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Language as a Window into Human Nature
Viking
September 2007
On Sale: September 11, 2007
512 pages
ISBN: 0670063274
EAN: 9780670063277
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
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 books—including the
Pulitzer Prize finalist The Blank Slate—have catapulted him
into the limelight as one of today’s 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 life—why 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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