"Andrew Robinson has now followed up his beautifully illustrated The Story of Writing with a highly appropriate sequelLost Languages, on undeciphered scripts. Many, it seems likely, will never be deciphered ..."Sir Arthur C. Clarke, C.B.E. A landmark study of the world's most important undeciphered writing systems and the current race to crack them Maybe it's the tantalizing possibility of giving new voice to long-hushed peoples and civilizations. Perhaps it's the puzzle solver's delight in the mental challenges posed by breaking their codes. Whatever the reasons, the public has long been fascinated with undeciphered ancient scripts and the ongoing efforts to crack them. In Lost Languages, Andrew Robinson reports from the front lines of the global efforts now under way to crack the Meroitic hieroglyphs of ancient Nubia, the Etruscan alphabet, the Indus Valley Sealstones, the Zapotec scriptthe earliest in the Americasand five other major "lost languages." An enthralling story of genius, passion, and competition, Lost Languages provides a revealing look at how decipherment is done. In what is truly an archaeological mystery book, the author examines each script in detail and reviews what is known about the people who created it, while weaving in the intriguing cast of characters currently competing for the glory of cracking these ancient codes.

Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts

History

Robinson, Andrew

Historical Study & Educational Resources

McGraw=Hill

Physics textbooks identify Thomas Young (1773-1829) as the experimenter who first proved that light is a wave--not a stream of corpuscles as Newton proclaimed. In any book on the eye and vision, Young is the London physician who showed how the eye focuses and proposed the three-color theory of vision confirmed only in 1959. In any book on ancient Egypt, Young is credited for his crucial detective work in deciphering the Rosetta Stone. It is hard to grasp how much he knew. Invited to contribute to a new edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, Young offered the following subjects: Alphabet, Annuities, Attraction, Capillary Action, Cohesion, Colour, Dew, Egypt, Eye, Focus, Friction, Halo, Hieroglyphic, Hydraulics, Motion, Resistance, Ship, Sound, Strength, Tides, Waves, and anything of a medical nature. He asked that all his contributions be kept anonymous. While not yet thirty he gave a course of lectures at the Royal Institution covering virtually all of known science. But polymathy made him unpopular in the academy. An early attack on his wave theory of light was so scathing that English physicists buried it for nearly two decades until it was rediscovered in France. But slowly, after his death, great scientists recognized his genius. Today, in an age of professional specialization unimaginable in 1800, polymathy still disturbs us. Is this kind of curiosity selfish, even irresponsible? Here is the story of a driven yet modest hero, the last man who knew everything.

The Last Man Who Knew Everything: Thomas Young, The Anonymous Polymath Who Proved Newton Wrong, Explained How We See, Cured the Sick, and Deciphered the Rosetta Stone, Among Other Feats of Genius

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Pi Press

Writing is the defining marker of civilization, without which there could be no records, no history, no books, no accumulation of knowledge. But when did this essential part of our lives begin? Why do we all write differently and how did writing evolve into what we use today? All of these questions are answered in this Very Short Introduction. Andrew Robinson tells the fascinating story of the history of writing, shedding light on its development and examining the enormous variety of writing and scripts we use today. Starting with the origins of writing five thousand years ago, with cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs, Robinson explains how these early forms developed into hundreds of scripts, including the Roman alphabet and Chinese characters. He reveals how the modern writing symbols and abbreviations we take for granted today--including airport signage and text messaging--resemble ancient ones much more closely than we might think. The book also includes a chronology of events from 3300 BC to AD 2000, a list of titles for further reading, and an index. About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.

Writing and Script: A Very Short Introduction

Children's Books

Education & Reference

Oxford University Press

The extraordinarily inventive Linus Pauling, twice winner of the Nobel Prize, was asked how he came to have so many good ideas. Pauling replied: "Well, I have a lot of ideas and throw away the bad ones." Where do ideas come from? And why do the best ideas sometimes strike in a flash of "sudden genius"? Andrew Robinson here offers a fascinating look at the genesis of creativity in science and art, following ten remarkable individuals who achieved brilliant breakthroughs in their fields. Robinson looks first at the scientific study of creativity, covering talent, genius, intelligence, memory, dreams, the unconscious, and much more. He then tells the stories of ten amazing breakthroughs--five by scientists and five by artists--ranging from Curie's discovery of radium and Einstein's theory of special relativity to Mozart's composing of The Marriage of Figaro and Virginia Woolf's writing of Mrs. Dalloway. Robinson concludes by highlighting what highly creative people have in common; whether breakthroughs in science and art follow patterns; and whether they always involve great leaps and "sudden genius."

