The Profession of the Science of Sight

Abstract

SUMMARY Summarising, we have three operative nouns, each with its corresponding adjective, two personal nouns, ten subsidiary adjectives to form subject names, three for the main departments, and one for the whole of the academic aspect of the science, all of which together comprise a basic glossary of twenty-two words, all but five of which are already in general use; and this small group has to be included in a main glossary of about eight hundred and fifty scientific terms which the opti-cologist already requires to know. If there is anyone who would suggest that such a glossary is unwieldly, let me instance only one other profession. The medical profession, apart from its main divisions of medicine, surgery and midwifery, embraces over thirty comparatively well-known -ologies, all of which with their adjectives and personal nouns give a glossary of basic terms of over one hundred words to be added to a dictionary of many thousands of technical terms. The opticological glossary may usefully be compiled in such a way as to form a syllabus of optical and optic subjects.