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Steven Pinker - The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature
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Time: Wednesday, October 3, 2007 6:00 p.m.
Location: International House, 1414 E. 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. His latest work, The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature, follows in the rich tradition established in his other popular science books of explaining and developing complex scientific theories in terms easily understood by the layman. In this instance, Pinker argues that specific principles govern human language and that these basic, primeval ideas are expressed and demonstrated in everyday speech. This is a book and event sure to stir serious thought and influence discussion for years to come and is, consequently, an event not to be missed.
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The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature(Hardcover (Cloth))
by
Pinker, Steven
Format: Hardcover (Cloth)
Price:
$29.95
Published: Viking Books, 2007
Inventory Status: Out of Print
"New York Times" bestselling author Steven Pinker possesses that rare combination of scientific aptitude and verbal eloquence that enables him to provide lucid explanations of deep and powerful ideas. His previous booksaincluding the Pulitzer Prize finalist "The Blank Slate"ahave catapulted him into the limelight as one of todayas most important and popular science writers.
Now, in "The Stuff of Thought," Pinker marries two of the subjects he knows best: language and human nature. The result is a fascinating look at how our words explain our nature. What does swearing reveal about our emotions? Why does innuendo disclose something about relationships? Pinker reveals how our use of prepositions and tenses taps into peculiarly human concepts of space and time, and how our nouns and verbs speak to our notions of matter. Even the names we give our babies have important things to say about our relations to our children and to society.
With his signature wit and style, Pinker takes on scientific questions like whether language affects thought, as well as forays into everyday lifeawhy is bulk e-mail called spam and how do romantic comedies get such mileage out of the ambiguities of dating? "The Stuff of Thought" is a brilliantly crafted and highly readable work that will appeal to fans of readers of everything from "The Selfish Gene" and "Blink" to "Eats, Shoots &Leaves."
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