The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word And Image - Tapa blanda

A groundbreaking and provocative thesis that argues that the introduction of alphabetic literacy resulted in the decline of the status of women and the rise of monolithic masculine cultures. Contrasting the oral right-brained teachings of Socrates,Christ and the Buddha with hierarchical and sexist religions that evolved when the spoken word was committed to writing, Shlain tracks the correlation between the rise and fall of literacy and the changing status of women in society. At the turn ofthe century we have film, tv and computers and in the resulting social revolution women have benefitted as society moves to embrace feminine values.

Leonard Shlain writes for many publications and lectures widely on the connection between art and science. He is chief of laparoscopic surgery at California Medical Centre in San Francisco. He lives and writes in Mill Valley, California.