The Writing Revolution: Cuneiform to the Internet

by Amalia E. Gnanadesikan (University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language )

• ISBN13: 9781444304688
• ISBN10: 1444304682
• Format: eBook
• Copyright: 2009-03-01
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

In a world of rapid technological advancements, it can be easy to forget that writing is the original Information Technology, created to transcend the limitations of human memory and to defy time and space. The Writing Revolution picks apart the development of this communication tool to show how it has conquered the world. Explores how writing has liberated the world, making possible everything from complex bureaucracy, literature, and science, to instruction manuals and love letters Draws on an engaging range of examples, from the first cuneiform clay tablet, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Japanese syllabaries, to the printing press and the text messaging Weaves together ideas from a number of fields, including history, cultural studies and archaeology, as well as linguistics and literature, to create an interdisciplinary volume Traces the origins of each of the world's major written traditions, along with their applications, adaptations, and cultural influences

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Preface

The First IT Revolution

Cuneiform: Forgotten Legacy of a Forgotten People

Egyptian Hieroglyphs and the Quest for Eternity

Chinese: A Love of Paperwork

Maya Glyphs: Calendars of Kings

Linear B: The Clerks of Agamemnon

Japanese: Three Scripts are Better than One

Cherokee: Sequoyah Reverse-Engineers

The Semitic Alphabet: Egypt to Manchuria in 3,400 Years

The Empire of Sanskrit

King Sejong's One-Man Renaissance

Greek Serendipity

The Age of Latin

The Alphabet Meets the Machine

Appendix: Figures A.1-A.7

Further Reading

Index

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