The New Word: On the meaning of the word Idealist (Forgotten Books)

Book Description: "The term Scientology was apparently first coined in this book by Allen Upward (1863-1926), written in 1901, five decades before L. Ron Hubbard founded the belief system of the same name. It appears four times as a noun and once as an adjective.Some opponents of Scientology have implied that this indicates that Hubbard plagiarized the word. However, I'm not aware of any evidence that Hubbard knew of this fairly obscure book. And the philosophy which Upward expounds in The New Word has nothing to do with any of the ideas of the latter-day Scientologists, as far as I can tell.In fact, Upward uses it here as a disparaging term, to indicate a blind, unthinking acceptance of scientific doctrine. Nor is the 'New Word' of the title Scientology. Rather, the word here is Idealist, drawn from Alfred Nobels' will, the starting point for Upward's essay, and as Upward shows, a difficult concept to pin down.Upward, who here claims to be a philologist, is critical of Latin and Greek neologisms, while not hesitating to invent some new words of his own besides 'Scientology': 'verihood,' 'katasynthetic,' 'interplode.' He uses a children's book about science to deconstruct some of the vaguer scientific concepts of the day, particularly the behavior of gas molecules and the all-pervading ether. Ironically, an obscure Swiss patent clerk named Einstein demolished these parts of 19th century physics in 1906, shortly before this book finally saw print, making Upward's critique a bit moot.Intensely critical of everything and often uproariously funny, Upward's book is enjoyable reading in its own right, even if it is not exactly the Nobel prize material which he hoped for. He was apparently as obsessed with the Nobel prize as this book intimates. As a tragic footnote, Upward shot himself in November, 1926, upon learning that George Bernard Shaw had won the Nobel Prize for Literature." (Quote from sacred-texts.com)Table of Contents: Publisher's Preface; The Riddle; Psychology: The Personal Equation; Etymology: The Castle In The Air; Lexicography: The Play Upon Words; Metaphysics: The House Of Cards; Altruism: The Face In The Looking-glass; Materialism: The Shape; Physics: The Knot; Dynamics: The Demon In The Stone; Chemistry: The Man In The Crumb; Mathematics: The Conjuring Trick; Logic: The Cipher; Ontology: The End; Metastrophe: The Magic Crystal; Biology: The Elf; Theology: The Painted Window; Exegetics: The Forbidden Fruit; Pathology: The Pyramid; Astrology: The Eclipse; Astrology: The Eclipse; The Heir; Author's Note For The American EditionAbout the Publisher: Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, Esoteric and Mythology. www.forgottenbooks.orgForgotten Books is about sharing information, not about making money. All books are priced at wholesale prices. We are also the only publisher we know of to print in large sans-serif font, which is proven to make the text easier to read and put less strain on your eyes.