[Ads-l] Further Antedating of "Black Hole" (Astrophysics)

[Ben Zimmer]

The author of the 1963 article was on the same wavelength as Larry:

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-washington-daily-news-black-holes/148222053/
NOT BAD ACTORS
Degenerate stars are not Hollywood types with low morals. They are dying
stars, or white dwarves, and make up about 10 per cent of all stars in the
sky.

On Mon, May 27, 2024 at 9:32 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

> > On May 27, 2024, at 8:15 PM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> wrote:
> >
> > SPECIAL NOTE TO DAVID A. DANIEL:  I implore you not to read this
> posting.  It directly concerns an issue that caused you in 2008 to
> contribute the most (far and away the most) anti-antedating message ever on
> this listserv.  You will risk getting even more upset if you read this.
> >
>
> That sounds intriguing. I don’t recall that incident. But I am relieved
> that in 1963 the “experts on degenerate stars” were astrophysicists
> speaking at the AAAS rather than celebrity gossips interviewed on E! or
> Access Hollywood.
> > **
> >
> > The astrophysical term "black hole" was often said to have been coined
> in 1967 by the great scientist John A. Wheeler, indeed when he died his
> obituaries had headlines like "coiner of 'black hole.'"  I discovered that
> science writer Ann Ewing used "black hole" in an article in 1964.  Now I
> have found a still earlier occurrence:
> >
> > black hole (OED, astrophysical meaning, 1964)
> >
> > 1963 _Washington Daily News_ 31 Dec. 12/2 (Newspapers.com)  CLEVELAND,
> Dec. 31 – Space may be peppered with "black holes."  This was suggested at
> the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting here by
> experts on degenerate stars.
> >
>

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