Noam?Chomsky?is?one?of?the?leading?intellectual?figures?of?modern?times.He?has?had?a?major?influence?on?linguistics,psychology?and?philosophy,and?a?significant?effect?on?a?range?of?other?disciplines?from?anthropology?to?mathematics,education?to?literary?criticism.????Noam?Chomsky?is?one?of?the?leading?intellectual?figures?of?modern?times.He?has?had?a?major?influence?on?linguistics,psychology?and?philosophy,and?a?significant?effect?on?a?range?of?other?disciplines?from?anthropology?to?mathematics,education?to?literary?criticism.??????In?this?rigorous?yet?accessible?account?of?Chomsky's?work?and?influence,Neil?Smith?analyses?Chomsky's?key?contributions?to?the?study?of?language?and?the?study?of?mind.He?gives?a?detailed?and?partly?historical?exposition?of?Chomsky's?linguistic?theorizing,and?examines?the?ideas?for?which?he?is?best?known.Smith?discusses?the?psychological?and?philosophical?implications?of?Chomsky's?work,and?argues?that?he?has?fundamentally?changed?the?way?we?think?of?ourselves,gaining?a?position?in?the?history?of?ideas?on?a?par?with?that?of?Darwin?of?Descartes.Finally,he?examines?Chomsky's?political?ideas?and?how?these?fit?intellectually?with?his?scholarly?work.Smith?argues?that,despite?Chomsky's?own?disavowal?of?any?very?close?connection,there?are?fundamental?ideas?of?rationality,creativity?and?modularity?that?draw?together?the?disparate?strands?of?his?vast?output.Throughout,Smith?explores?the?coutroversy?surrounding?Chomsky's?work,and?explains?why?he?has?been?both?adulated?and?vilified.??????This?much?needed?book?will?be?welcomedby?a?wide?range?of?readers:students?and?researchers?in?linguistics,philosophy,psychology,cognitive?science?and?politics,and?anyone?with?an?interest?in?the?impact?of?Chomsky's?work.