The greatest invention : a history of the world in nine mysterious scripts
Ferrara, Silvia2023
Books, Manuscripts
This text tells the story of our greatest invention. Or, it almost does. Almost, because while the story has a beginning - in fact, it has many beginnings, not only in Mesopotamia, 3100 years before the birth of Christ, but also in China, Egypt, and Central America - and it certainly has a middle, one that snakes through the painted petroglyphs of Easter Island, through the great machines of empires and across the desks of inspired, brilliant scholars, the end of the story remains to be written. The invention of writing allowed humans to create a record of their lives and to persist past the limits of their lifetimes. In the shadows and swirls of ancient inscriptions, we can decipher the stories they sought to record. 'The Greatest Invention' chronicles an uncharted journey, one filled with past flashes of brilliance, present-day scientific research and the faint, fleeting echo of writing's future.
Main title:
The greatest invention : a history of the world in nine mysterious scripts / Silvia Ferrara ; translated by Todd Portnowitz.
Author:
Ferrara, Silvia, authorPortnowitz, Todd, 1986-, translator
Imprint:
London : Picador, 2023.
Collation:
304 pages ; 20 cm
Notes:
Translated from the Italian.
ISBN:
9781529064780 (pbk)
Dewey class:
411.09
LC class:
P211
Language:
EnglishItalian
Subject:
BRN:
3402330
More Information: