In this blog, I translate scientific terminology into Sanskrit, namely in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. I am not the first to do such a thing, but I am going to be one of the few to take it to another level.
Primate Taxonomy in Sanskrit I will name the primate clades and families into Sanskrit. While doing so, I will laso coin new words for some of the primates. Primates are an interesting taxonomic group, namely because of their binocular visiion, opposable thumbs, great inteligence, and the fact that humans belong to this group The Sanskrit name for the order Primata that I gave is कपि . The word means monkey or ape. Note that not all languages distinguish between an ape and a monkey like in English, and that apes are technically monkeys. If we want to be ambigious we can use the Sanskrit word " कपेय", meaning "apish" or "monkeyish", or more accurately "relating to apes or monkeys". Below is the Phylogenetic tree of Primates: This is not how you draw a phylogenetic tree, but I drew it this way for convenience. The first thing you will notice is that Primates are divided into 2 groups. Strepsirrhini , which includes Lemurs and Lorises, and Ha...
Snake Taxonomy in Sanskrit I will name the Snake clades and families into Sanskrit. While doing so, I will also coin new words for some of the Snakes. Snakes are an interesting group of reptiles. Throughout human cultures, they have been both feared and reveared. In India, we have the Nagas, which are a race of snakes. Ananta Shesha and Vasuki are examples of Nagas revered in Hinduism. Part of the order Squamata, Snakes are closely related to the monitor lizards and the famous Mosasaurus. This also means that snakes are technically lizards. They evolved from ancient lizards that decided to live in borrows. Travelling underground is a lot better without legs, so evolution selected for no legs in snakes, but you can see vestigial legs in some snakes, like Pythons. They are two little spurs. Belwo is the Phylogentic tree for Snakes. Again not how you draw one, but I drew it this way fro convenience: Snakes belong to suborder (उपगण) of Squamata (सरट) Serpentes (सर्प). They a...
Some Machine Terms in Sanskrit Some terms like fan, gear, lever, or thruster are very simple technological terms that are likely absent in many Indian languages, which use the English terms. I am about to change that by introducing Sanskrit terms for this. This is actually easier than thought, because we have Sanskrit texts that deal mechanical contrivances (Samarangana Sutradhara, Chapter 31), and end up using Sanskrit terms. Of course, other times, I have to coin the words. the Spoken Sanskrit Dictionary has also coined words. With that let us go. Simple Mechencial Devices: A gear is a famous simple machine, which is essentially a wheel with teeth. Appropriately, I will call it दन्तिचक्र , or "teethed wheel". Flaps are a sheet like thing, especially those found on airplanes. They are mentioned in the Samarangana Sutradhara, as गजकर्ण, which literally means "elephant ear", as flaps are like the ears of an elephant. For that matter a bell...
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