Article for translators: Glossary Mining - Part 6: Science from A to Z

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Glossary Mining - Part 6: Science from A to Z

By Lee Wright,
American Translators Association,
Alexandria, VA, U.S.A.

http://www.atanet.org/

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This installment provides a compendium of various Internet resources dealing with scientific subjects – from anthropology to zoology. The focus is on terminology and reference materials for the “pure” sciences, as opposed to the “applied” sciences such as mechanical engineering or metallurgical processes. The list begins with several resources of a general nature and continues in alphabetical order by subject. Once again, most of these items involve English and Spanish, but the list also includes several multilingual glossaries.

General Science

English

http://www.visionlearning.com/library/glossary.php

http://jilawww.colorado.edu/research/glossary/glossary_a.html

http://discover.edventures.com/...action=&alpha=A

A little bit of everything in these glossaries. The third one is nicely illustrated as well.

http://www.101science.com/Terminology.htm

Provides links to numerous glossaries for a variety of scientific subjects.

Spanish

http://www.solociencia.com/index.htm

http://www.novaciencia.com/

http://www.jmcprl.net/GLOSARIO/G-A.htm

These sites provide articles on a wide range of scientific topics.

http://www.esi.unav.es/.../Glosario.html

Emphasis on ecological terms

Anthropology

English

http://www.anthro.wayne.edu/ant2100/glossary.htm

Includes both cultural and physical anthropology, as well as an archeology glossary.

http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/glossary.htm

Over 2600 terms; searchable with Boolean operators.

http://www.webref.org/anthropology/anthropology.htm

One of several different glossaries available from the webref site.

http://oregonstate.edu/cla/anthropology/resources/glossary.php

http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/1anthro.html

Spanish

http://www.unav.es/educacion/introantro/tema1/pagina_2.html

http://www.conchadoncel.com/antscglosario.htm

Astronomy and Cosmology

English

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/

A guide to astronomical bodies of all kinds.

http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/glossary/

Provides very detailed definitions of the terms.

http://www.astrosociety.org/education/publications/tnl/14/14.html

The glossary of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

http://www.interactions.org/cms/?pid=1003020

An exhaustive 3-part glossary of astrophysics terms.

http://astsun.astro.virginia.edu/~jh8h/astr124/glossary.html

http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/glossary/glossary.html

Two excellent university sites on astronomy; the University of Oregon site includes outstanding graphics, many taken from the Encyclopedia Britannica.

http://www.ioncmaste.ca/.../astro_glossary.html

http://www.kidscosmos.org/kid-stuff/glossary.html

Designed for the younger set, but very useful nevertheless; also includes information about the metric system and scientific notation, plus a section on universal time.

http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/virtualmuseum/Glossary_Astro/gloss_a-f.shtml

This one is from Cal Space.

http://www.tufts.edu/.../fr_3/fr_3_gloss.html

Emphasis on cosmic evolution terminology.

Spanish

http://www.astrocosmo.cl/glosario/glosar.htm

Excellent Spanish definitions.

http://www21.brinkster.com/infospace/glosario.asp

http://www.espacioprofundo.com.ar/.../A.html

Contains lots of useful cross-references.

http://www.astromia.com/glosario/index.htm

Probably the best one for Spanish; the site also includes numerous articles on astronomical subjects; profusely illustrated.

http://www.solarviews.com/span/homepage.htm

Multimedia presentation on the solar system and beyond.

http://www.tayabeixo.org/glosario/letra_a.htm

Very detailed definitions.

http://www.austrinus.com/00/diccionario.html

Excruciatingly slow, but very good.

Biology and Botany

English

http://biotech.icmb.utexas.edu/search/dict-search.html

Covers virtually all of the life sciences, with over 8,000 terms. Also includes a compendium of chemical acronyms, plus links to other useful sites.

http://www.webref.org/biology/biology.htm

http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary.asp

Both of these offer very comprehensive coverage of the subject. The second one is a Wiki-style (i.e., user-editable) dictionary.

http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/pae/glossarya.html

http://www.biology-online.org/d/a.htm

http://seqcore.brcf.med.umich.edu/.../mbgloss.html

Molecular biology terms.

http://biology.about.com/od/biologydictionary/a/cellbiogloss.htm

Cell biology.

