Title
The Ascent Of Babel: An Exploration Of Language, Mind, And Understanding
Delivery time: 8-12 business days (International)
The Brain Holds Some 10 Billion Neurons, An Truly Amazing Number. But Taken One At A Time, There Is Nothing Amazing About A Nerve Cell. If You Stimulate One, It Will Stimulate Other Neurons To Which It Is Connected. And That Is All That A Neuron Does. And Yet Arising From This Great Mass Of Simple Cells Is Every One Of Our Mental Faculties, Including Perhaps The Most Marvelous Of All, Our Use Of Language. How Do Neurons Take Tiny Vibrations On The Ear Drum And Somehow Capture Meanings About The World? How Does The Brain Understand Written Words And How Does It Form A Reply? In The Ascent Of Babel, Psycholinguist Gerry Altmann Offers A Stateoftheart Look At What We Now Know About The Miracle Of Language.Here Is A Wide Ranging, Engaging Tour Of How We Use Language. Altmann Begins Even Before We Are Born, Revealing That The Fetus In The Last Trimester Is Already Listening To The Language Of Its Parents And That, Within Days Of Birth, It Can Distinguish Its Parents' Language From Other Languages. He Discusses The Incredible Progress The Child Makes In Language Recognition (Expanding From 100 Words At Age One To Some 60,000 Words By Adulthood) And He Looks At The Neural Activity Involved In Language Perception, Revealing For Instance That The Pattern Of Neural Activity Evoked By A Sentence Like The Bald Man Ate A Big Fish Is Probably Quite Similar To That Evoked By Actually Seeing A Bald Man Eat A Big Fish. There Is An Illuminating Section On Spoken Language, Highlighting Some Of The Differences Between Various Tongues (English Has Some 12,000 Syllables, For Example, While Japanese Uses Fewer Than 120, Which Explains Why Japanese Words Tend To Have Many Syllables). Altmann Shows How Errors We Make When Speakingsuch As Malapropisms And Spoonerisms (Garbled Utterances Such As The Lord Is A Shoving Leopard)Can Tell Us Much About How We Plan And Execute A Spoken Sentence, And He Explores What Happens When The Brain Misfunctions, As It Does In Aphasia, Dyslexia, And Other Forms Of Language Deficit, Such As Pure Word Deafness (Where Patients Can Read, Write, And Speak Normally, But Can'T Understand Words Spoken To Them). Finally, In One Of The Most Intriguing Sections Of The Book, The Author Provides A Fascinating Account Of Recent Experiments In Artificial Neural Networks, Describing How Scientists Simulate Neuronal Activity On A Computer, And Explaining Why Their Results Seem To Provide An Alternative To The Theories Of Noam Chomsky About Innate Structures In The Brain.The Ascent Of Babel Is A Journey Of Discovery, Illuminating How, Through The Workings Of The Brain, We Use Language To Reach Out And Touch Each Other'S Minds. Up To Date, Authoritative, And Engagingly Written, It Will Be Must Reading For Everyone Curious About The Mysteries Of Language Or Of The Mind.
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Shipping & Returns
Shipping
We ship your order within 2–3 business days for USA deliveries and 5–8 business days for international shipments. Once your package has been dispatched from our warehouse, you'll receive an email confirmation with a tracking number, allowing you to track the status of your delivery.
Returns
To facilitate a smooth return process, a Return Authorization (RA) Number is required for all returns. Returns without a valid RA number will be declined and may incur additional fees. You can request an RA number within 15 days of the original delivery date. For more details, please refer to our Return & Refund Policy page.
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Warranty
We provide a 2-year limited warranty, from the date of purchase for all our products.
If you believe you have received a defective product, or are experiencing any problems with your product, please contact us.
This warranty strictly does not cover damages that arose from negligence, misuse, wear and tear, or not in accordance with product instructions (dropping the product, etc.).
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: What is the main topic of 'The Ascent of Babel'? A: The book explores the relationship between language, the mind, and understanding, delving into how the brain processes language and the development of linguistic abilities.
- Q: Who is the author of 'The Ascent of Babel'? A: The author is Gerry T. M. Altmann, a psycholinguist known for his work in understanding language processing in the brain.
- Q: How many pages does the book have? A: The book contains 272 pages.
- Q: What is the publication date of 'The Ascent of Babel'? A: The book was published on May 6, 1999.
- Q: What format is 'The Ascent of Babel' available in? A: It is available in paperback format.
- Q: Does 'The Ascent of Babel' discuss child language development? A: Yes, it discusses how children develop language skills, including the progression from recognizing a few words to understanding a large vocabulary.
- Q: Are there any sections on language errors in the book? A: Yes, the book covers common language errors, such as malapropisms and spoonerisms, and what they reveal about language processing.
- Q: What neurological aspects does the book address regarding language? A: The book explains the neural activity involved in language perception and how it relates to both spoken and written language.
- Q: Does the book include discussions on language deficits? A: Yes, it addresses language deficits such as aphasia and dyslexia, explaining how these conditions affect communication.
- Q: Is there any mention of artificial intelligence in relation to language in the book? A: Yes, the book discusses recent experiments in artificial neural networks and their implications for understanding language processing in the brain.