Serendipities: Language & Lunacy
by Umberto Eco; William Weaver (Translator)
- Used
- Very Good
- Paperback
- Condition
- Very Good
- ISBN 10
- 0156007517
- ISBN 13
- 9780156007511
- Seller
-
Cambridge, New York, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Very Good. 1999. Trade paperback. Cover surface shows minor, normal wear. Edges and corners show just minor, normal wear. Cover is clean and free of stickers, residue or marks. Binding is tight and pages and covers are secure. Pages are clean and appear to be free of marks or tears. used
Synopsis
Serendipities is a careful unraveling of the fabulous and the false, a brilliant exposition of how unanticipated truths often spring from false ideas. From Leibniz's belief that the I Ching illustrated the principles of calculus to Marco Polo's mistaking a rhinoceros for a unicorn, Umberto Eco offers a dazzling tour of intellectual history, illuminating the ways in which we project the familiar onto the strange to make sense of the world. Uncovering layers of mistakes that have shaped human history, Eco offers with wit and clarity such instances as Columbus's voyage to the New World, the fictions that grew around the Rosicrucians and Knights Templar, and the linguistic endeavors to recreate the language of Babel, to show how serendipities can evolve out of mistakes. With erudition, anecdotes, and scholarly rigor, this new collection of essays is sure to entertain and enlighten any reader with a passion for the curious history of languages and ideas.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Eric Strattman (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 202401211405
- Title
- Serendipities
- Author
- Umberto Eco; William Weaver (Translator)
- Format/Binding
- Paperback
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- ISBN 10
- 0156007517
- ISBN 13
- 9780156007511
- Publisher
- Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Place of Publication
- Orlando, Florida, U.s.a.
- This edition first published
- 1999-11-01
- Bookseller catalogs
- Literature;
Terms of Sale
Eric Strattman
About the Seller
Eric Strattman
About Eric Strattman
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Trade Paperback
- Used to indicate any paperback book that is larger than a mass-market paperback and is often more similar in size to a hardcover...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...