| Uniform title | Grande invenzione. English |
| Contents |
Behind the scenes. Stories ; Nature -- Undeciphered scripts. Islands. Crete ; Cyprus ; Easter Island -- Invented scripts. Cities ; Before the Pharaohs ; Between two rivers ; Chinese turtles ; Across the ocean ; End of story -- Experiments. Tradition ; Solitary inventors ; Isolated branches ; Social inventors -- Discoveries. Where to begin ; How to decipher -- The great vision. First ; Afterward ; Tomorrow ; Postscriptum. |
| Abstract |
"Silvia Ferrara leads a code cracking mission to decipher the hidden truths and histories of our greatest invention--the art of writing"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Abstract |
Ferrara takes a profound look at how-- and how many times-- human beings have managed to produce the miracle of written language around the world. Readers will examine the enigmas of undeciphered scripts; study the turtle shells and ox scapulae that bear the earliest Chinese inscriptions, and venture to the cutting edge as high-powered laser scanners bring tears to an engineer's eyes. Ferrara chronicles a journey filled with past flashes of brilliance, present-day scientific research, and a faint glimpse of writing's future -- adapted from jacket. |
| General note | "Originally published in Italian in 2019 ... as La grande invenzione ... English translation published in the United States by Farrar, Straus and Giroux First American edition 2022" -- verso. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages [285]-289). |
| Genre/form | History. |
| Genre/form | LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Alphabets & Writing Systems^LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / Historical & Comparative^LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Writing / General. |
| LCCN | 2021044938 |
| ISBN | 9780374601621 hardcover |
| ISBN | 0374601623 hardcover |
