Sydney M. Lamb

Sydney Lamb is an emeritus professor of linguistics and cognitive sciences at Rice University. Before going to Rice, he taught at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also earned his PhD in Linguistics, and was a professor at Yale University. He is well-known as the originator of the relational network theory of language, also called neurocognitive linguistics. According to Wikipedia, “Lamb is best known as the father of the relational network theory of language, which is also known as ‘stratificational theory’. Near the turn of the millennium, he began developing the theory further and exploring its possible relationships to neurological structures and to thinking processes.” His previous writing, including Pathways of the Brain (1999), Language and illusion (2004) and numerous articles, were aimed at a specialized audience of professionals in linguistics, but his forthcoming book Illusion and Reality: Adventures of the Mind is intended for the general reader.