Habitually misused scientific terms

[DrZoidberg]

Science proper is a tool and an occupation. It is a job people get paid to do.

Popular science is entertainment and for some people a persona that can take on the trappings of religious devotees.

If you get bent out of shape over the word optics being co-opted to mean political appearances, then surely you wold have a problem with all of the Star trek saga incarnations. For example the prolific use of the word energy totally out of context of its exact scientific definition.

On the flip side how about the use of the word charm for a quark, rather silly no?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark

'...For some time, Gell-Mann was undecided on an actual spelling for the term he intended to coin, until he found the word quark in James Joyce's book Finnegans Wake:



Three quarks for Muster Mark!
Sure he has not got much of a bark
And sure any he has it's all beside the mark.

—James Joyce, Finnegans Wake[44]...


Imagine that, the name for a particle came from Joyce...

I'd say it is a real problem. If the redefined scientific term gets to be confused with reality, then we're in trouble. New Agers and energy is an excellent example. Or quantum variation. The randomness of quantum vibrations is assumed to prove that all energy can be manipulated by the will. I've got no numbers to back this up, but I suspect that a majority of people believe this is true in some sense. That is a problem.

And just to get further up on my shiny white steed
http://whatstheharm.net/