[meteorite-list] Pluto May Get Demoted After All

From: Darren Garrison <cynapse_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Aug 18 23:51:39 2006
Message-ID: <q82de2hp4jr0c9pi04iddosbgvg35k0eqo_at_4ax.com>

On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 20:37:34 -0700, you wrote:

>history community. These are people who know the issues, who know the science
>(the words and concepts are far from arbitrary),

I realized something tonight that I knew but for some reason, it hadn't stuck me
before: the word "pluton" already has a use in science. It is a "Body of magma
which has solidified beneath the earth". I've been on a few of them, and can
even see one from my house when I find the right gap between the trees (this
one: http://www.shutterfreaks.com/gallery/album152/DSC_4055, photo not mine).

So it makes me wonder-- does one field of science try to avoid reusing a term
with an established specific meaning in another field of science (and would some
far future geologist be looking for plutons on Plutons?)
Received on Fri 18 Aug 2006 11:52:45 PM PDT