The Professor and the Madman

841 Words2 Pages

All kinds of books are widely read by many people from around the world. There are countless books that are educating. There are many genres, but one read with the most education and significance is that of non-fiction. The Professor and the Madman by Winchester Simon is a non-fiction novel that goes into the relationship between two people with the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary is the most important dictionary and an important part in people’s lives, because it is widely used. The novel is entertaining and educational, because within the book, it has a historical significance and cultural impact where book reviews only support it.
People within the book are significant with significant background information such as James Murray who was the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary and Chester Minor, a contributor. James Murray, while being educated at Cavers School in his village, was influenced to become interested in the names of the parts of speech, animals and plants, and such more (“Oxford” 3). This shows how he became the editor of the OED, as the OED is the making of speech. This also shows that he was ambitious to put all words in the OED. During Minor's time in the Asylum, Murray made an announcement that they would accept volunteers to send them definitions, and Minor found that doing this let himself escape from insanity and contributed of tens of thousands of words (“Broadmoor’s” 2). This shoes that Minor needed something to focus on something to distract himself from insanity. It also shows that Minor focused on education and is seen as intelligent. Along with the background information for Murray and Minor, the OED also has it.
Along with James Murray and Chester Minor, the...

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...ing, and popular for that reason. It is one of many genres that are widely read by people.

Works Cited
"Broadmoor's Word-finder." BBC News. BBC, Feb. 2004. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.
Griffith, Benjamin. "The Professor And The Madman (Book Review)." Sewanee Review 107.3 (1999): Lxxiv. Literary Reference Center. Web. 6 Mar. 2014.
"History of the OED." Oxford English Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.
"Oxford DNB Article: Murray, Sir James Augustus Henry." Oxford DNB Article: Murray, Sir James Augustus Henry. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.
Peers, Douglas M. "The Professor and the Madman." Home. University of Calgary, 2001. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
"Robot Check." Robot Check. Amazon, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.
Winchester, Simon. The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary. New York: HarperCollins, 1998. Print.

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