New Specialties

Back in the age of innocence when the world was a simpler place, science was divided into a few well-defined divisions, such as chemistry, physics and biology. At first they subdivided into specialties (acoustics, optics, biochemistry) whose names were reasonably self-explanatory. But those days are gone forever. In cocktail party chitchat and in the importunate advertisements of companies trying to pirate talented scientists, laymen are now confronted by specialties whose names mean little or nothing in normal, educated English.

Some of the current crop that laymen are exposed to more and more and understand less and less:

CRYOGENICS: Physics of extreme low temperatures close to absolute zero; of growing importance in many fields, including electronics and computers.

AEROTHERMODYNAMICS : Behavior of hot, fast-moving gases, as in jet engines and rockets.

DATA PROCESSING: Handling of information in all ways, from simple business machines to giant computers.

POLYMER CHEMISTRY: Study of large molecules that are made of many small molecules bonded together; plastics, rubbers, synthetic fibers and many natural materials are polymers.

CELESTIAL MECHANICS : Formerly concerned with movements of planets, now also with those of man-made spacecraft.

SOLID STATE PHYSICS: Study of electrical properties of solid materials; includes the design of transistors, is perhaps the fastest-growing part of electronics.

MICROBIOLOGY: All biologists use microscopes, but microbiologists study microorganisms such as bacteria and protozoa.

PLASMA PHYSICS : Has nothing to do with blood plasma, concerns the electrically charged gases that physicists call plasmas.

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: An esoteric kind of biochemistry that deals with the large molecules that control the growth and reproduction of living organisms.

HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS : Basic investigation of matter and energy performed with the help of giant particle accelerators; very long-haired stuff.

MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS : Study of behavior of plasmas (see above) in magnetic fields; very important for astronomy, electronics and missile technology.

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