Serendipities: language & lunacy
by Eco, Umberto
Umberto Eco's latest work unlocks the riddles of history in an exploration of the "linguistics of the lunatic," stories told by scholars, scientists, poets, fanatics, and ordinary people in order to make sense of the world. Exploring the "Force of the False," Eco uncovers layers of mistakes that have shaped human history, such as Columbus's assumption that the world was much smaller than it is, leading him to seek out a quick route to the East via the West and thus fortuitously "discovering" Am…
Read More ↓Title Statements
- Full title :Serendipities : language & lunacy / Umberto Eco ; translated by William Weaver.
Summary
Umberto Eco's latest work unlocks the riddles of history in an exploration of the "linguistics of the lunatic," stories told by scholars, scientists, poets, fanatics, and ordinary people in order to make sense of the world. Exploring the "Force of the False," Eco uncovers layers of mistakes that have shaped human history, such as Columbus's assumption that the world was much smaller than it is, leading him to seek out a quick route to the East via the West and thus fortuitously "discovering" America. In a careful unveiling of the fabulous and the false, Eco shows us how serendipities - unanticipated truths - often spring from mistaken ideas. From Leibniz's belief that the I Ching illustrated the principles of calculus to Marco Polo's mistaking a rhinoceros for a unicorn, Eco tours the labyrinth of intellectual history, illuminating the ways in which we project the familiar onto the strange.
Read More ↓Edition Statements
- Publication Date:©1998.
Publication Statements
- Publisher(s):Columbia University Press
- Place of Publication:New York
- Language:eng
- Publication Date:©1998.
The Physical Object
- Description:ix, 129 pages ; : 24 cm.
Edition Identifiers
- ISBN:0231111347, 9780231111348
- oclc:ocm39116569
- LC Classification:P106
- Dewey Decimal:401
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