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The Stuff of Thought:: Language as a Window into Human Nature (Penguin Press Science)
 
 
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The Stuff of Thought:: Language as a Window into Human Nature (Penguin Press Science) (Paperback)

by Steven Pinker (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 512 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin (5 Jun 2008)
  • ISBN-10: 0141015470
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141015477
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 8,825 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Review
'Astonishingly readable' Daily Telegraph'Perceptive, amusing and intelligent' Times'No one writes about language as clearly as Steven Pinker, and this is his best book yet' Financial Times'Immensely readable and stimulating. Pinker is a master at making complex ideas palatable' Independent'Awesome ... Pinker writes lucidly and elegantly, and leavens the text with scores of perfectly judged anecdotes, jokes, cartoons and illustrations' Daily Mail

David Crystal, Financial Times
'No one writes about language as clearly as Steven Pinker, and this is his best book yet'

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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The Stuff of Thought:: Language as a Window into Human Nature (Penguin Press Science)
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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, 23 Jul 2008
By ds (Whitby, UK) - See all my reviews
  
In all honesty, this is the first of Steven Pinker's books that I've read, coming to him roundabout through Noam Chomsky and a couple of other sources. It is a great book though, it has to be admitted, not what you would call a holiday pulp read.

If you don't have a background in linguistics (I don't but have a keen interest) then some of the early chapters about speech parsing, which form the foundation for much to come are (by necessity) fairly technical, and might be slightly heavy going. That said, even these parts are written lucidly and attempt to make the material more accessible to a wider audience, largely with some success.

Inevitably, the most accessible parts of the book come when talking about naming (with a slight crossover with Leavitt and Dubner's excellent Freakonomics) and swearing. There's a nice little sidestep in this chapter when Pinker starts by appearing to be squeamish about introducing the words under discussion before finally laying them out in all their "glory". Another section I found interesting was his critique of some of the alternative theories of language acquisition currently in circulation, where he managed to present many of the competing ideas in as fair a way as I think he could, though it was made clear where his own standpoint was.

If you have an interest in linguistics or some of the psychology surrounding it, then I think this book is one you should have no reservations about purchasing.
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7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely brilliant, 29 Jul 2008
The Stuff of Thought is a fantastic, mind-bending and mind-expanding book. It should be on the national curriculum. It really gets you thinking about things in new ways and makes sense of many things. As is typical of Steven Pinker, he also makes it very easy to read and understand.
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8 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Pedantry for the seriously pedantic!, 28 Oct 2008
By David R. Beck - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
If you are a student of linguistics or a card-holding member of the English Pedantry Society, this is a must-have.
If you are an ordinary person who likes an interesting read, think twice about buying this, then think a third time.
Apart from some interesting chapters on swearing (we all like those) and politeness games - chapters which could have been half the length even so - most of this book is of the "and your point is...?" variety.
In my opinion disappointingly long-winded and unecessarily heavy going - unless you are a genuine pedant!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great stuff!
Steven Pinker was already one of my favourite authors before this book propelled him into another league. Read more
Published 3 days ago by Ms. J. S. Rees

5.0 out of 5 stars A Magnificently Mind-Enriching Tour-de-Force
This is a truly remarkable book. Pinker has a way of making a reader think simply about complex concepts, using a writing style that is entertaining and stimulating in itself, as... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Clifford

2.0 out of 5 stars Avoid...apart from 1 chapter
Pinker's "language instinct" was great (apart from the chapter on grammar). I think they guy forgets sometimes just how specialized his work is and just how little interest it... Read more
Published 4 months ago by R. Mayne

4.0 out of 5 stars A whistle-stop tour of cognitive linguistics
Well, quite a whirlwind, this one. It took me over a year to read it (seriously) and I did this kind of stuff for my degree. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mr Anonymous

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