Abstract
[Hitherto the word “scientist” has not been used in the columns of NATURE to designate a man of science or scientific worker, and Dr. Campbell now suggests that the time has come to reconsider the exclusion of the word. Our language has grown into what it is through process of change and development, and there is no permanent standard of purity for it; so that new words and phrases are continually being incorporated while others are becoming archaic. The only criterion as to what is permissible is that afforded by refined feeling or usage in the best literature of a particular epoch. We have, therefore, invited a number of authorities on good English, including distinguished men of science, to favour us with their opinions on the desirability, or otherwise, of adopting the word “scientist” to signify generically one who has at different periods been described as a natural philosopher, naturalist, or man of science, and we propose to publish any replies received of a critical or constructive kind. EDITOR, NATURE.]
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The Word “Scientist” or its Substitute. Nature 114, 788 (1924). https://doi.org/10.1038/114788b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/114788b0
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