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/.../glossary_a-f.html

Microbiology terms.

http://www.dyerlabs.com/glossary/microbiology/1a.html

German-English terminology.

http://www.ncforestry.org/docs/Glossary/term.htm

Forestry terms.

http://www.ggc.org/glossary.htm

A good site for genetics terminology.

http://web.mit.edu/esgbio/www/chapters.html

An excellent hypertextbook

http://www.everythingbio.com/glos/index.php

Almost 4,000 entries.

http://www.fao.org/.../X3910E04.htm#TopOfPage

Biotechnology and genetic engineering; 260-page PDF version can be downloaded.

http://bugs.bio.usyd.edu.au/Mycology/Glossary/glossary_a_b.shtml

There’s a fungus among us!

http://www.apsnet.org/education/illustratedglossary/default.htm

http://www.plantpath.cornell.edu/glossary/Glossary.htm

Plant pathology terms.

http://dallas.tamu.edu/weeds/anat.html

Don’t be misled by the URL. This is an excellent resource for plant anatomy terms, complete with illustrations.

http://bugs.bio.usyd.edu.au/2003A+Pmodules/glossary.html

And this glossary is a complement to the previous site, with excellent definitions.

Spanish

http://www.explora.cl/otros/biotec/glosario.html

http://www.monsanto.es/biotecnologia/glosario.html

Biotechnology terms.

http://www.bibliotecavirtual.com.do/Biologia/IndiceBiologia.htm

A general guide to numerous biological topics.

http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/.../prese-tl.htm

A botanical hypertextbook from the Universidad de Extremadura with animated illustrations.

http://www.ugr.es/~fisiofar/glosario/marcoletraglosario.htm

http://micol.fcien.edu.uy/atlas/glos98.htm

Plant biology.

http://www.botanical-online.com/spanishglossary.htm

http://www.arbolesornamentales.com/glosario.htm

Botanical terms.

Multilingual

http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Frontpage.html

Plant names featuring less common languages such as Thai.

Chemistry

English

http://chemistry.about.com/library/blazlist1.htm

A good basic term list with some good links to other information.

http://home.nas.net/~dbc/cic_hamilton/dictionary/a.html

http://www.chemicool.com/dictionary.html

Both of these offer excellent definitions of chemistry terminology.

http://www.petrik.com/PUBLIC/library/misc/glossary_of_org_chem.htm

One of the best for English organic chemistry terms.

http://www.chemhelper.com/glossary.html

But this one is equally good.

http://www.cem.msu.edu/~reusch/VirtTxtJml/intro1.htm#contnt

A complete virtual textbook on organic chem.

http://www.cem.msu.edu/~cem181h/glossary.html

Claims to be a “living glossary”; however, its last update was made in 1998.

http://misterguch.brinkster.net/bigdictionary.html

Billed as “The Great Big Chemistry Dictionary”.

http://www.ktf-split.hr/periodni/en/abc/index.html

Also includes a downloadable (PDF) full-color Periodic Table of the Elements.

http://www.chemistry-dictionary.com/

Designed primarily for students.

http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/chemistry/letters/

Eric Weinstein’s World of Chemistry glossary.

http://library.thinkquest.org/3659/reference/glossary.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/10429/high/nomen/nomenbody.htm

A very good resource on inorganic chemistry.

Spanish

http://www.edufuturo.com/educacion.php?c=3328

Printable version also available at http://www.edufuturo.com/imprime.php?c=3328&

http://www.telecable.es/personales/albatros1/quimica/index.html

An excellent on-line resource for organic chemistry.

http://www.geocities.com/jojoel99/qorganica.html

A Spanish hypertextbook for organic chemistry.

http://www.lenntech.com/espanol/tabla-periodica.htm

Spanish guide to the Periodic Table.

http://www.leeds.ac.uk/ifcc/PD/dict/spandict.html

Extensive English-Spanish clinical chemistry terminology with excellent supporting documentation; versions in TXT, DOC and WPD can be downloaded.

http://www.gestialba.com/public/quimica/quimicasta01.htm

General chemistry terms with good Spanish definitions.

