Reviews for Glory of Cairo An Illustrated History

The average rating for Glory of Cairo An Illustrated History based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-11-23 00:00:00 Glen Linch This is a well written, comprehensive history of the development of Harvard's campus up to the early eighties. The author (or authors as BuntinG died before completion) generally organizes the book by chapters based on presidencies and their attendant building campaigns. This is a lengthy study that seems to lag a bit in the middle (it's astounding just how many damn buildings Coolidge, Shepley, et. al. were commissioned for!) but it is what it is. One of my favorite parts is the conJectural floor plans of Harvard Hall I where the original library was apparently smaller than the buttery where their beer was stored and dispensed...as it should be.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-11-18 00:00:00 Andrew Nagy I picked this up because I wanted to see what happened to evolutionary linguistics after Pinker's "Language Instinct." The main thing I learned from this book is that not all evolutionary linguists share Steven Pinker's disdain for chimpanzee sign-language experiments. Kenneally is strongly attached to the view that human language skills are not particularly unique in the animal world. Consequently, she paints Noam Chomsky as a villain who, with his focus on complex human syntax and universal grammar (and by implication human uniqueness), has led evolutionary linguistics into fruitless controversy and blind paths. I'm willing to be persuaded about this, but the evidence she presents doesn't establish her case. Her writing lacks the charm of Pinker's. In some spots, the material was too dumbed down. In (too many) others, it seemed a dry recitation of the literature. For non-linguists, I suggest waiting for Pinker's next book, despite his biases, rather than reading this one.