Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Wondrous Words Wednesday

I found this group of like-minded readers who have a tradition of sharing new words they've found when reading every week.  So I thought I'd join in!

I've just started reading Planets, by Dava Sobel.  I really enjoyed her books Longitude and Galileo's Daughter so I snatched this one up at the half priced bookstore.  It promises to be absorbing and a lesson in astronomy.  A couple of words I found in it so far that caught my eye are:

exoplanet - "As yet, no exoplanets have been imaged directly through a telescope, so their discoveres are left to imagine what they look like."

Exoplanets are newly discovered bodies in space which are extra-solar, or planets beyond our solar system.

2)  aegis - "Absent any aegis of air to spread out and hold in solar heat, some regions of Mercury get hot enough to melt metals in daylight..."

Aegis used here is referring to the air providing support or backing.  It's a clever use of the word in a chapter on Mythology that explains the names of the planets, as in Greek mythology it refers to a animal skin or shield that provided protection.

I hope this entry sparks a new habit for me, do you think it's a good start?

3 comments:

  1. Those are both new to me as well. I'm going to try exoplanets out on my husband.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've always wanted to read his books. Especially the Longitude. I didn't know about Planets. I have this fear he's above my head. I would have to read a paragraph five or six times before understanding it. Looking forward to seeing some of his words on your blog.Happy Holidays.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think you'll enjoy them btw Dava is a female

    ReplyDelete

Post your comments here, would love to hear what you think