[Ads-l] Antedating of "Physicist"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Mark Mandel wrote:
> 193x or 183x? Which century?

Thank you for pointing out my typos, Mark. I apologize to list members
for the confusion. I incorrectly wrote 1937 instead of 1837 in two
locations. I properly listed years in the 1800s in four locations.

Fred found an article containing the word "physicist" in the "Madras
Journal of Literature and Science" in 1838.

The same sentence containing the word  "physicist" also appeared in
"The London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine and Journal of
Science" in 1837.

The two links included in my message point to a volume from 1837 of
"The London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine and Journal of
Science". The second link points to a copy of the article containing
the excerpt.

Garson


> On Thu, May 28, 2020, 8:21 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Great work, Fred. Apparently, the article you found appeared in "The
> > London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science" in
> > September *1937*. The accompanying note states that the article had been
> > reprinted from the "Bibliotheque Universelle" in June *1937*. Was it
> > translated? I do not know. Also, the article had been delivered in
> > Geneva on December 15, *1836*.
> >
> > "physicists" occurs five times in the volume. Some of these instances
> > are in different articles.
> > https://books.google.com/books?id=YTlZAAAAcAAJ&q=+physicists#v=snippet&
> >
> > "physicist" occurs once in the volume
> >
> > https://books.google.com/books?id=YTlZAAAAcAAJ&q=%22and+physicist%22#v=snippet&
> >
> > Date: September *1837*
> > Periodical: The London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine and
> > Journal of Science
> > Volume 11
> >
> > Article: XXXII. Papers on the alleged Periodical Meteors of the 13th
> > of November, and on Shooting Stars in general. By M. M. WARTMANN and
> > QUETELET
> >
> > I. Notice respecting the Periodic Meteors of the 13th of November. By
> > M. L. F. WARTMANN
> >
> > From the Bibliotheque Universelle N. S. 2 de Ann. No. 18, June *1837*:
> > having been read before the Society of Physics and Natural History of
> > Geneva, Dec. 15, 1836.
> >
> > Start Page 261, Quote Page 262
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > The much-wished-for fall of one of these meteors would without doubt
> > furnish the chemist and physicist with the means of explaining certain
> > points quite unknown.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Garson
> >
> > On Thu, May 28, 2020 at 4:18 PM Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Who was the author?
> > >
> > > On Thu, May 28, 2020, 7:31 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > > This is a noteworthy antedating, as the term antedated is one of the
> > major
> > > > scientific neologisms of the 19th century and has been regarded as one
> > of
> > > > the key contributions of the master neologist William Whewell:
> > > >
> > > > physicist (OED, 2., 1840)
> > > >
> > > > *1838* _Madras Journal of Literature and Science_ 1 Jan. 168 (19th
> > Century
> > > > U.K. Periodicals)  The much-wished-for fall of one of these meteors
> > would
> > > > without doubt furnish the chemist and physicist with the means of
> > > > explaining certain points quite unknown.
> > > >
> > > > Fred Shapiro
> > > >
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org