Dictionary disciplines

Research into so-called ontologies is also currently very active. Ontologies can be used to characterize the principal concepts in a particular discipline and how they relate one to another. Many people believe they are necessary if database annotation is to be made accessible to both people and software, but also in facilitating more effective and efficient data retrieval. The well-known Gene Ontology consortium, or GO, defines the term ontology as ... specifications of a relational vocabulary . In other words they are sets of defined terms like the sort that you would find in a dictionary, but the terms are networked. The terms in a given vocabulary are likely to be restricted to... 

The construction of a model starts out with the proper choice of a system. Thus, we have to define what the term system shall mean in the context of environmental models. Some disciplines use it in a fairly abstract way. The Oxford English Dictionary characterizes a system as a set or assemblage of things connected, associated, or interdependent, so as to form a complex unity. We prefer a more concrete definition (see Fig. 21.1a) ... 

Most specialized disciplines have their own specialized jargons, each a lexicon and syntax developed partly to make communication more efficient and partly by historical accident. For convenience, this section lists a number of words and phrases used elsewhere in this book and in the pertinent literature that require special attention. Some such terms will be obscure outside the circle of communicants, some have special meanings or connotations beyond their normal dictionary definitions, and some need particular attention because they are not used consistently in the literature. 

Michael Neve in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography gives the date of Beddoes s appointment as Reader as Spring 1788 but Beddoes styled himself Reader in his memorial on the state of the Bodleain Library, printed and issued in 1787. His lectures were not only on chemistry, but also on the closely related discipline of mineralogy, and on the theory of the earth, which in the late eighteenth century was enlivened by the conflict between the theories of Werner and Hutton. 

Biomimetics is a distinct and rapidly growing discipline that provides insight into the secrets of how Nature s biological pathways work, how they are manifest in diverse aspects of chemistry, physics and engineering, and in which way they can be emulated to provide materials and objects useful for biomedical applications. According to the Oxford Dictionary, the term biomimetics means relating to or denoting synthetic methods which mimic biochemical processes . 

This dictionary is one of a series designed for use in schools. It is intended for students of chemistry, but we hope that it will also be helpful to other science students and to anyone interested in science. Facts On File also publishes dictionaries in a variety of disciplines, including biology, physics, mathematics, forensic science, weather and climate, marine science, and space and astronomy. 

This sixth edition of A Dictionary of Science, like its predecessors, aims to provide school and first-year university students with accurate explanations of any unfamiliar words they might come across in the course of their studies, in their own or adjacent disciplines. For example, students of the physical sciences will find all they are likely to need to know about the life sciences, and vice versa. The dictionary is also designed to provide non-scientists with a useful reference source to explain the scientific terms that they may encounter in their work or in their general reading. 

The word consilient is used as the adjective form of the noun consilience. As listed in Webster s Third New International Dictionary, consihence contains the sense that there exist pervasive, fundamental laws of nature underlying related disciplines, which provide a common groundwork of understanding. Here we refer to the consilient mechanism as a water dependent, pervasive, fundamental process by which the macromolecules of living organisms function and evolve. The term originates from Wilham Whewell in The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, London, 1840. 

The word electrochemistry derives from the terms electricity and chemistry, it applies to a scientific discipline as well as to a sector of industry. Ordinary dictionaries define it as the science which describes the interactions between chemistry and electricity, or the chemical phenomena that are coupled with reciprocal exchanges of electric energy. 

Carbohydrate science is no longer seen as a specialised subdivision of organic chemistry, but as a discipline of central importance to the chemical and biological sciences. Every attempt has been made in the coverage of the Dictionary to provide all glyco-scientists, not just synthetic carbohydrate chemists, with the key information that they will need for their day-to-day work. 

In the 200 years since Thomas Graham founded the discipline of colloid science, a vast number of terms have come to be associated with colloid and interface science and, in particular, with the sub-discipline of surfactant science. In addition to the fundamental science, there is a great diversity of occurrences and properties of surfactants in industry and in everyday life. This chapter provides brief explanations for the most important terms that may be encountered in a stndy of the fundamental principles, experimental investigations, and petrolenm industry-related applications of surfactant science. Specific literature eitations are given when the sources for further information are partieularly useful or unique. For terms drawn from fundamental colloid and interface seienee, much reliance was placed on the recommendations of the lUPAC Commission on Colloid and Surface Chemistry [I], For more comprehensive dictionaries and glossaries of terms in colloid and interface science, see references [2-7]. 

Dictionaries are alphabetical lists providing definitions of terms, concepts, and principles within a specific discipline or field. Coverage may vary from a few sentences to lengthy, in-depth explanations of a term or concept. 

Szycher, M. 1995. Szycher s Dictionary of Medical Devices. Lancaster, PA Technomic Publishing Company, Inc. Definitions of terms from the disciplines of polymer chemistry, biochemistry, metallurgy, and organic chemistry as they relate to biomaterials used in medical devices. 

Williams, D. F. ed. 1999. Williams Dictionary of Biomaterials. Liverpool, U.K. Liverpool University Press. Defines more than 6,000 words and phrases associated with biomaterials and related disciplines. Written for clinical scientists involved in engineering matters. 

Webster, L. 1997. Wiley Dictionary of Civil Engineering and Construction. New York John Wiley Sons. This dictionary provides a broad coverage of technical disciplines, such as architecture, engineering, building, construction, forestry, and mining. Entries include terms, concepts, names, abbreviations, techniques, and tools. AU entries are thoroughly cross-referenced. 

Color is a subject that sprawls across the four enormous disciplines of physics, chemistry, physiology and psychology. Any attempt to arrive at a satisfactory definition of the word involves a dip into each of these disciplines and into the areas that overlap them. Furthermore, the word color can be applied to not only the visual arts, but also to the worlds of law, music, dance, verbal expression, and personality traits. The American Heritage Dictionary [2] defines color in eighteen different ways, and devotes a half-page article to explaining the definitions of color names used elsewhere in the dictionary. 

Although the words forecast and prediction have similar dictionary definitions, the associated connotations are different in different disciplines of geophysics. In some instances, the words are used interchangeably. For example, the US National Weather Service has a Weather Prediction Center which issues Short Range Forecasts of weather conditions (http //www.hpc. ncep.noaa.gov/). This topic has been heavily debated in the earthquake community. The term prediction has come to mean a highly specific statement about the time, location, and magnitude of a future event, generally with very narrow... 

This work is a companion volume to A Dictionary of Thermodynamics, which is also in the Dictionary series, and it is intended as a handy reference book, both for students of chemistry and also for scientists in other disciplines, for whom it provides thumb-nail sketches of the important concepts of electrochemistry. The entries are in alphabetical sequence this makes it easy to locate a given topic, and any disadvantage in this arrangement has been removed, we hope, by the provision of ample cross-references to relevant material. It is not intended that any topic should be treated rigorously equations are quoted without derivation and their applications and limits are discussed. To all practising scientists this is a very important aspect. 

The high levels of functional safety needed from essential systems are usually achieved by some form of fail-safe design. The fail-safe design concept considers the effects of failures and combinations of failure in defining a safe design. The application of the fail-safe concept is probably the most important discipline involved in the design of systems and operations. It has evolved over many years. The definition first appeared in the dictionary in the mid-1950s after the final reports on the Comet disasters were published. 

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