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For the new ESem on (biological, cultural, individual) evolution that Paul and I will be teaching this fall, I've been reviewing some studies of the evolution of language. The final essay in a special issue of Science (303, 5662: February 27, 2004) on Evolution of Language, Scott Montgomery's "Of Towers, Walls, and Fields: Perspectives on Language in Science," includes some observations that might be useful in our discussion about precision of language use in science:

"Language in science is in the midst of change and appears dominated by two contradictory trends. Globalization of scientific English seems to promise greater international unity, while growth of field-specific jargon suggests communicational diaspora....technical Englishes everywhere face a fate of inaccessiblity....

An important goal would be to increase tolerance toward variation in scientific English--to avoid the imperial attitude that one standard must be obeyed in order that any and all threats of semantic chaos be met....It may help, in this arena of work, to recognize the linguistic context involved: Explaining science qualifies as a form of translation, the movment of knowledge from one linguistic context to another....

Language in science is a historical reality, evolving @ every turn....the full landscape...reflects..the complexity and fertle change that are central to scientific practice itself."