The claim that ‘[t]he word “scientist” was not coined until 1833 because only then did people realize it was needed’ is thus mistaken: there had long been a perceived need for a word to do the job.31 The problem was that finding a suitable word – one that did not already have a different usage and was properly constructed – was a genuine obstacle, so that only when the need became absolutely pressing was the obstacle overcome, and only then by breaking what was regarded as one of the basic rules of word formation. Fundamentally, though, the word ‘scientist’ was merely a new and useful word for
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