Today I read about a baseball player. "He may be the smartest person in baseball," the article claimed. The only support for this speculation was that the player majored at Yale in biochemistry and biophysics.
Which got me to thinking that his credentials would not be nearly as impressive if he had merely majored in the more commonplace "chemistry" and "physics." Now I'm sure even these disciplines, particularly at Yale, are not for the intellectually feeble. But adding the enigmatic prefix "bio-" elevates the fields to an entirely new level of imagined academic rigor and scientific elitism.
Which got me to thinking that his credentials would not be nearly as impressive if he had merely majored in the more commonplace "chemistry" and "physics." Now I'm sure even these disciplines, particularly at Yale, are not for the intellectually feeble. But adding the enigmatic prefix "bio-" elevates the fields to an entirely new level of imagined academic rigor and scientific elitism.
The applications abound. "Mass" is a fairly pedestrian word, but "biomass" suggests the need for precision instruments. Similarly, a "sphere" might be a child's toy, or a plastic model, but a "biosphere" is the stuff of major motion pictures, evoking images of scientists lumbering around in Hazmat suits while extras scurry about in color-coordinated one-piece coveralls with special patches.
The list goes on: Biotechnology, bioengineering, biofuels, biomedicine, biohazards, even the categorically distinct "biopic," all sound much more intriguing and sophisticated than their prefix-less selves. I even recall reading the opinions of a "bioethicist." I have no idea how his particular field of moral analytics differs from Aristotle's or Kant's, but I was too intimidated by his title to even for a moment question his credentials.
Bio- adds credibility even in the vernacular. "I need a break," sounds wimpy, like you can't handle the rigors of the task But if you need a "bio-break," well, when you gotta go, you gotta go.
I won't pretend to know exactly what "bio" means or how it modifies the definition of a word. Something to do with cells or organisms, I suppose, if my 9th-grade biology class is any indication. (I remember reading about "zygotes," but the rest is sort of hazy.) But the details don't matter. Now that I've discovered the secret powers of the Bio, I can't resist using them.
Bill
Bioblogger, Bioconsultant, Biofather and Bioman
Bioblogger, Bioconsultant, Biofather and Bioman
