1. Words as tracers in the history of science and technology: the case of photogrammetry and remote sensing
- Author
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Laurent Polidori, Centre d'études spatiales de la biosphère (CESBIO), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), and Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Subjects
Engineering ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Geography, Planning and Development ,lcsh:Geodesy ,0211 other engineering and technologies ,Context (language use) ,02 engineering and technology ,01 natural sciences ,Terminology ,remote sensing ,terminology ,[PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-INS-DET]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Instrumentation and Detectors [physics.ins-det] ,Computers in Earth Sciences ,History of science and technology ,021101 geological & geomatics engineering ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,lcsh:QB275-343 ,business.industry ,lcsh:Mathematical geography. Cartography ,Data science ,Field (geography) ,Ngram Viewer ,Photogrammetry ,Remote sensing (archaeology) ,business ,lcsh:GA1-1776 - Abstract
International audience; The evolution of terminology in a given field of science and technology is a good indicator of the context in which inventions originated and how concepts have evolved. This is the case of photogrammetry, remote sensing and related methods, whose terminology evolved, first under the influence of the early inventors Laussedat and Meydenbauer, in French and German, respectively, and then in English and other languages as an international professional community developed. The development of space remote sensing and analytical photogrammetry led to the modification of old concepts and the renewal of terminology, and more recently, the advent of digital photography has blurred the boundaries between different fields and the meaning of the terms. This article proposes an analysis of the evolution of technical terms through the Google Ngram Viewer tool, which allows the visualization of the occurrence of terms in documents accessible on the web. Despite its biases, this tool allows an interpretation of the evolution of the terminology over a long period of time, as well as a comparison of the evolution observed in the different languages. In particular, it makes it possible to highlight the periods when these methods were very popular, as well as a recent decline in the use of classical terms such as photogrammetry and remote sensing in favor of a new vocabulary, due to the blurring of boundaries between disciplines and to the emergence of new solutions related to UAVs, computer vision, etc., which have renewed the potential of classical methods.
- Published
- 2021