I had always thought that to go ballistic was the same as to go nuclear, metaphorically. But the ballistic figure of speech had a rather different origin. I was glad to learn this before Mr Kim sends the balloon up.
I did know, despite being a girl without the advantage of a proper classical education like the males in my family, that the Greek for ‘throw’ is ballein. Ballistic missiles take their name from a Latin derivative, the Roman ballista, an engine like a giant crossbow stretched with cords and thongs, and used to propel heavy bolts and other missiles. The adjectival form ballistica was coined only in the 17th century when Marin Mersenne, a brilliant French priest who came up with theorems about prime numbers and acoustics, looked at what he called phenomena ballistica.
Projectiles trace mathematically interesting courses through the air.
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