And on each panel, under the lunar image, is an abstract grid of dots: it has the look of a language and is a reminder of humankind's age-old pursuit of interpreting the moon.
What Rovelli shares with Lucretius is not only a brilliance of language, but also a sense of humankind's place in nature – at once a part of the fabric of the universe, and in a particular position to marvel at its great beauty.
But of greater significance to me, as an anthropologist, is how these colleagues' statements reminded me of the ways in which Homo sapiens have evolved, adapted and become the dominant Homo species on earth, as described in the excellent book by Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. 1 Language and the symbols and meaning they give to our lives.
Earlier this month, Sarah Lawrence College updated its editorial style guide to include gender-neutral language, including "humankind" in lieu of "mankind," "chair" in lieu of "chairman," and "they" as a singular pronoun, in lieu of "he or she".
Globalization is a pale name for the promised uniting of humankind, where everyone speaks the common language of cost-benefit numbers.
As the Renaissance challenged divine vision with that of humankind, Latin's closest descendent, Italian, became music's international language: after Monteverdi wrote the first operas in Venice, Gluck in Germany and Handel in London followed in his tongue.
In short, the entire works of humankind, from the beginning of recorded history, in all languages, available to all people, all the time.
The large majority of humankind is more or less fluent in 2 or even more languages.
In the history of humankind?
