Listing books by William Barss
| Full title | Words from the Myths [permalink] |
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| Language | English |
| Authors | Isaac Asimov (author) and William Barss (illustrator) |
| Publisher | Signet Books |
| Category | Language |
| Publication year | 1969 |
| Original publication year | 1961 |
| ISBN | 978-0451166869 [Amazon, B&N, Abe, Powell's] |
| Pages | 134 |
| Synopsis | The book explains Greek mythology and its relationship to the English language in the form of its words ('chaos', 'cosmos', 'gigantic', 'atlas', 'ocean', 'Europe', 'cereal', 'phobia', 'demon', 'martial', 'vulcano', 'jovial', 'music', 'hygiene', 'siren', 'hubris', 'nemesis'). Asimov describes a lot of Greek mythology in-depth, but primarily for the purpose of explaining the origins and meanings of those words (and many others). He covers the titans, the Olympians, monsters, heroes and the siege of Troy. |
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| Full title | Words in Genesis [permalink] |
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| Language | English |
| Authors | Isaac Asimov (author) and William Barss (illustrator) |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin |
| Categories | History, religion and science |
| Publication year | 1962 |
| Pages | 233 |
| Synopsis | Asimov explains, as the book is titled, the words in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. |
| Review | This is actually more than simply a list and explanation of the words used in Genesis. It goes into great detail into important verses in Genesis, explaining the history behind the verses as well as the etymologies of the words used (Asimov was Jewish by descent and spoke Yiddish, which helps). There are even appendices with maps of the relevant areas of the time, and genealogies of antediluvian (pre-Flood) and postdiluvian patriarchs. |
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