Sudden Genius: The Gradual Path to Creative Breakthroughs

Americas

Genius is the name we give to a quality of work that transcends fashion, celebrity, fame, and reputation. Somehow, genius abolishes both the time and the place of its origin. Shakespeare's plays and Mozart's melodies and harmonies continue to move people in languages and cultures far removed from their native England and Austria. Similarly, Darwin's ideas are still required reading for every working biologist; they continue to generate fresh thinking and experiments around the world. The first concise study of genius in both the arts and the sciences, this Very Short Introduction uses the life and work of familiar geniuses--including Homer, Leonardo, Tolstoy, Marie Curie, Galileo, and Newton--to illuminate both the individual and the general aspects of genius. In particular, Robinson explores the roles of talent, heredity, parenting, education, training, hard work, intelligence, personality, mental illness, inspiration, eureka moments, and luck, in the making of genius.

Genius: A Very Short Introduction

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

In 1799 Napoleon's army uncovered an ancient stele in the Nile delta. Its inscription, recorded in three distinct scripts--ancient Greek, Coptic, and hieroglyphic--would provide scholars with the first clues to unlocking the secrets of Egyptian hieroglyphs, a language lost for nearly two millennia. More than twenty years later a remarkably gifted Frenchman named Jean-Francois Champollion successfully deciphered the hieroglyphs on the stele, now commonly known as the Rosetta Stone, sparking a revolution in our knowledge of ancient Egypt. Cracking the Egyptian Code is the first biography in English of Champollion, widely regarded as the founder of Egyptology. Andrew Robinson meticulously reconstructs how Champollion cracked the code of the hieroglyphic script, describing how Champollion started with Egyptian obelisks in Rome and papyri in European collections, sailed the Nile for a year, studied the tombs in the Valley of the Kings (a name he first coined), and carefully compared the three scripts on the Rosetta Stone to penetrate the mystery of the hieroglyphic text. Robinson also brings to life the rivalry between Champollion and the English scientist Thomas Young, who claimed credit for launching the decipherment, which Champollion hotly denied. There is much more to Champollion's life than the Rosetta Stone and Robinson gives equal weight to the many roles he played in his tragically brief life, from a teenage professor in Revolutionary France to a supporter of Napoleon (whom he met), an exile, and a curator at the Louvre. Extensively illustrated in color and black-and-white pictures, Cracking the Egyptian Code will appeal to a wide readership interested in Egypt, decipherment and code-breaking, and Napoleon and the French Revolution.

Cracking the Egyptian Code: The Revolutionary Life of Jean-Francois Champollion

Traces of the Trinity is a masterful exploration of Christian theology through the lens of semiotics - the study of signs. Andrew Robinson provides helpful analogies and clear explanations throughout to lead even the non-specialist through the subject with ease.     Although the variety of signs is endless, all signs and sign-interpretations have the same basic structure: sign, object and interpretation. Further, Robinson shows how this triad rests upon the existence of three 'elemental grounds': Quality, Otherness and Mediation. He proceeds to develop a highly original 'semiotic model' of the Trinity, illuminating and integrating key areas of Christian thought: creation, incarnation and atonement; the roles of baptism and the Eucharist; the nature of the church and the basis of participation in the divine life.    Robinson makes belief in the Trinity relevant to ordinary, everyday experience, and challenges the church to recognize the implications for its calling to be transformative, truthful and inclusive. 

Traces of the Trinity: Signs, Sacraments and Sharing God’s Life

Religion & Spirituality

James Clarke & Co.

The Art of Rabindranath Tagore

Arts & Photography

Individual Artists

Andre Deutsch Ltd.

Profiles the life of the Indian director, and discusses the making of each of his films

Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye

Arts & Literature

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Robinson, Andrew. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Robinson, Andrew

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Robinson, Andrew. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts

The Last Man Who Knew Everything: Thomas Young, The Anonymous Polymath Who Proved Newton Wrong, Explained How We See, Cured the Sick, and Deciphered the Rosetta Stone, Among Other Feats of Genius

Writing and Script: A Very Short Introduction

Sudden Genius: The Gradual Path to Creative Breakthroughs

Genius: A Very Short Introduction

Cracking the Egyptian Code: The Revolutionary Life of Jean-Francois Champollion

Traces of the Trinity: Signs, Sacraments and Sharing God’s Life

The Art of Rabindranath Tagore

Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye

Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye