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Serendipities
''Serendipities: Language and Lunacy'' (originally published in English, translated by William Weaver) is a 1998 collection of essays by Umberto Eco. Dealing with the history of linguistics and Early Modern concepts of a perfect language, the material in the book overlaps with '' La ricerca della lingua perfetta''. As Eco explains it in his preface, serendipity is the positive outcome of some ill-conceived idea."I wanted to show how ... false beliefs and discoveries totally without credibility could then lead to the discovery of something true (or at least something we consider true today). In the field of the sciences, this mechanism is known as serendipity. An excellent example of it is given us by Columbus.." Eco U., Serendipities, Preface, p. vii Chapters #The Force of Falsity #Languages in Paradise #From Marco Polo to Leibniz: Stories of Intellectual Misunderstandings #The Language of the Austral Land #The Linguistics of Joseph de Maistre In chapter 1, based on a 1994 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Serendipities
''Serendipities: Language and Lunacy'' (originally published in English, translated by William Weaver) is a 1998 collection of essays by Umberto Eco. Dealing with the history of linguistics and Early Modern concepts of a perfect language, the material in the book overlaps with '' La ricerca della lingua perfetta''. As Eco explains it in his preface, serendipity is the positive outcome of some ill-conceived idea."I wanted to show how ... false beliefs and discoveries totally without credibility could then lead to the discovery of something true (or at least something we consider true today). In the field of the sciences, this mechanism is known as serendipity. An excellent example of it is given us by Columbus.." Eco U., Serendipities, Preface, p. vii Chapters #The Force of Falsity #Languages in Paradise #From Marco Polo to Leibniz: Stories of Intellectual Misunderstandings #The Language of the Austral Land #The Linguistics of Joseph de Maistre In chapter 1, based on a 1994 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of the Rose'', a historical mystery combining semiotics in fiction with biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory, as well as ''Foucault's Pendulum,'' his 1988 novel which touches on similar themes. Eco wrote prolifically throughout his life, with his output including children's books, translations from French and English, in addition to a twice-monthly newspaper column "La Bustina di Minerva" (Minerva's Matchbook) in the magazine ''L'Espresso'' beginning in 1985, with his last column (a critical appraisal of the Romantic paintings of Francesco Hayez) appearing 27 January 2016. At the time of his death, he was an Emeritus professor at the University of Bologna, where he taught for much of his life. In the 21st century, he has conti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of language, involving analysis of language form, language meaning, and language in context. Language use was first systematically documented in Mesopotamia, with extant lexical lists of the 3rd to the 2nd Millenia BCE, offering glossaries on Sumerian cuneiform usage and meaning, and phonetical vocabularies of foreign languages. Later, Sanskrit would be systematically analysed, and its rules described, by Pāṇini ( fl. 6-4th century BCE), in the Indus Valley. François & Ponsonnet (2013). Beginning around the 4th century BCE, Warring States period China also developed its own grammatical traditions. Aristotle laid the foundation of Western linguistics as part of the study of rhetoric in his ''Poetics'' ca. 335 BC. Traditions of Arabic grammar and Hebrew grammar developed during the Middle Ages in a religious context like Pānini's Sanskrit grammar. Modern approaches began to develop in the 18th century, eventually being regarded in the 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perfect Language
A philosophical language is any constructed language that is constructed from first principles. It is considered a type of engineered language. Philosophical languages were popular in Early Modern times, partly motivated by the goal of revising normal language for philosophical (i.e. scientific) purposes. The term ideal language is sometimes used near-synonymously, though more modern philosophical languages such as Toki Pona are less likely to involve such an exalted claim of perfection. The axioms and grammars of the languages together differ from commonly spoken languages. Overview In most philosophical languages, words are constructed from a limited set of morphemes that are treated as "elemental" or fundamental. "Philosophical language" is sometimes used synonymously with "taxonomic language". Vocabularies of oligosynthetic languages are made of compound words, which are coined from a small (theoretically minimal) set of morphemes. Languages like Toki Pona similarly use a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Ricerca Della Lingua Perfetta
''La ricerca della lingua perfetta nella cultura europea'' (''The Search for the Perfect Language (the Making of Europe)''; trans. James Fentress) is a 1993 book by Umberto Eco about attempts to devise an ideal language. The writing is essayistic and uses the myth of Babel as a paradigm for connecting linguistic and social practices. Emphasizing that the quest for a perfect language has never been devoid of ideological motivation, Eco outlines some objections to the idea and suggests that an International Auxiliary Language, such as Esperanto, is a more realistic project. He points out that the impossible quest has had some useful side effects (taxonomy, scientific notations etc.) but dwells mostly on exotic proposals. Lengthy passages are devoted to Dante, Lull, Kircher, various 17th century authors and a few less well-known names from later times. The contemporary project for a politically and culturally unified Europe provides the perspective for a more serious consideration o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Serendipity
Serendipity is an unplanned fortunate discovery. Serendipity is a common occurrence throughout the history of product invention and scientific discovery. Etymology The first noted use of "serendipity" was by Horace Walpole on 28 January 1754. In a letter he wrote to his friend Horace Mann, Walpole explained an unexpected discovery he had made about a lost painting of Bianca Cappello by Giorgio Vasari by reference to a Persian fairy tale, ''The Three Princes of Serendip''. The princes, he told his correspondent, were "always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of." The name comes from ''Serendip'', an old Persian name for Sri Lanka (Ceylon), hence ''Sarandib'' by Arab traders. It is derived from the Sanskrit ''Siṃhaladvīpaḥ'' (Siṃhalaḥ, Sri Lanka + dvīpaḥ, island). The word has been exported into many other languages, with the general meaning of "unexpected discovery" or "fortunate chance". Applications Inventio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marco Polo
Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marvels of the World '' and ''Il Milione'', ), a book that described to Europeans the then mysterious culture and inner workings of the Eastern world, including the wealth and great size of the Mongol Empire and China in the Yuan Dynasty, giving their first comprehensive look into China, Persia, India, Japan and other Asian cities and countries. Born in Venice, Marco learned the mercantile trade from his father and his uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, who travelled through Asia and met Kublai Khan. In 1269, they returned to Venice to meet Marco for the first time. The three of them embarked on an epic journey to Asia, exploring many places along the Silk Road until they reached Cathay (China). They were received by the royal court of Kublai Khan, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathematics. He wrote works on philosophy, theology, ethics, politics, law, history and philology. Leibniz also made major contributions to physics and technology, and anticipated notions that surfaced much later in probability theory, biology, medicine, geology, psychology, linguistics and computer science. In addition, he contributed to the field of library science: while serving as overseer of the Wolfenbüttel library in Germany, he devised a cataloging system that would have served as a guide for many of Europe's largest libraries. Leibniz's contributions to this vast array of subjects were scattered in various learned journals, in tens of thousands of letters and in unpublished manuscripts. He wrote in several languages, primarily in Latin, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph De Maistre
Joseph Marie, comte de Maistre (; 1 April 1753 – 26 February 1821) was a Savoyard philosopher, writer, lawyer, and diplomat who advocated social hierarchy and monarchy in the period immediately following the French Revolution. Despite his close personal and intellectual ties with France, Maistre was throughout his life a subject of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which he served as a member of the Savoy Senate (1787–1792), ambassador to Russia (1803–1817), and minister of state to the court in Turin (1817–1821). A key figure of the Counter-Enlightenment, Maistre regarded monarchy both as a divinely sanctioned institution and as the only stable form of government. He called for the restoration of the House of Bourbon to the throne of France and for the ultimate authority of the Pope in temporal matters. Maistre argued that the rationalist rejection of Christianity was directly responsible for the disorder and bloodshed which followed the French Revolution of 1789. Biography ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luigi Rosiello
is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's mascot. Luigi appears in many games throughout the Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise, oftentimes accompanying his brother. Luigi first appeared in the 1983 Game & Watch game ''List of LCD games featuring Mario#Mario Bros., Mario Bros.'', where he is the character controlled by the second player. He would retain this role in many future games, including ''Mario Bros.'', ''Super Mario Bros.'', ''Super Mario Bros. 3'', ''Super Mario World'', among other titles. He was first available as a primary character in ''Super Mario Bros. 2''. In more recent appearances, Luigi's role became increasingly restricted to spinoffs, such as the ''Mario Party'' and ''Mario Kart'' series; however, he has been featured in a starring role in ''Nelsonic Industr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gabriel De Foigny
Gabriel de Foigny (ca. 1630-1692) is the author of an important utopia, ''La Terre Australe connue'', 1676. Life All we know about Foigny, including his identity (the book was printed without his name), is based exclusively on the second edition of Pierre Bayle's '' Dictionnaire historique et critique'' (1701, under "Sadeur"). He was born in Lorraine and became a Franciscan, but left the order. He moved near Geneva, now as a Protestant, and made a living as a tutor. The ''Terre australe connue'' was printed at Geneva, as if from Vannes.Geoffroy Atkinson, The Extraordinary Voyage in French Literature Before 1700', 1920 p. 36 In English *Gabriel de Foigny. '' The Southern Land, Known'' (La Terre Australe connue, 1676). Trans. and ed. David Fausett. Syracuse UP, 1993 References *Everett F. BleilerFrench Voyages into Imaginary Lands in: Science Fiction Studies # 63 = Volume 21, Part 2 = July 1994 *Geoffroy Atkinson,'' The Extraordinary Voyage in French Literature Before 1700'', 1920 (r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
