Earth & SkyGreek → English
Isotropy
/aɪˈsɒtrəpi/noun
The property of having the same value or behaviour whichever direction is measured.
The Greek roots
ἴσος
ísos
equal
τρόπος
trópos
turn, direction
Literally: “equal in every direction”
The story of the word
Cosmology rests on it. The cosmic microwave background is isotropic to about one part in a hundred thousand, and that near-perfect sameness is the strongest evidence that the early universe was smooth. Materials science uses the opposite term constantly: wood is anisotropic, which is why it splits along the grain and not across it.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
anisotropyisotopetropicheliotrope
In a sentence
Assume isotropy and the equations collapse to one variable.
The rock's magnetic response was far from isotropic.