The Science of Words

Scientific American Library Series #35

by George Armitage Miller

Examines the three facets of sound, concept, and syntactic role, and discusses the deciphering of an ancient language, generative grammar, and the lexical process in the brain

Genres: Linguistics, Science, Psychology, Language, Philosophy, Nonfiction

276 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Claire Binkley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been using this as a primer for exploring the formal study of Linguistics, as I had heard many positive remarks about the author.

I found most interesting the studies about EEG, as I have had several electroencephalograms taken of my brain, not while I was saying anything in particular, but while I was just thinking calm and docile thoughts. (Or trying to.)

I also liked what he professes about Linear B... (I remembered it vaguely from the uni, so it was mostly just review, but it's always good to see it!) It's important to learn about the history of human communication. There are plenty of other good nuggets in here, please take a look!

[Rich · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a completely new topic for me and this book served as a good introduction to this field. For anyone that stopped to wonder what the words we use and how we use them is studied and how it reflects the culture of the language the amazing architecture of the mind this would be the book to start with to begin your study of the subject.