By the way, were we to find life-forms on Venus, we would probably call them Venutians, just as people from Mars would be Martians. But according to rules of Latin genitives, to be “of Venus” ought to make you a Venereal. Unfortunately, medical doctors reached that word before astronomers did. Can’t blame them, I suppose. Venereal disease long predates astronomy, which itself stands as only the second oldest profession.
Interpretation
This quote humorously highlights the linguistic quirks surrounding the naming of hypothetical life-forms and reflects on the historical precedence of certain terms in medicine and astronomy.
Neil Degrasse Tyson's quote showcases the intersection of language, science, and history, suggesting that the naming conventions we take for granted can lead to amusing situations. He uses the potential discovery of life on Venus to illustrate how we might hilariously mislabel beings with roots in medical terminology, while also pointing out that the concerns of venereal disease are far older than any space exploration. This blend of humor and insight invites us to think about how words evolve and the context in which they are used.
In practice
This quote could be used in a science class to illustrate the importance of proper terminology.
The problem is that many people operate on the assumption that NASA should go to Congress every year with hat in hand and justify it every year. Well, I see it as the greatest economic driver that there ever was. Economic drivers don't need justification.
The press still thinks [global warming] is controversial. So they find the 1% of the scientists and put them up as if they're 50% of the research results. You in the public would have no idea that this is basically a done deal and that we're on to other problems, because the journalists are trying to give it a 50/50 story. It's not a 50/50 story. It's not. Period.
As a scientist, I want to go to Mars and back to asteroids and the Moon because I'm a scientist. But I can tell you, I'm not so naive a scientist to think that the nation might not have geopolitical reasons for going into space.
In just one year, the expenditure of of the U.S.'s military budget is equivalent to the entire 50-year running budget of NASA combined.
One of my great laments is that education today seems to have... be less about passion and more about process, more about tactic or technique.
Lots of people think, well, we're humans; we're the most intelligent and accomplished species; we're in charge. Bacteria may have a different outlook: more bacteria live and work in one linear centimeter of your lower colon than all the humans who have ever lived. That's what's going on in your digestive tract right now. Are we in charge, or are we simply hosts for bacteria? It all depends on your outlook.
What are the chances that we will one day discover that DNA has absolutely nothing to do with inheritance? They are effectively zero.
I wouldn't have thought that a wrong theory should lead us to understand better the ordinary quantum field theories or to have new insights about the quantum states of black holes.
Where we have good, testable explanations, they then have to be tested, and we drop the ones that fail the tests.
Mathematics compares the most diverse phenomena and discovers the secret analogies that unite them.
You need propellants to accelerate toward Mars, then to decelerate at Mars, again to re-accelerate from Mars to Earth, and finally to decelerate back at Earth. Accordingly, the mass of these required propellants, in short, drives our need for innovative launch vehicles.
I hope I have helped to raise the profile of science and to show that physics is not a mystery but can be understood by ordinary people.
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