Adam's Tongue

Author: Derek Bickerton
Publisher: Hill and Wang
ISBN: 1429930292
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 295

Book Description
How language evolved has been called "the hardest problem in science." In Adam's Tongue, Derek Bickerton—long a leading authority in this field—shows how and why previous attempts to solve that problem have fallen short. Taking cues from topics as diverse as the foraging strategies of ants, the distribution of large prehistoric herbivores, and the construction of ecological niches, Bickerton produces a dazzling new alternative to the conventional wisdom. Language is unique to humans, but it isn't the only thing that sets us apart from other species—our cognitive powers are qualitatively different. So could there be two separate discontinuities between humans and the rest of nature? No, says Bickerton; he shows how the mere possession of symbolic units—words—automatically opened a new and different cognitive universe, one that yielded novel innovations ranging from barbed arrowheads to the Apollo spacecraft. Written in Bickerton's lucid and irreverent style, this book is the first that thoroughly integrates the story of how language evolved with the story of how humans evolved. Sure to be controversial, it will make indispensable reading both for experts in the field and for every reader who has ever wondered how a species as remarkable as ours could have come into existence.

Adam's Navel

Author: Michael Sims
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1440677956
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 353

Book Description
In this amusing and brilliantly conceived book, Michael Sims introduces you to your body. Moving from head to toe, Sims blends cultural history with evolutionary theory to produce a wonderfully original narrative in which he analyzes the visible parts of the body. In this fascinating brew of science and storytelling, readers encounter not only accessible explanations of the mechanics of their anatomy, but also the layers of mythology, religious lore, history, Darwinian theory, and popular culture that have helped to shape our understanding of any given body part. A titillating and unique book, Adam’s Navel is learned and entertaining, a marvelous lens through which to study the form we all inhabit—but may not really understand.

Herd Register

Author: American Jersey Cattle Club
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Cattle
Languages : en
Pages : 458

Book Description

The Body in Parts

Author: David Hillman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136050302
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 375

Book Description
An examination of how the body--its organs, limbs, and viscera--were represented in the literature and culture of early modern Europe. This provocative volume demonstrates, the symbolism of body parts challenge our assumptions about "the body" as a fundamental Renaissance image of self, society, and nation.

The Works of the Great Albionean Divine ... Mr Hugh Broughton, Etc. [With a Biographical Preface by John Lightfoot and an Engraved Portrait.]

Author: Hugh Broughton
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 1214

Book Description

Adam's Tongue

Author: Derek Bickerton
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0809022818
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 294

Book Description
One of the world's leading researchers into the evolution of language argues that the acquisition of words changed the structure of early human's brains, which set into motion the limitless creativity that allowed people to make the world that exists today.

Every Tribe and Tongue

Author: Michael Pasquale
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1498274382
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 89

Book Description
Every Tribe and Tongue offers a way, first, to rediscover biblical stories and principles that relate to questions about immigration and societal multilingualism, and, second, to outline possible ways to guide thoughtful engagement in the discourse of the "public square" based on the biblical witness. We will try to show that, far from being an afterthought in the Bible, the call to love our neighbors and to gather people of every nation together in the worship of God is at the very core of the gospel message. Two powerful passions animate this book from beginning to end. First, this work is saturated in a deeply rooted love of the diversity of human languages that are one of God's gracious gifts to human beings. Second, this book is dedicated to calling the North American church to take seriously its charge not simply to love the "stranger and alien" but to live as "strangers and aliens" within the American nation to which it has been called to witness to Jesus Christ.

CyberDayze

Author: Gina Davis
Publisher: Page Publishing Inc
ISBN: 1683489098
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 445

Book Description
Book Delisted

Irresistible

Author: Mary Balogh
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101991666
Category : England
Languages : en
Pages : 386

Book Description
Includes excerpts from Indiscreet and Unforgiven.

Language Loyalties

Author: James Crawford
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226120163
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 532

Book Description
As late as 1987, two-thirds of the Americans who responded to a national survey believed that English was the official language of the United States. In fact, the Constitution is silent on the issue. Since Senator S. I. Hayakawa first proposed an English Language Amendment in Congress in 1981, Official English has been considered in forty-seven states and adopted by seventeen; the amendment is pending in the 102d Congress. Supporters argue that English has always been our common language—a means of resolving conflicts in a nation of diverse racial, ethnic, and religious groups, and an essential tool of social mobility and cultural integration. Opponents charge that the amendment is unnecessary and that it threatens civil rights, educational opportunities, and free speech, wrapping racist biases in a cloak of patriotism. Language Loyalties: A Source Book on the Official English Controversy provides a balanced, comprehensive guide to this complex and often confusing debate. It is an essential handbook and reference for advocates, educators, policymakers, jurists, scholars, and citizens who seek to join this debate fully informed. Addressing the issues involved in developing America's first planned national language policy, James Crawford has expertly collected and introduced more than eighty-five source documents and articles.