title: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
author: John B. Tasker
description: John Tasker is dean and professor emeritus at Michigan State University. He has a long and distinguished career in veterinary medicine as a clinical pathologist, educator, and researcher. He earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy degrees at Cornell University, where he later served on the faculty for many years. He was dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University for ten years before his retirement in 1995. Tasker lives in South Florida.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  UMBERTO ECO
  
  
  ON THE
  
  
  SHOULDERS
  
  
  OF GIANTS
  
  
  _Translated from the Italian by Alastair McEwen_
  
  
  THE BELKNAP PRESS OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
  
  
  Cambridge, Massachusetts • 2019
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  English translation copyright © 2019 La Nave di Teseo Editore, Milano
  
  
  Originally published in Italian as _Sulle spalle dei giganti : lezioni alla
  Milanesiana, 2001–2015_
  
  
  Copyright © 2017 La Nave di Teseo Editore, Milano
  
  
  Published in the United States by Harvard University Press, 2019
  
  
  Jacket art: Antoine Revoy
  
  
  Jacket design: Annamarie McMahon Why
  
  
  978-0-674-24089-6 (alk. paper)
  
  
  978-0-674-24227-2 (EPUB)
  
  
  978-0-674-24228-9 (MOBI)
  
  
  978-0-674-24226-5 (PDF)
  
  
  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from
  [loc.gov](http://loc.gov)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  We are dwarfs on the shoulders of giants.
  
  
  —BERNARD OF CHARTRES
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Contents
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * [Publisher’s Note](publisher.xhtml)
  
  
  * [ 1 On the Shoulders of Giants](chapter_1