Full name: The Man Who Deciphered Linear B: The Story of Michael Ventris

Author: Andrew Robinson Year: 2002 Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: History, Biographies, Non Fiction, Science Purchase/reserch links: LibraryThing Goodreads Amazon ISBNs: 9780500510773 9780500289983 0500510776 0500289980

More than a century ago, in 1900, one of the great archaeological finds of all time was made in Crete. Arthur Evans discovered what he believed was the palace of King Minos, with its notorious labyrinth, home of the Minotaur. As a result, Evans became obsessed with one of the epic intellectual stories of the modern era: the search for the meaning of Linear B, the mysterious script found on clay tablets in the ruined palace. Evans died without achieving his objective, and it was left to the enigmatic Michael Ventris to crack the code in 1952. This is the first book to tell not just the story of Linear B but also that of the young man who deciphered it. Based on hundreds of unpublished letters, interviews with survivors, and other primary sources, Andrew Robinson's riveting account takes the reader through the life of this intriguing and contradictory man. Stage by stage, we see how Ventris finally achieved the breakthrough that revealed Linear B as the earliest comprehensible European writing system. Similar books: The Riddle of the Labyrinth by Margalit Fox The Decipherment of Linear B by John Chadwick Lost Languages by Andrew Robinson The Story of Writing by Andrew Robinson The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel Rocket Men by Robert Kurson Genius by James Gleick Women in Science by Rachel Ignotofsky Skunk Works by Ben R. Rich The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf Carrying the Fire by Michael Collins Apollo 8 by Jeffrey Kluger The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes Failure Is Not an Option by Gene Kranz Apollo 13 by Jim Lovell E=mc2 by David Bodanis The Knife Man by Wendy Moore Dr. Mutter's Marvels by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz