We invite you to dive in and discover a database of terms that appeared prominently in the print record of Scientific American. Below, every single calendar year of that record is represented by a one phrase, which was picked by way of a text-investigation project that started out with all 5,107 difficulties of the magazine. Words and phrases whose relative frequency peaked in every single person calendar year were being recognized. Among people best contenders, the one noun, verb, adjective or adverb that was utilised most normally was deemed the winner. The line charts, which reflect the frequency of every single phrase about time from 1845 (considerably still left) to 2020 (considerably suitable), are scaled to the greatest price. To find out additional about how the information were being collected, analyzed and visualized, see “How to Change a hundred seventy five Years of Words and phrases in Scientific American into an Picture.”

As science historian Lorraine Daston wrote in an essay for our exclusive 175th anniversary difficulty: “Science has by no means been speechless. Scientific journals started in the 17th century, and since then, science has been all about communication—first and foremost in between researchers and other researchers, but also with a broader community fascinated by the hottest discoveries, innovations and speculations about fossils, electrical power, atoms, computers, genes and galaxies…. It is completely in preserving with the visible spirit of scientific conversation that the really terms utilised in all 5,107 difficulties of Scientific American since 1845 ought to be turned into an picture. [In this project, you are going to see] phrase frequencies undulate, soaring and plunging as a perform of time to track the way science talked about itself to itself.”

To browse additional from Daston—and for a guided graphical tour of well known terms paired with vital moments in the record of the magazine—see “Visualizing a hundred seventy five Years of Words and phrases in Scientific American.”  

Have you uncovered fun styles or intriguing phrase juxtapositions? Share your screenshots and thoughts on social media applying the hashtags #SciAm175 and #ScienceWords.