Multilingual

http://www.woc.science.ru.nl/translation/

A 5-language glossary of organic chemistry terms (English, Dutch, German, French and Italian).

Geology

English

http://www.uky.edu/AS/Geology/webdogs/glossary/hypgloss.htm

http://geology.com/geology-dictionary.shtml

Two very good resources.

http://www.ge-at.iastate.edu/.../glossary.v2.html

Claims to be illustrated, but nary an illustration to be found in it.

http://www2.wwnorton.com/college/geo/egeo/index/overview.htm

A complete textbook on geology.

http://college.hmco.com/geology/resources/geologylink/toc.html

Provides numerous links to other sites.

http://earthsci.org/education/teacher/geoglos/geoglos.htm

Very good for basic terminology; includes separate section on geological structures and processes, with some animated illustrations.

http://igs.indiana.edu/Geology/glossary/listEntireGlossary.cfm

The site of the Indiana Geological Survey.

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/glossary.html

This one will make you blow your top!

Spanish

http://www.icog.es/_portal/glosario/sp_search.asp

An excellent glossary from the Spanish Ilustrio Colegio Oficial de Geólogos.

http://www.montes.upm.es/.../Glosario.html#accidental

Rocks and minerals.

http://usuarios.lycos.es/mineralesespana/GlosarioMineralogico2.htm

More mineralogy.

http://tlacaelel.igeofcu.unam.mx/~GeoD/estudiantes/frnando/tareas.html

Focus on Mexican geology as well as general concepts.

http://www.cepalcala.org/.../geol_est.ppal.htm

Nice photographs of structural formations and different types of rocks.

http://www.artifexbalear.org/dic_geo.htm

http://www.mineriaecuador.com/SSM/dinage/diccionario/dicc.htm

Two very good dictionaries.

http://www.fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar/~nicolas/geoglos/letraa.shtml

English-Spanish with Spanish definitions. This URL takes you to the entries for the letter “a”. Substitute the appropriate letter in the URL for the other entries.

http://www.ideam.gov.co/ninos2/glos_05.htm

Nicely illustrated glossary of geological processes.

Mathematics

English

http://www.cut-the-knot.org/glossary/atop.shtml

http://math.about.com/library/bla.htm

Multilingual

http://www.glencoe.com/...&language=4

Fifteen languages, including “exotic” ones like Tagalog and Urdu. The entries are in PDF format and include good illustrations of many terms.

Meteorology

English

http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/ENSO/Glossary/

U.S. Dept. of Commerce National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s site

http://intranet.lternet.edu/committees/climate/climstan/glossary.html

http://www.nw-weathernet.com/wx_terms.htm

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/1102/wxdefs.html

http://www.weather.com/glossary/?from=footer

Three very nice glossaries of weather terms

http://www.tsgc.utexas.edu/stars/metgloss.html

http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satmet/glossary/glossary.html

Satellite meteorology terms and acronyms

Spanish

http://www.senamhi.gob.pe/...Submit=Buscar+palabra

The Peruvian weather bureau’s site; also includes some very interesting articles on weather phenomena.

http://www.semar.gob.mx/meteorologia/glosario.htm

This one’s from Mexico.

http://www.inamhi.gov.ec/educativa/glosario.htm

And a good Ecuadorian site.

http://espanol.weather.com/glossary/a.html

The weather.com site in Spanish.

http://www.hyparion.com/web/diccionari/dics/meteo.htm

http://www.zonagratuita.com/curiosidades/DicMeteorologia/A.htm

http://www.greenfacts.org/es/cambio-climatico/toolboxes/glossary.htm

Glossary of climate change terms

Oceanography

English

http://stommel.tamu.edu/~baum/paleo/paleogloss/paleogloss.html

Despite the URL, this one deals with oceanography and related geosciences

http://oceanlink.island.net/glossary.html

Marine biology terms

http://science.hq.nasa.gov/oceans/glossary.html

NASA’s Web site for oceanography

http://www.jbpub.com/oceanlink2e/glossary/main.cfm

Basic terminology resource

http://taylor.math.ualberta.ca/~bruce/glossary.html

Fluid dynamics of oceans

Spanish

http://bcs.cicese.mx/glosario-OceFis/

Chilean encyclopedia of physical oceanography. Each letter of the alphabetic is in a separate PDF file.

