Google Book Tool Tracks Cultural Change With Words

by Dan Charles, All Things Considered, Dec. 16, 2010
http://www.npr.org/2010/12/16/132106374/google-book-tool-tracks-cultural-change-with-words

 

Google Ngram Viewer provides searchable dataset of 
books. Los Angeles Times, December 16, 2010
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2010/12/google-ngram-viewer-provides-searchable-dataset-of-books.html

 

New Google tool, free to public, reveals evolution of language
by Lisa M. Krieger, San Jose Mercury News, December 16, 2010
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16875900?nclick_check=1

 

Culturomics webpage at http://www.culturomics.org/

 

The Google Books Ngram Viewer is at 
http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/

 

The Science paper is:

Michel, J.-B., Y. K. Shen, A. P. Aiden, A. Veres, M. K. Gray,
The Google Books Team, J. P.  Pickett, D. Hoiberg, D. Clancy,
P. Norvig, J. Orwant, S. Pinker, M. A. Nowak, and E. L.
Aiden, 2010, Quantitative Analysis of Culture Using Millions
of Digitized Books. Published Online,  Science Express, Dec.
16, 2010, DOI: 10.1126/science.1199644,
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2010/12/15/science.1199644

 

1. I did an analysis of the word "meteorite." The frequency 
goes up and down within a restricted range between 
1880 and middle 1950s. Then, the frequency of its usage 
increases abruptly until it peaks about early 1960s. 
After this peak, it usage decreases until it hits a low about
middle 1990s. Then it usage rises again and peaks about 
2000 and drops again.

2. The phrase "impact crater has low usage until about 
the very late 1950s. Then its usage starts increasing
until about middle 1990s when its usage very abruptly
increases. Its usage peaks about 2000 to early 2000s
and starts dropping.

3. The word "Chicxulub" appears in the very early 1990s 
and its usage rises quite abruptly and peaks about 1999.
Then its usage drops during the 2000s.

Yours,

Paul H.