Linguistics Wars

This is an account of the schism that developed in linguistics during the 1960s and 70s, between Noam Chomsky with his revolutionary ideas about mental structure and universal grammar, and his disciples who took his ideas in a direction he was unhappy with. The repercussions of this divisive and acrimonious dispute remain in the ways that linguists look at language and the mind. Replete with many personalities and anecdotes, this account also serves as a case study in how scientists and scholars contend for theoretical glory.