The Atoms Of Language

Author: Mark C Baker
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0786724560
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Book Description
Whether all human languages are fundamentally the same or different has been a subject of debate for ages. This problem has deep philosophical implications: If languages are all the same, it implies a fundamental commonality-and thus the mutual intelligibility-of human thought. We are now on the verge of answering this question. Using a twenty-year-old theory proposed by the world's greatest living linguist, Noam Chomsky, researchers have found that the similarities among languages are more profound than the differences. Languages whose grammars seem completely incompatible may in fact be structurally almost identical, except for a difference in one simple rule. The discovery of these rules and how they may vary promises to yield a linguistic equivalent of the Periodic Table of the Elements: a single framework by which we can understand the fundamental structure of all human language. This is a landmark breakthrough, both within linguistics, which will thereby become a full-fledged science for the first time, and in our understanding of the human mind.

The Atoms Of Language: The Mind's Hidden Rules Of Grammar

Author: Mark C. Baker
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Book Description
A major scientific breakthrough into the common elements of all languages, which give us a deeper insight than ever before into how the mind works.

The Language Game

Author: Morten H. Christiansen
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1541674979
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 268

Book Description
Forget the language instinct—this is the story of how we make up language as we go Language is perhaps humanity’s most astonishing capacity—and one that remains poorly understood. In The Language Game, cognitive scientists Morten H. Christiansen and Nick Chater show us where generations of scientists seeking the rules of language got it wrong. Language isn’t about hardwired grammars but about near-total freedom, something like a game of charades, with the only requirement being a desire to understand and be understood. From this new vantage point, Christiansen and Chater find compelling solutions to major mysteries like the origins of languages and how language learning is possible, and to long-running debates such as whether having two words for “blue” changes what we see. In the end, they show that the only real constraint on communication is our imagination.

Magnetic Atoms and Molecules

Author: William Weltner
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 9780486661407
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 460

Book Description
This comprehensive graduate-level text by a leading researcher in atomic and molecular spectroscopy explores the electron-spin-resonance theory of randomly oriented molecules. "I recommend it highly." ? American Scientist. 119 illustrations.

Talking Hands

Author: Margalit Fox
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743247132
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 371

Book Description
Documents life in a remote Bedouin village in Israel whose residents communicate through a unique method of sign language used by both hearing and non-hearing citizens, in an account that offers insight into the relationship between language and the human mind. Reprint. 20,000 first printing.

Words and Rules

Author: Steven Pinker
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465049710
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 385

Book Description
"If you are not already a Steven Pinker addict, this book will make you one." -- Jared Diamond In Words and Rules, Steven Pinker explores profound mysteries of language by picking a deceptively simple phenomenon -- regular and irregular verbs -- and examining it from every angle. With humor and verve, he covers an astonishing array of topics in the sciences and humanities, from the history of languages to how to simulate languages on computers to major ideas in the history of Western philosophy. Through it all, Pinker presents a single, powerful idea: that language comprises a mental dictionary of memorized words and a mental grammar of creative rules. The idea extends beyond language and offers insight into the very nature of the human mind. This is a sparkling, eye-opening, and utterly original book by one of the world's leading cognitive scientists.

Taming the Atom

Author: Hans Christian Von Baeyer
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 9780486414478
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Book Description
Fascinating, accessible study recounts the process of discovery, from atomism of the Greeks to quantum revolutions of the 1920s and the theories and conjectures of today. Topics include components of the atom, quantum mechanics, atomic landscape, atoms in isolation, more. "Lucid and entertaining." — The New York Times Book Review.

Atoms and Molecules

Author: Mitchel Weissbluth
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 032314294X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 730

Book Description
Atoms and Molecules describes the basic properties of atoms and molecules in terms of group theoretical methods in atomic and molecular physics. The book reviews mathematical concepts related to angular momentum properties, finite and continuous rotation groups, tensor operators, the Wigner-Eckart theorem, vector fields, and vector spherical harmonics. The text also explains quantum mechanics, including symmetry considerations, second quantization, density matrices, time-dependent, and time-independent approximation methods. The book explains atomic structure, particularly the Dirac equation in which its nonrelativistic approximation provides the basis for the derivation of the Hamiltonians for all important interactions, such as spin-orbit, external fields, hyperfine. Along with multielectron atoms, the text discusses multiplet theory, the Hartree-Fock formulation, as well as the electromagnetic radiation fields, their interactions with atoms in first and higher orders. The book explores molecules and complexes, including the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, molecular orbitals, the self-consistent field method, electronic states, vibrational and rotational states, molecular spectra, and the ligand field theory. The book can prove useful for graduate or advanced students and academicians in the field of general and applied physics.

Atom

Author: Lawrence M. Krauss
Publisher: Hachette+ORM
ISBN: 0759523215
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 326

Book Description
The story of matter and the history of the cosmos from the perspective of a single oxygen atom, told with the insight and wit of one of the most dynamic physicists and writers working today. Through this astonishing work, he manages to stoke wonder at the powers and unlikely events that conspired to create our solar system, our ecosystem, and us.

The Book of Big Science Ideas

Author: Freya Hardy
Publisher:
ISBN: 1782407383
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 83

Book Description
A fact packed celebration of science from the clever people who bring you AQUILA magazine. The Book of Big Science Ideas introduces young readers, aged 8 and up, to 15 brilliant science ideas and more than 50 ingenious thinkers who have helped shape our understanding of the world. What is everything made of? What is our place in space? Can machines think? And why does your hat come hurtling back down after you've chucked it into the air? This book has the answers! Readers will learn all about established ideas such as atoms, electricity and the solar system, as well as ideas that are still evolving such as gravity, energy and classification, right up to recent discoveries like AI and genetics. Each big idea is explored over two double-page spreads: the first explains the idea in rich detail and with plenty of bright and engaging illustrations and diagrams, while the second spread introduces readers to the key scientists and thinkers who helped shape the idea with fun portraits for each one. Thinkers include, Wang Zhenyi, Louis Pasteur, Marie Curie, James Joule, Rosalind Franklin, Charles Darwin, Aristotle, Edith Clarke, Isaac Newton, Grace Hopper, Alan Turing, Ada Lovelace and many, many more! Spreads on why ideas matter, the scientific method, future ideas and even more scientists to discover are also included, and a detailed timeline and glossary of scientific terms ensure that readers have the tools to really get to grips with the concepts. This is the perfect book for science-loving kids everywhere.