Inglese III- origini dell'inglese scientifico tecnico

Origins of scientific/technological English

Before the 15th century, no vernacular language was used to refer to science; communication was in Latin.

Evolution of scientific English

In the late XV century, ideas started to be published and circulated to a wide audience thanks to the printed books, e.g., the works of Copernicus (1473-1543), Galileo (1564-1642), Newton (1642-1727), and Boyle (1627-1691).

English started to be used in the scientific field later than other languages.

Intellectual climate

The project of a humanist science was based on the intellectual independence of the scientists, free to test ideas through experimentation and by rational argument. There was opposition from the Catholic Church (e.g., Galileo).

In England, the 11 years of Puritan governance created an intellectual climate of democracy, leading to a new course in science.

The structure of a new scientific paradigm

There was a rise of a new scientific paradigm (cf. T. Kuhn, Scientific Revolutions, 1962). The Royal Society, founded in 1660 by scholars including John Wallis and John Wilkins, still exists. It became a point of reference and exchange for different people's views.

There was a strong intellectual need to spread new discoveries and the new approach to scientific research based on observation. This implied a process of linguistic adaptation, reorganization, and renewal.

New conception of scientific language

There was an awareness of the distinctive character of scientific language and lexicon. John Locke expressed his awareness of one of the distinctive features of the scientific lexicon: its non-arbitrariness (John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Book III, 1690).

Ralph Lever noted in 1573 that there are "more things than words to express things by."

Role of the Royal Society

The Royal Society showed great interest in language. John Wilkins in 1664 helped set up a committee for the improvement of the English language. Although there were no material results, it encouraged publishing in English, leading to Robert Hooke's Micrographia in 1665 and the foundation of the scientific journal Philosophical Transactions in 1665.

Language use in science

Since the foundation of the Philosophical Transactions, many scholars decided to publish their works in English to "divulge" or rather "popularize" knowledge. In the latter part of the XVII century, Latin still persisted although some works were published in the vernacular languages.

Scientific publications in English

During the early stages of this new course, popular works, encyclopedias, and textbooks were published. Original science started to be published in English only in the later period.