Scientific Language – A Comparative Analysis of English, German and Russian

This essay for the inaugural issue of Technology and Language considers the development of scientific language in engineering. This development is influenced mainly by developments in industry and, in general, in society. With the help of some examples it is discussed how precise are English, German and Russian with respect to some expressions in the field of mechanics and engineering in general. The author is not a linguist and the given conclusions are personal impressions and not based in science. On the other hand, maybe the presented examples stimulate further research concerning the development and accuracy of scientific terms. The focus here is on three languages: English, German, and Russian. Surely, however, there are more examples, also with respect to other languages.