Words and Rules

Pinker, Steven

ISBN 10: 0465072704 / ISBN 13: 9780465072705

Published by Basic Books, 1999

About this Item

Pinker, Steven WORDS AND RULES New York: Basic Books 1999 AN 201 pp. 8vo. Paper cover is clean and new looking with only a small amount of sticker residue on the front. Pages are crisp and unworn. Spine is firm and not cracked. Book is overall in wonderful condition.

Seller Inventory # 18853

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Words and Rules
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0465072704
• ISBN 13: 9780465072705
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: As New

About this title

Synopsis

An "excellent work of popular science" (New Republic) by a New York Times-bestselling author that unites history and science to reveal how the mind does language

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.

About the Author

Steven Pinker, a native of Montreal, studied experimental psychology at McGill University and Harvard University. He is a Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. Pinker conducts research on languages and cognition, writes for publications such as the New York Times, Time, and the New Republic, and is the author of several books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Stuff of Thought, and most recently When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows...