West Coast History of Science Society Meeting

University of California, San Francisco

April 11th - April 14th, 2002
[Program]

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History of the Word Fact : Why Did Fact Acquire its New Meaning in the 1720s?
 

John P. McCaskey
Stanford University
 
 

The word fact has a different meaning today than it did in 1600. A detailed survey of the word s use will show that the major change did not occur in the early 17th century as is commonly held by historians of science, but rather in the early 18th century. This paper will propose that the change was a result of the accession to the throne of King George I one of the so-called de facto kings.