"Microscopist"

       Reading biologist E. O. Wilson's latest book called Creation,  a beautifullly detailed and eloquent siren call to save the life of the planet,  I come across the kind of word that drives me a little nuts.

       Now you and I know how to say the word "microscope."  But in discussing how to get a young person turned on to science by giving the kid a microscope, Wilson speaks of it having worked for himself, turning him into a microscopist like Anton Leeuwenhoek.  There it is.

       Neither the word "micro" nor the word "scope" appear in the word "microscopist," anyway in the saying of it.  It comes out [my-KRAHS-kuh-PIST].   This pronunciation  loses entire touch with the original root parts that give us to understand,  provide our bearing on what the word means!

          (Please see tomorrow's post.)