by Christine Kenneally BH | Apr 21, 2008 | Common sense, Consciousness, Science
Faced with pictures of odd clay creatures sporting prominent heads and pointy limbs, students at Carnegie Mellon were asked to identify which “aliens” were friendly and which were not… New York Times.
by Christine Kenneally BH | Apr 12, 2008 | Birds, Bonobos, Brain, Crows, Dogs, Languages, The First Word
Ever since Galileo argued that the sun was the center of the solar system, the idea of Earth as the universal hub has been the classic example of scientific arrogance. It’s certainly a foolproof example of the way humans consider themselves the rule by which...
by Christine Kenneally BH | Apr 7, 2008 | Books, Words
When you are searching for a word that is more precise than another though similar in meaning, you don’t browse Piozzi’s. Yet British Synonymy, the first English book of synonyms, was written by Hester Lynch Piozzi. Nor do you grab your Girard’s....
by Christine Kenneally BH | Mar 1, 2008 | Languages
The first and most intimate affiliations we have are the genetic ties we share with our family and the language we speak. In the first case, the links are pretty straightforward. Without exception, everyone is created by two parents, who each had two parents, who...
by Christine Kenneally BH | Feb 29, 2008 | Books
The First Word got a nod in the LA Times Book Prize nominations! Winners will be announced in April.
