ENGLISH

StarWords: The Celestial Roots of Modern Language (Springer Praxis Books)

By Daniel Kunth , Elena Terlevich

Book information

Publisher
Springer
Year
2024
ISBN
3031490231, 9783031490231
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
10 MB (11007672 bytes)
Pages
184\173
Time added
2024-04-11 21:57:29

Description

Unbeknownst to many, our modern language contains countless words that were inspired by human observations of the cosmos. We now use words like “zenith”, “Monday”, “disaster”, “dog days”, “starfish”, “lunatic”, flu, and so many others, without a second thought for their celestial roots. Famous French astrophysicist Daniel Kunth invites you on a linguistic and scientific journey through space and time to explore these forgotten origins. You will be astonished to rediscover cosmic language hidden in plain sight through this wonderful collection of historical and cultural stories, famous idioms and delightful puns, along with the real science behind each one. Elena Terlevich is a well known professional astronomer working at INAOE in Mexico, an honorary Professor at La Plata University in Argentina and a regular visitor at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge (UK). Requiring no prior knowledge in astronomy or linguistics, this book’s universal contentsinvite the reader to ponder how our observations of the night sky have shaped our modern tongue and customs. Foreword Preface Introduction Acknowledgements Contents Sky Heaven and Bliss Leaden Sky The Oyster and the Firmament Should We Fear the Sky? The Sky at Our Feet Light When Day Becomes God A Luminous Family Story Stars A Thousand Stars and You and You On How to Become a Pope How to Choose Well a Star Name? Inspirational Stars Shooting Stars Beacon Stars From Canine Warmth to Gentle Cuddles Constellations The Road to the Sun Notorious Constellations A Very Crowded Sky Astral Influences Good and Bad Influences Our Birth Star The Good Fortune of Almanacs The Sun Is a Star, the Earth a Disaster Fateful Actions Desire of the Stars Cosmos Beautiful as a Star The Fifth Element Cosmic Clouds A Haze of Eternity Billions of Galaxies Big Bang and Its Sibling Sun One, Two, Three…Billions of Suns Moon Anyone Home? The Man in the Moon Lunar Wisdom The Moon Timepiece Forms and Forces Refractive Material Reflecting Material Attractive Material Satellite for Life Eclipses Comets Fears, Stupors and Tremblings Cometary Happy Ending The Most Beautiful Tails Planets Planet America The World of Georges Perec The Wandering Stars Mercury Venus Mars Ceres Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto Calendar Revolution All Saints’ Day in November, Christmas in December... When Tomorrow Was Yesterday Days of the Week Nap Time Epilogue Glossary A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Z Bibliography Characters From Daniel Kunth

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