Amalia E. Gnanadesikan was the Technical Director for Language Analysis at the University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language. Now retired, she has taught writing, linguistics, and writing systems at the University of Maryland, West Chester University, and Rutgers University, and published works on writing systems, phonology, and language description. She is the author of Dhivehi: The Language of the Maldives.

• List of Illustrations viiPreface xi1 The First IT Revolution 12 Cuneiform: Forgotten Legacy of a Forgotten People 173 Egyptian Hieroglyphs and the Quest for Eternity 394 Chinese: A Love of Paperwork 635 Maya Glyphs: Calendars and Kings 896 Linear B: The Clerks of Agamemnon 1077 Japanese: Three Scripts Are Better than One 1278 Cherokee: Sequoyah Reverse- Engineers 1499 The Semitic ʼĀlep- Bēt: Egypt to Manchuria in 3,500 Years 16310 The Empire of Sanskrit 19111 King Sejong’s One- Man Renaissance 21512 Greek Serendipity 23313 The Age of Latin 25514 The Alphabet Meets the Machine 27715 Writing Goes to Bits 299Appendix: Figures A.1–A.9 321Further Reading 331Index 361

Amalia E. Gnanadesikan was the Technical Director for Language Analysis at the University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language. Now retired, she has taught writing, linguistics, and writing systems at the University of Maryland, West Chester University, and Rutgers University, and published works on writing systems, phonology, and language description. She is the author of Dhivehi: The Language of the Maldives.

• List of Illustrations viiPreface xi1 The First IT Revolution 12 Cuneiform: Forgotten Legacy of a Forgotten People 173 Egyptian Hieroglyphs and the Quest for Eternity 394 Chinese: A Love of Paperwork 635 Maya Glyphs: Calendars and Kings 896 Linear B: The Clerks of Agamemnon 1077 Japanese: Three Scripts Are Better than One 1278 Cherokee: Sequoyah Reverse- Engineers 1499 The Semitic ʼĀlep- Bēt: Egypt to Manchuria in 3,500 Years 16310 The Empire of Sanskrit 19111 King Sejong’s One- Man Renaissance 21512 Greek Serendipity 23313 The Age of Latin 25514 The Alphabet Meets the Machine 27715 Writing Goes to Bits 299Appendix: Figures A.1–A.9 321Further Reading 331Index 361

Amalia E. Gnanadesikan was the Technical Director for Language Analysis at the University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language. Now retired, she has taught writing, linguistics, and writing systems at the University of Maryland, West Chester University, and Rutgers University, and published works on writing systems, phonology, and language description. She is the author of Dhivehi: The Language of the Maldives.

• List of Illustrations viiPreface xi1 The First IT Revolution 12 Cuneiform: Forgotten Legacy of a Forgotten People 173 Egyptian Hieroglyphs and the Quest for Eternity 394 Chinese: A Love of Paperwork 635 Maya Glyphs: Calendars and Kings 896 Linear B: The Clerks of Agamemnon 1077 Japanese: Three Scripts Are Better than One 1278 Cherokee: Sequoyah Reverse- Engineers 1499 The Semitic ʼĀlep- Bēt: Egypt to Manchuria in 3,500 Years 16310 The Empire of Sanskrit 19111 King Sejong’s One- Man Renaissance 21512 Greek Serendipity 23313 The Age of Latin 25514 The Alphabet Meets the Machine 27715 Writing Goes to Bits 299Appendix: Figures A.1–A.9 321Further Reading 331Index 361