Kingdom of Characters (Pulitzer Prize Finalist)
Kingdom of Characters (Pulitzer Prize Finalist)

Author: Jing Tsu

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2022-01-18

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0735214743

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PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST A New York Times Notable Book of 2022 What does it take to reinvent a language? After a meteoric rise, China today is one of the world’s most powerful nations. Just a century ago, it was a crumbling empire with literacy reserved for the elite few, as the world underwent a massive technological transformation that threatened to leave them behind. In Kingdom of Characters, Jing Tsu argues that China’s most daunting challenge was a linguistic one: the century-long fight to make the formidable Chinese language accessible to the modern world of global trade and digital technology. Kingdom of Characters follows the bold innovators who reinvented the Chinese language, among them an exiled reformer who risked a death sentence to advocate for Mandarin as a national language, a Chinese-Muslim poet who laid the groundwork for Chairman Mao's phonetic writing system, and a computer engineer who devised input codes for Chinese characters on the lid of a teacup from the floor of a jail cell. Without their advances, China might never have become the dominating force we know today. With larger-than-life characters and an unexpected perspective on the major events of China’s tumultuous twentieth century, Tsu reveals how language is both a technology to be perfected and a subtle, yet potent, power to be exercised and expanded.

The World Almanac 5,001 Incredible Facts for Kids on Nature, Science, and People
The World Almanac 5,001 Incredible Facts for Kids on Nature, Science, and People

Author: World Almanac KidsTM

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2020-11-24

Total Pages: 573

ISBN-13: 1510761837

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From the #1 New York Times bestselling World Almanac™ comes a full‑color, full‑of‑fun, oversize book packed with thousands of awesome facts about science, nature, and people—everything on planet Earth and beyond. Kids want to learn about the world around them, and with this engaging, colorful collection of facts, figures, photographs, and fun, they will. Perfect for home or for school, and a great gift for any curious reader, here are thousands of fascinating and surprising facts about almost everything: Animals—Dogs, cats, snakes, insects, spiders, sharks, and more Culture—Art, holidays, food, movies, and more Disasters—Earthquakes, shipwrecks, floods, storms, and more Geography—Oceans, mountains, continents, habitats, and more Geology—Volcanoes, tectonics, minerals, gems, and more Human Body and Medicine—Diseases, organs, senses, and other weird and wonderful human body facts. Record-setters—All about the biggest, smallest, fastest, tallest, and more Space—The moon, stars, planets, human spaceflight, and more Sports—Basketball, baseball, football, hockey, Olympic, and soccer superstars past and present, and more Technology—Computers, drones, inventions, and more The World Almanac™ 5,001 Incredible Facts for Kids on Nature, Science, and People provides kids, teachers, and families timely and timeless information on an enormous variety of subjects. It will give readers hours and hours of fun while it educates and illuminates.