SERENDIPITIES:
by Eco, Umberto
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Fine in dust jacket
- ISBN 10
- 0231111347
- ISBN 13
- 9780231111348
- Seller
-
Los Altos Hills, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
Serendipities is a careful unraveling of the fabulous and the false, a brilliant exposition of how unanticipated truths often spring from false ideas. From Leibniz's belief that the I Ching illustrated the principles of calculus to Marco Polo's mistaking a rhinoceros for a unicorn, Umberto Eco offers a dazzling tour of intellectual history, illuminating the ways in which we project the familiar onto the strange to make sense of the world. Uncovering layers of mistakes that have shaped human history, Eco offers with wit and clarity such instances as Columbus's voyage to the New World, the fictions that grew around the Rosicrucians and Knights Templar, and the linguistic endeavors to recreate the language of Babel, to show how serendipities can evolve out of mistakes. With erudition, anecdotes, and scholarly rigor, this new collection of essays is sure to entertain and enlighten any reader with a passion for the curious history of languages and ideas.
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Details
- Bookseller
- May Day Books (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 02488
- Title
- SERENDIPITIES:
- Author
- Eco, Umberto
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine in dust jacket
- Quantity Available
- 1
- ISBN 10
- 0231111347
- ISBN 13
- 9780231111348
- Publisher
- Columbia University Press
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- [1998]
- Bookseller catalogs
- Essays;
- Size
- 9.5 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
Terms of Sale
May Day Books
o Payment cheerfully accepted by check, money order, or Visa/MC credit cards; o The books are subject to prior sale; please call or email to reserve for 10 days; o California residents please add 9.00% sales tax; o The books are shipped on my receipt of your check, money order or credit card information; o The books are returnable within 10 days for a complete refund for any reason; o Reciprocal trade courtesies extended on most items upon request; o All international shipping now by air only.
About the Seller
May Day Books
About May Day Books
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Number Line
- A series of numbers appearing on the copyright page of a book, where the lowest number generally indicates the printing of that...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...