I vividly remembered I possess this book's Chinese version back in my college years. From the book, I learned enough Greek and Latin roots to help me to understand those arcane scientific terms. However, since it is in Chinese, mixed with some Greek and Latin roots, It did not possess the full power of the original English book. When I put my hands on this English version, I still got a lot of surprises.
To corresponding the Chinese scientific terms with English ones is not easy. Since Chinese is not an alphabetical language, its scientific terms are radically different from those in Western languages. Even some terms in Russian bear some resemblance to the English terms, but it is whole different story in Chinese.
For Asimov, each word has a story, a history, and an anecdote. The pungent ammonia can bring us back to ancient Egypt, remind us the Egyptian deity Ammon, in His Temple people burn camel dung as fuel. On the ceiling, a while crystal contains the important, but unpleasant chemical. So, from the Egyptian god Ammon, we have the term ammonia. However, in its Chinese incarnation, there is no trace of this intriguing etymology.
August 12, 2003
In the United States, weights are measured by pounds, ounces, grains, instead of the internationally adopted SI measurement system: kilograms, grams, meters, etc., also called metric units.
To make things worse, the are two kinds of pounds: avoirdupois pound and troy pound. Avoirdupois pound is used to measure ordinary stuff, potatoes, wheat, etc; troy pound is used to measure gold, jewels, or drugs. Avoirdupois comes from a French phrase "avoir du pois", means to have weight; troy comes from the city of Troyes, in northeastern France, famous for its fairs. The city regulated the weight units, so came the name troy pound.
An avoirdupois pound equals 454 grams, a troy pound equals 373 grams. An avoirdupois pound is divided into 16 ounces, but a troy pound is divided into 12 ounces. So a avoirdupois ounce is not equal to a troy ounce. An avoirdupois ounce is smaller than a troy ounce, but the avoirdupois pound is bigger. An avoirdupois ounce is 28.35 grams, and a troy ounce is 31.103 grams. A troy ounce is equal to 480 grains, an avoirdupois ounce equals to 437.5 grains. So the troy pound is equal to 5760 grains; the avoirdupois pound is equal to 7000 grains. A grain is 64.8 micrograms.
By the way, since the troy ounce and pound are used to measure drugs, they are also called apothecaries' pound and ounce. Apothecary is another name for pharmacy and/or pharmacists.
Again, to make things more complicated, there are three systems: metric, United States, and British.
In both British and US systems, a gallon is divided into 4 quarts; a quart is divided into 2 pints. A US pint is divided into 16 fluid ounces, but a British pint is divided into 20 fluid ounces.
However, a British gallon is equal to 4.546 liters, but a US gallon is equal to 3.785 liters.
So a US fluid ounce is 29.57 milliliters; a British fluid ounce is 28.41 milliliters.
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August 21, 2003