Tag Archives: language

On The Creation Of Languages

Posted on June 7, 2019 by

One of the aspects of human creativity that deserves more attention is the way that languages can be created.  While the evolution of languages has been viewed by some [1] as an undirected evolution that demonstrates the feasibility of evolution … Continue reading →

Posted in Musings, On Creativity | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Book Review: The Keys Of Egypt

Posted on June 7, 2019 by

The Keys Of Egypt:  The Race To Crack The Hieroglyph Code, by Lesley And Roy Adkins This particular book tells a somewhat familiar story (at least, it is familiar to me), but it does so in an enjoyable way that … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, History | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Cracking The Egyptian Code

Posted on June 7, 2019 by

Cracking The Egyptian Code:  The Revolutionary Life Of Jean-François Champollion The study of the deciphering of various ancient languages has led me to understand all the more clearly that to decipher a past language is an act that requires a … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Seeker Of Knowledge

Posted on June 7, 2019 by

Seeker Of Knowledge:  The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs, by James Rumford This book is a pleasant and surprisingly instructive children’s book on the life of Jean-Françios Champollion.  To be sure, there is some oversimplification here, as the author focuses … Continue reading →

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Book Review: The Forgotten Founder

Posted on June 4, 2019 by

The Forgotten Founder:  Noah Webster’s Obsession And The Creation Of An American Culture, by Joshua Kendall My biggest gripe with this book, and it is not even a very big gripe, is the title.  There are a great many forgotten … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Book Reviews, History | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: The Man Who Made Lists

Posted on June 4, 2019 by

The Man Who Made Lists:  Love, Death, Madness, And The Creation Of Roget’s Thesaurus, by Joshua Kendall As a child I had, and consulted, a paperback version of Roget’s Thesaurus, and found it to be immensely helpful in building the … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Talking Hands

Posted on June 3, 2019 by

Talking Hands, by Margalit Fox The only serious complaint I have towards this book is the way that the author so highly talks about dodgy and disreputable linguist Noam Chomsky, to the point of calling the contemporary era of linguistics … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, History | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: The Riddle Of The Labyrinth

Posted on June 3, 2019 by

The Riddle Of The Labyrinth:  The Quest To Crack An Ancient Code, by Margalit Fox The author of this book, in providing a detailed and thoughtful look at three people whose efforts were crucial in solving the puzzle of the … Continue reading →

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Book Review: The Meaning Of Everything

Posted on May 9, 2019 by

The Meaning Of Everything:  The Story Of The Oxford English Dictionary, by Simon Winchester When I was a kid, one of my many unflattering nicknames was dictionary boy, for my fondness for reading dictionaries in an attempt to learn new … Continue reading →

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These Words Are My Own

Posted on April 3, 2019 by

To what extent do our words belong to us?  At first glance, we bear a great deal of responsibility for our words, and we often take great pride in them.  Entire books are filled with quotations that people have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Christianity, History, Musings | Tagged , , | 4 Comments