Book by
Simon Winchester, about the making of the
Oxford English Dictionary. A lot of what he found and recorded has just recently turned up, particuliarily when it comes to the two '
protagonists' in this very true story.
James Murray and
Dr. William Minor were the two greatest
collaborators in the gathering of all the information needed. Murray was the
language specialist,
editor and
professor, whereas Minor was the
madman in the
asylum with a lot of free time and
ingenuity on his part, making him one of the more accomplished
contributers to the recording of the
English language.
Funny, here we are, pretty much arguing over the same means to virtually the same end that these two men were involved in over a hundred years ago. History repeats itself. Chasing after information for fun and pleasure.