium” Just under a decade later, Jöns Jacob Berzelius coined the term “Natrium” as he felt the name “Natronium” was too lengthy to catch on.
As to exactly why the earlier term was not respected is likely due to nationalism. During the earlier 1800’s a lot of countries were desperately trying to take claim for various rapid advancements in chemistry, physics, mathematics, and medicine. Getting to have the name that “your guy” coined was largely bent around national pride.
The whole point of using a “dead” language is that languages change over time and scientists once had the foresight to attempt making their works more universal over both multiple languages and over time.
I literally took Latin in college for the sole reason that Latin is used in super stupid ways, and my science communication degree would be worth less without that knowledge. Because Latin-base is fully half of the science terms you need to know.
And my college was super on board with my reasoning. Wish I’d also had the mental capacity for ancient Greek, because that’s literally the other half of naming schemes.
Ridiculous.
I’m super into modern scientists giving shit pop culture names. Because holy shit is it ever more memorable than some random Latin/greek bullshit.
Strange that ‘classics’ are taught mostly in the poshest schools.
It’s rare for elites to want to preserve any power they have and make it inaccessible to oiks. /s
Whenever abbreviations didn’t make sense, you can usually assume it’s Latin.
What about tungsten or sodium?
Apparently tungsten is also known as Wolfram, so that’s the W. Sodium Na is from neo-latinm
It’s Na from Natrium (I have no idea why you even call it Sodium in English)
It’s called Sodium in English because an English chemist Sir Humphrey Davy discovered it & named it “Sodium” He was able to isolate it via separation of caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) and therefore named it after the caustic soda “soda-ium”. A few years later, a German chemist (Ludwig Wilhelm Gilbert) was able to isolate it and named it “Natronium” Just under a decade later, Jöns Jacob Berzelius coined the term “Natrium” as he felt the name “Natronium” was too lengthy to catch on.
As to exactly why the earlier term was not respected is likely due to nationalism. During the earlier 1800’s a lot of countries were desperately trying to take claim for various rapid advancements in chemistry, physics, mathematics, and medicine. Getting to have the name that “your guy” coined was largely bent around national pride.
Ty. So the question for its rightful name simply depends on whether you give it to the one who discovered it or the one who isolated it, interesting.
I’ll skip that discussion and just say Natrium sounds better
This is medicine in a nutshell too. And not just abbreviations, but acronyms… for words in a language that no one uses. I hate it.
Hey I can finally ask, how much of medical terminology is Greek?
Most is Latin but many anatomy terms are Greek. Heme, dermis, ect. Anatomy itself is a word that comes from Greek.
Not really any that I’m aware of, but I’m a tech, so my insight is only surface level. Grain of salt.
Well, what other language should be used? Latin is the language of science because there’s no way we’d ever agree on which alive language to use.
Esperanto, the second language of the international laborer /hj
I unironically kinda wish that would take off. The concept of a super simple bridge language is great.
Um English? It’s the international language and language of research, though some may not like hearing that.
English is only the lingua franca for now, but that, as well as the English language, will inevitably change.
The whole point of using a “dead” language is that languages change over time and scientists once had the foresight to attempt making their works more universal over both multiple languages and over time.
I didn’t say it was a bad system or that we need to change it: I said I hate it.
Fair enough haha
Can you give an eggsample?
Couple common ones… there are hundreds of these.
Acronym - Full Latin - English
PRN - pro re nata - as needed
NPO - nil per os - nothing my mouth
AC - ante cibum - before eating
OD - oculus dexter - right eye
OS - oculus sinister - left eye
Q8H - quaque octava hora - every 8 hours
Etc
QED
I literally took Latin in college for the sole reason that Latin is used in super stupid ways, and my science communication degree would be worth less without that knowledge. Because Latin-base is fully half of the science terms you need to know.
And my college was super on board with my reasoning. Wish I’d also had the mental capacity for ancient Greek, because that’s literally the other half of naming schemes.
Ridiculous.
I’m super into modern scientists giving shit pop culture names. Because holy shit is it ever more memorable than some random Latin/greek bullshit.
Strange that ‘classics’ are taught mostly in the poshest schools. It’s rare for elites to want to preserve any power they have and make it inaccessible to oiks. /s