A dazzling tour of intellectual history; from Leibniz's belief that the I Ching illustrated the principles of calculus to Marco Polo's mistaking a rhinoceros for a unicorn, layers of mistakes that have shaped human history are uncovered with wit, erudition, and astonishing clarity. Including looks at Columbus's voyage to the New World, the secrets of the Rosicrucians and the Knights Templar, and the fabled Tower of Babel, Eco's essays are sure to entertain and enlighten readers with a passion for the curious history of language and ideas. Notes, Index.

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Bibliographic Details

Title

Serendipities: Language and Lunacy

Publisher

Harvest / Harcourt Brace & Company

Publication Date

1999

Language

English

ISBN 10

0156007517

ISBN 13

9780156007511

Binding

Paperback

Condition

Good

Seller catalogs

LIT NON FICTION-ESSAYS

About this title

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.

About the Author

Umberto Eco is professor of semiotics at the University of Bologna.

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