The Professor andthe Madman

Minor is Major Could only an incarcerated madman have had the time to become the most important contributor to one of the most prestigious dictionaries of all time? According to Simon Winchester, author of The Professor and the Madman, an intellectual madman, who was locked in an insane asylum, had over twenty years to become the greatest contributor to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). This book covers a time span from the sixteenth century up …

…great overview of the history and background of an indispensable resource book. The OED is still, after almost a hundred years, one of the most popular dictionaries. While looking up words in the OED, most people probably do not realize the bizarre history and the seventy years that were put into making the OED. After reviewing The Professor and the Madman, a person would want to encourage others to read this remarkable piece of history.