Hi Nick and Arlo,
Yes. What got me about this was the fact that the idea of gas as a chaotic
state of matter goes WAY back.
Here it seems the etymology goes the other way, though, right? The notion of a
chaotic state of matter is actually a new borrowing of a term, with about as
much
It looks to me that there is currently deep confusion around the use of
both words chaos and disorder in the field of dynamical systems.
Sometimes the meaning unpredictability is evident in that usage. But
at other time the meaning disorganization is. These two ideas are
different and very
Eric -
It seems that the Term of Art chaos, referring to tons of structure
that is merely recalcitrant to description, is the odd man out.
What an eloquent way of putting it...
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays
Dear colleagues,
I am wondering how many of you know the origin of the word, gas. It's
spooky.
N
Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
Clark University
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/
For convenience:
Etymonline
http://etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0search=gassearchmode=none
says
1650s, from Dutch gas, probably from Greek khaos empty space (see
chaos). The sound of Dutch g is roughly equivalent to that of Greek kh.
First used by Flemish chemist J.B. van Helmont
/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/
From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Arlo Barnes
Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2014 8:45 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] GAS
For convenience:
Etymonline
http://etymonline.com/index.php
