The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker

The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language
by Steven Pinker
9781455839681
Audio CDs
Brilliance Audio
December 2011

Language is a very complicated thing. How do we learn it? Why are there so many languages? Is it from nature or nurture? Or a bit of both? Are our brains hard-wired to learn language from birth? Is language an instinct?

Steven Pinker is one of the world's leading experts on language and the mind. In The Language Instinct, he seeks to prove one thing: that language is an instinct we are born with.

Pinker draws from various sources including Noam Chomsky but relies a lot on his own studies. He explores the complexity of grammar and speech and demonstrates in many, many ways how these are just too complex to be simply taught and that we must be hard-wired to be able to develop an understanding of the rules of grammars and the various exceptions. He also explores the way in which language learning can be altered or partially lost due to mental illness, brain injury or other unfortunate circumstances.

This book is an excellent source of knowledge especially if you are interested in linguistics. I took a Linguistics course in college as an undergrad and always wished I could study it more. Hence, why I decided to read this book. However, the book was so very dry. It barely kept my interest. I think there were a few factors at play. Pinker tried too hard to be funny. Sometimes so hard that it became uncomfortable. He made a joke about those people who correct others for using "hopefully" in an incorrect manner. He said it's like telling someone Cleveland is really Cincinnati and Cincinnati is really Cleveland. I'm one of those people so I felt pretty insulted. He also made several jokes at the expense of Red Sox fans which I thought were completely unnecessary. Other times Pinker makes really interesting observations like comparing different languages to different species of animals. For example, fox and wolf and English and German are of the same ancestor/origin but are different species/languages with a long list of differentiating characteristics. I also enjoyed little trivia bits like the fact that "orange" was really "norange" but the "n" dropped off. I had hope for more of that and less of the sad jokes.

I don't think it helped my case that I listened to the book on audio. The narrator was so-so and had a voice that was a bit monotone for my taste. It hurt the narration that the text was so dry and that it went on for 19 hours. It took me a few months to listen to this book just because I needed breaks on a regular basis.

If you are a linguistics enthusiast or a linguistics student, I do recommend this book. Perhaps in paperback or ebook and not audio. If you are just a person with a passing interest in linguistics, find something else.

Breasts by Florence Williams

Breasts by Florence Williams
May 2012
Hardcover ISBN: 9780393063189
W.W. Norton & Company

Breasts. They are really important. In fact, they are more important than you think. We are "mammals" because of them. Breasts (mammaries) and the ability to give milk to our young is what sets us apart from the rest of the Animal Kingdom. And even though they are incredibly crucial to human life as we know it, as author Florence Williams points out, they are misunderstood.

Are breasts for men? Are they for babies? What's their purpose? Why are human breasts so big and pendulous? Williams explores the neglected science of breasts. How they function, how ours compare with other animals, how women use them to breastfeed and how they can make us sick.

I was initially drawn to this book when I saw the below trailer linked to in a Shelf Awareness newsletter. The book trailer hooked me in straight away.

The trailer is funny, intriguing and made me curious about the subject. Enough so that I immediately ordered the book online and took it with me on my honeymoon.

I saw that the publisher compare Florence Williams to Mary Roach. I hate comparisons like that but since I really enjoyed Mary Roach's Bonk so I decided to overlook it. In fact, I really should have paid more attention to that comparison.

Let's just say, this book strictly sticks to the subject of breasts and their science. There is little to no social or historical context given. I was hoping this book would be a mixture of science, history and social studies in relation to breasts but that's not what it was. And that's fine. As long as you know going in, that this book is about the science of breasts then you are in for a very informative and illuminating read.

The book is very well-written and insightful. Each chapter takes a look at a different issue or topic related to breasts. Breast cancer, breast feeding, breasts in the animal world, breast augmentation, chemicals and how they affect breasts, etc. While Williams' tone is friendly and inviting, this book is not as amusing as the trailer would have you believe. In fact, parts of it are quite scary.

Coming away from this book, I'm a little worried that my breasts are nothing more than two ticking time bombs. A woman's breasts are highly sensitive to multiple factors including genetic predisposition to cancer, environmental toxicity and the age in which a woman gives birth. While I don't have a family history of breast cancer, the latter two situations give me pause. Have I used too much plastic in my life and exposed my breasts to too much BPA? Have I waited too long to have a baby? Will I ruin my breasts once I do have a baby? Should I breastfeed?

Williams might find some opponents amongst breastfeeding enthusiasts. While she describes how beneficial breastfeeding is to babies, she also makes note several times that breastfeeding is one way a woman can pass off toxins to her child. Remember when I got freaked out about Shark meat after reading Marion Nestle's What to Eat? A similar situation happened when I read Breasts. In the same way the food chain can multiply toxins in sharks (which carry the toxins from their environment and the fish and mammals they eat and the fish that those fish and mammals ate, multiplying the toxicity to higher levels), a mother can pass off the toxins of her environment and all the animals and plants she ate. Yikes! Williams makes no claim that formula is the solution. But countries such as Norway, who have been adamant about 100% rates of breastfeeding, are now taking a step back. What does this mean for the future of breastfeeding?

I think the saddest part of the book is the exploration of breast cancer, especially the chapter about men who have had breast cancer. Don't skip it though. It's really important to read.

If you are concerned about women's health and have an interest in learning more about the science of breasts, read this book! However, if you are more interested in breasts and how they function in society, how they are important sexually and/or the history of their objectification and repression, then skip this one.