School subjects Word Search

Did you know?

math

The equals sign (=) was invented in 1557 by Welsh scholar Robert Recorde, who drew two lines because nothing is more equal.

science

The word 'scientist' did not exist until 1833, when William Whewell coined it; before then researchers were called natural philosophers.

history

Herodotus earned the nickname 'Father of History' from Cicero, yet the Greek word he used, historia, simply meant inquiry or investigation.

geography

Eratosthenes coined the very word geography over two thousand years ago, and measured the size of the Earth to within a few percent.

chemistry

Eighteen-year-old William Perkin tried making malaria medicine but discovered purple fabric dye, turning an unsuccessful chemistry experiment into a fashion breakthrough.

biology

Biology's cells were first named from cork's empty compartments, giving familiar living units a label originally applied to dead plant tissue.

physics

GPS corrects for satellite clocks ticking differently from Earth's clocks, making Einstein's relativity part of finding an everyday address on your phone.

grammar

The glittery word 'glamour' is actually a Scottish twist on 'grammar,' back when deep book learning looked a lot like magic.

economics

Cacao beans once worked as money, and counterfeiters filled empty shells with dirt, producing edible-looking coins that hid an inedible surprise.

algebra

Its name comes from Arabic al-jabr, 'reunion of broken parts,' a term that also meant setting broken bones back together.

geometry

Babylonian tablets recorded right-triangle number patterns over a thousand years before Pythagoras, giving familiar geometry a history older than its famous name.

calculus

Newton and Leibniz developed calculus independently in the seventeenth century, then feuded bitterly for years over who deserved the credit.

astronomy

Astronomers predicted Neptune's position from Uranus's odd orbit, letting mathematics point to a new planet before observers recognized it through a telescope.

literature

Georges Perec wrote a French novel without the letter e, and its English translator preserved the omission across an entire book.

philosophy

Ancient philosopher Cleanthes wrote notes on shells and animal shoulder bones, keeping his teacher's ideas without enough money to buy paper.

In their words