Umberto Eco unlocks the riddles of history in an exploration of the "linguistics
of the lunatic," the stories told by scholars, scientists, poets, fanatics, and
ordinary people to make sense of the world. By examining the "Force of the Fals
e," Eco reveals the layers of mistakes that have shaped human history and the se
rendipities that can spring from mistaken ideas. From Christopher Columbus's fal
se assumptions about the size of the world to Marco Polo mistaking a rhinoceros
for a unicorn, Eco tours the labyrinth of intellectual history, illuminating the
ways in which we project the familiar onto the strange and the consequences of
false knowledge. He ultimately shows the dangers we face do not lie in the rules
we use to interpret other cultures but rather in our insistence on making such
rules absolute.
