The Language Puzzle: How We Talked Our Way Out of the Stone Age

The relationship between language, thought, and culture is of concern to anyone with an interest in what it means to be human.

The Language Puzzle explains how the invention of words, 1.6 million years ago, began the evolution of human language—from the ape-like calls of our earliest ancestors to our capabilities today, with over 6,000 languages in the world and each of us knowing over 50,000 words.

Key Highlights:

• Explores the evolution of language: From primitive calls to modern communication.
• Draws on interdisciplinary research: Incorporates findings from archaeology, linguistics, psychology, and genetics.
• Reconstructs language development: Explains how language transformed thought and culture.
• Chronicles humanity's journey: From the Stone Age to farming and into today's Digital Age.

This radical new work rejects outdated ideas about language while building bridges between disciplines to create a compelling new synthesis. It offers a groundbreaking perspective on the evolution of language, establishing itself as a new standard account for understanding how humanity began.

• 544 pages, 6 illustrations throughout