false 507248 6 The multitalented Umberto Eco--novelist, critic, and literary theorist--turns his attention to the history of linguistics. In linguistics, as in the other sciences, Eco explains, there are serendipities: "Even the most lunatic experiments can produce strange side effects, stimulating research that proves perhaps less amusing but scientifically more serious." In his earlier book <I>The Search for the Perfect Language</I>, for example, he discussed the project of discovering the language spoken before the collapse of the Tower of Babel. Although misconceived, the project by chance led to advances in mathematical logic, artificial intelligence, and even world peace--the goal of artificial languages like Esperanto and the unfortunately named Volapük. In the five essays in <I>Serendipities</I>, Eco explores some related serendipitous episodes in the history of linguistics; as always, his characteristic blend of playfulness and erudition is bound to be irresistible to any lover of language.<p> The first essay, "The Force of Falsity," discusses false documents with momentous repercussions, such as the letter of Prester John, which encouraged European explorers and conquerors to seek its supposed author, the Christian ruler of a distant and fantastically wealthy land. In the second essay, Eco considers Dante's relation to the idea of the perfect language. The third essay discusses early misinterpretations of Egyptian, Chinese, and Mexican ideograms. The Jesuit savant Athanasius Kircher, for example, devoted page upon page to mystical interpretations of a hieroglyph that later turned out to represent nothing more profound than the Greek letter <I>lambda</I>. The remaining two essays are devoted to single authors: "The Language of the Austral Land" concerns Gabriel de Foigny's instructive parody of contemporary attempts to devise the perfect language, while "The Linguistics of Joseph de Maistre" endeavors, with indifferent success, to make sense of the counterrevolutionary Savoyard's musings on the nature of language. <I>--Glenn Branch</I> 3336421 1998 Serendipities: Language and Lunacy total:279|5:65|4:116|3:82|2:13|1:3| 279 1064 471 19 3 1 false false Mon Sep 29 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 25 11:43:39 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 17 13:07:20 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Nov 24 20:58:40 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 24 20:59:26 -0800 2008
Not always easy on the lay reader (as those familiar with Eco's previous works will doubtless attest) and my...more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Oct 19 10:51:39 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 19 10:51:39 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Fri Apr 11 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu May 01 05:31:35 -0700 2008 Thu May 01 05:31:53 -0700 2008 Serendipities is that false or deluded or distorted (or even just plain crazy) ideas can change the world just as significantly as ideas that are true. And like ideas that are true, these ideas can change the world in positive or negativ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Sep 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 22 08:06:17 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 05 09:31:13 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 15 14:15:24 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 14:18:24 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Sun Feb 15 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 02 09:46:20 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 15 21:20:44 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 15 15:00:04 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 15 15:07:43 -0700 2007 Misreadings for a light in-flight read. Eco makes a h...more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Jul 09 13:57:17 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 09 13:57:27 -0700 2009 2 1 false false Sat Nov 29 13:00:47 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 03 13:49:31 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Tue Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Fri Jun 01 19:50:21 -0700 2007 Fri Jun 01 20:04:14 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Thu Jun 26 14:05:23 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 26 14:08:17 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 09 09:57:54 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 09 09:57:54 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jan 15 16:37:24 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 15 16:38:46 -0800 2008 4 0 true false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Aug 01 20:42:34 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 07 13:39:58 -0700 2007 2 0 false false Wed Apr 22 07:48:25 -0700 2009 Mon Dec 08 19:12:58 -0800 2008 Wed Apr 22 07:48:25 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Mar 31 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 02 04:50:22 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 02 04:50:38 -0700 2008 Serendipities ]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jun 28 00:41:49 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 20 23:48:08 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Mon Oct 26 08:45:40 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 10:41:25 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 26 08:45:40 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Nov 04 08:10:10 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 04 08:10:10 -0800 2009