Paleontology

English

http://www.scienceviews.com/dinosaurs/glossary.html

Dinosaurs and such

http://www.geo.arizona.edu/geo3xx/geo308_fall2002/backup/glossary.html

Very detailed, with excellent cross-references

http://geology.er.usgs.gov/paleo/glossary.shtml

http://www.nps.gov/archive/maca/learnhome/cur_p_glo.htm

Both of these have good definitions

Spanish

http://www.grupopaleo.com.ar/paleoargentina/glosario.htm

Physics

English

http://www.geocities.com/physolv/glossary.htm

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-106329.html

http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/letters/

http://www.fearofphysics.com/index4.html

http://www.lightandmatter.com/area1glossary.shtml

http://www.physicsphenomena.com/Physicsdictionary.htm

Six very good basic resources. The last URL also includes a 6-part on-line textbook.

http://www.mcm.edu/~christej/dictionary/framedict.html

This one is unique because of its extensive cross-references and very detailed definitions.

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/.../physics.html&edu=high

A basic on-line textbook for physics; nicely illustrated.

http://members.tripod.com/~IgorIvanov/physics/

More encyclopedic in scope.

http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/.../Glossary_of_Terms.htm

A glossary for secondary school students.

http://www.interactions.org/cms/?pid=1002289

Particle physics terminology.

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072383321/student_view0/full_text_glossary.html

Thermodynamics.

http://www.valemount.com/joel/lightoptics/glossary.htm

Light and optics terms.

http://www.usglobec.org/reports/rep4/rep4.glossary.html

Acoustics.

http://www.lbl.gov/abc/Glossary.html

http://www.dataenabled.com/nuclearglossary/abcs/nuclearglossary_A.html

Nuclear terminology.

http://www.nanotech-now.com/nanotechnology-glossary-A-C.htm

http://www.memsnet.org/glossary/

Nanotechnology.

http://www.pacificdisplay.com/lcd_glossary.htm

http://www.elis.ugent.be/ELISgroups/lcd/lc/glossary.php

Liquid crystals.

http://www.marktechopto.com/.../leds-drivers-displays-glossary.cfm?s=a

LEDs.

http://www.superconductors.org/terms.htm

Superconductors.

Zoology

English

http://animals.about.com/od/zoologyglossary/Zoology_Glossary.htm

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss7metazoa.html

http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/wyndd/Animals/glossary.htm

Basic terms to bring out the animal in you.

http://local.lander.edu/rsfox/310glossaryLab.html

Invertebrate zoology.

http://www.sbg.ac.at/ipk/avstudio/pierofun/glossary/zoology.pdf

A very good 37-page glossary.

http://c-library.um.ac.ir/Zoology.asp

Provides links to numerous sites containing zoological information.

http://www.fishorshutup.com/Biology/Fish%20Biology.htm

Gone fishing.

Spanish

http://www.webcolombia.com/butterfly/Glosario.htm

Butterflies and moths; nicely illustrated.

http://perso.wanadoo.es/jjdeharo/entomologia/dicc.htm

Just bugs.

http://www.geocities.com/biodiversidadchile/glosario2.htm

Fish terminology.

Multilingual

http://www.mumm.ac.be/~serge/birds/home_es.html

6-language glossary of bird names.

http://www.culturaapicola.com.ar/diccionario.htm

Quadrilingual glossary of beekeeping terms.

Next time: Brush up your English! Internet resources providing help of all kinds on English-language usage.

This article was originally published in The ATA Chronicle.
www.atanet.org/chronicle

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