Synopses & Reviews
A compelling look at the quest for the origins of human language from an accomplished linguist.
Language is a distinctly human gift. However, because it leaves no permanent trace, its evolution has long been a mystery, and it is only in the last fifteen years that we have begun to understand how language came into being.
The First Word is the compelling story of the quest for the origins of human language. The book follows two intertwined narratives. The first is an account of how language developed how the random and layered processes of evolution wound together to produce a talking animal: us. The second addresses why scientists are at last able to explore the subject. For more than a hundred years, language evolution was considered a scientific taboo. Kenneally focuses on figures like Noam Chomsky and Steven Pinker, along with cognitive scientists, biologists, geneticists, and animal researchers, in order to answer the fundamental question: Is language a uniquely human phenomenon?
The First Word is the first book of its kind written for a general audience. Sure to appeal to fans of Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct and Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel, Kenneally's book is set to join them as a seminal account of human history.
Review
"Her work stands out among numerous recent publications for its presentation of so many aspects of linguistic research. Its systematic explanation of large amounts of scholarship throughout makes it most appropriate for students and other scholars." Library Journal
Review
"[A]n elegant parcel that makes the abstract concrete and, like an imperative, it is eminently worthy of attention." Psychology Today
Review
"[D]eftly traces [an] ideological shift, weaving history with hard science, to provide an expansive account of what we know about the beginnings of language and how we came to know it." Seed Magazine
Review
"[L]ucidly explains how scientists explore language....Lively portrait of a fascinating new scientific field." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"[A] useful introduction to the exciting new field of evolutionary linguistics." Wired
Synopsis
An accessible exploration of a burgeoning new field: the incredible evolution of language The first popular book to recount the exciting, very recent developments in tracing the origins of language, The First Word is at the forefront of a controversial, compelling new field. Acclaimed science writer Christine Kenneally explains how a relatively small group of scientists that include Noam Chomsky and Steven Pinker assembled the astounding narrative of how the fundamental process of evolution produced a linguistic ape?in other words, us. Infused with the wonder of discovery, this vital and engrossing book offers us all a better understanding of the story of humankind.
Synopsis
A New York Times Notable Book
How biology, psychology, and history shape us as individuals
We are doomed to repeat history if we fail to learn from it, but how are we affected by the forces that are invisible to us? In The Invisible History of the Human Race
Christine Kenneally draws on cutting-edge research to reveal how both historical artifacts and DNA tell us where we come from and where we may be going. While some
books explore our genetic inheritance and popular television shows celebrate ancestry, this is the first book to explore how everything from DNA to emotions to names
and the stories that form our lives are all part of our human legacy. Kenneally shows how trust is inherited in Africa, silence is passed down in Tasmania, and how the
history of nations is written in our DNA. From fateful, ancient encounters to modern mass migrations and medical diagnoses, Kenneally explains how the forces that
shaped the history of the world ultimately shape each human who inhabits it.
The Invisible History of the Human Race is a deeply researched, carefully crafted and provocative perspective on how our stories, psychology, and genetics affect our
past and our future.
Synopsis
The richest, freshest, most fun book on genetics in some time.” The New York Times Book Review
We are doomed to repeat history if we fail to learn from it, but how are we affected by forces that are invisible to us? In The Invisible History of the Human Race, Christine Kenneally draws on cutting-edge research to examine how the latest discoveries in fields ranging from genetics to economics reveal where we come fromand where we may be heading. The rich legacy of humanity is a treasure trove that exists not only in the form of historical artifacts but also in our very DNA, our names, and even our emotions. From fateful ancient encounters to modern mass migrations and medical diagnoses, the forces that have shaped the world have ultimately shaped each human who inhabits it. Kenneally takes the reader from the massive global genealogical database assembled by the Mormon Church to dusty archives containing Australian prison records to the private companies that are capitalizing on our latest obsession with lineage. Deeply researched and carefully crafted, this is a profound exploration of the very roots of human identity.
About the Author
Christine Kenneally is Australian and received her Ph.D. in linguistics at Cambridge. She has written about language, science, and culture for publications such as the New Yorker, the New York Times, Scientific American, Discover, and Slate.