Free delivery on all orders above $30
Get 10% off all year round! Join Thryft Club
Get 10% off all year round and $10 off your next order! Join Thryft Club

Your cart

Your cart is empty

Check out these collections!

Bestselling Fiction
Bestselling Nonfiction
Bestselling Books for Children
Vintage and Rare Books
Vinyl Records
Women's Clothing
Men's Clothing

Stay in touch and win free books

Keep up with our latest sales and events, and receive
recommendations direct to your inbox. We'll only send the good stuff, promise!

By completing this form, you are signing up to receive our emails and can unsubscribe at any time

The Greatest Invention: A History of the World in Nine Mysterious Scripts

by Silvia Ferrara
$10.40
The Greatest Invention: A History of the World in Nine Mysterious Scripts
The Greatest Invention: A History of the World in Nine Mysterious Scripts

Writing's journey: past brilliance, current research, future echo.

If you're fascinated by the tapestry of human history, "The Greatest Invention" is your next must-read. Silvia Ferrara invites you on a tour from ancient scripts to future possibilities, merging the thrill of exploration with the profound impact of writing on human civilization. It's a blend of history, linguistics, and mystery, perfect for the armchair adventurer who has a penchant for the written word's power and legacy.

Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.

The Greatest Invention: A History of the World in Nine Mysterious Scripts

by Silvia Ferrara
$10.40
Condition guide

Book Condition Guide

Books in Like New Condition

This book may contain very minor cosmetic defects, but it is in pristine condition. There should be no yellowing, no foxing, no water damage, and no annotations of any kind on the cover and the pages. For paperbacks, there should not be any crease marks on the spine. This book is good as new — lucky you!

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

Books in Very Good Condition

This book has been used, but it is still in a clean condition. There should be no foxing or annotations of any kind on the inner pages, but a sparse amount may be present on the cover, title pages, or outside edges of the book. There should be no water damage of any kind. For paperbacks, there may be light crease marks on the spine.

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

Books in Good Condition

We do our best to ensure the quality of our books, but there is no escaping the wear and tear that comes with time. Slight foxing and some annotations may be present on the pages and the cover. There should be no water damage of any kind. For paperbacks, there may be several crease marks on the spine.

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

Books in Well Read Condition

This is a well-read book, which means that the previous owner probably really enjoyed it! The cover and pages may include moderate foxing and annotations, but the text is not obscured and still readable. Moderate cosmetic defects and minor water damage may be present on the edges of the book. For paperbacks, there may be multiple crease marks on the spine.

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

 

Find out more about our process here.

Special Offer

Buy 3, Get Another Free On All Items Under S$10 Storewide

Discount applied automatically when you add them to your cart.

ISBN: 9781529064759
Authors: Silvia Ferrara
Publisher: Picador
Date of Publication: 2022-03-17
Format: Hardcover
Related Collections: Creative Nonfiction, History, Science
Related Topics: Essays, Anthropology, World History, Ancient History
Goodreads rating: 3.45
(rated by 686 readers)

Description

This book tells the story of our greatest invention. Or, it almost does. Almost, because while the story has a beginning – in fact, it has many beginnings, not only in Mesopotamia, 3,100 years before the birth of Christ, but also in China, Egypt and Central America – and it certainly has a middle, one that snakes through the painted petroglyphs of Easter Island, through the great machines of empires and across the desks of inspired, brilliant scholars, the end of the story remains to be written. The invention of writing allowed humans to create a record of their lives and to persist past the limits of their lifetimes. In the shadows and swirls of ancient inscriptions, we can decipher the stories they sought to record, but we can also tease out the timeless truths of human nature, of our ceaseless drive to connect, create and be remembered. The Greatest Invention chronicles an uncharted journey, one filled with past flashes of brilliance, present-day scientific research and the faint, fleeting echo of writing’s future. Professor Silvia Ferrara, a modern-day adventurer who travels the world studying ancient texts, takes us along with her; we touch the knotted, coloured strings of the Incan khipu and consider the case of the Phaistos disk. Ferrara takes us to the cutting edge of decipherment, where high-powered
 

Writing's journey: past brilliance, current research, future echo.

If you're fascinated by the tapestry of human history, "The Greatest Invention" is your next must-read. Silvia Ferrara invites you on a tour from ancient scripts to future possibilities, merging the thrill of exploration with the profound impact of writing on human civilization. It's a blend of history, linguistics, and mystery, perfect for the armchair adventurer who has a penchant for the written word's power and legacy.

Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.