Profesorul si nebunul

Simon Winchester tells how the Oxford Dictionary took shape. The work began in Britain in the Victorian age. He shows its lasting role in culture through two men's lives. Its editor, James Murray, gave much of his life to it. A key helper, William Minor, came from America. He committed murder, then lived confined in a mental hospital. Minor supplied more than 10,000 records of words and their uses. The story explores his gifts and mental distress. This history tells their lives through crime, genius, and obsession with words.

The book also traces Murray's youth and drive to learn. He was born in 1837 and grew up in Hawick. The town lies in Scotland's border region. His father was a tailor who also sold cloth. Lack of money made Murray leave school at fourteen. He kept learning on his own. He studied languages, maps, history, and nature. He took part in local digs and bound books. He also studied the stars. He became a teacher, then a headmaster at twenty. He gave talks on speech sounds and Scots. These talks showed his growing focus on language. The book tells how he met music teacher Maggie Scott. It also follows their marriage.

This edition forms part of the Sapiens series. A 2019 film based on the book starred Mel Gibson and Sean Penn.