overview effect

noun

The transcendental change of perception when one can view the Earth, or any other planetary object, within the universal context.

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Meanings

nounoverview effect (plural overview effects)

plural overview effects

  1. The transcendental change of perception when one can view the Earth, or any other planetary object, within the universal context.

Origin

Coined by Frank White in the 1980s, author of the 1987 book The Overview Effect — Space Exploration and Human Evolution, to describe the experience of astronauts when they see Earth from space. The first public use of the term was in a poster at a Space Studies Institute meeting in 1985.

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Translations

French effet de vue d'ensemble
  • effet de vue d'ensembleoverview effect
Cite this entry
APA

overview effect. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overview%20effect

MLA

“overview effect.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overview%20effect. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “overview effect,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overview%20effect.

Source: overview effect on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.