Skip to main content

Signs: Units of significance

  • Chapter
Significance
  • 248 Accesses

Abstract

In walking down a high street in downtown San Francisco a year or so back I spotted a sign in a store window. The sign consisted of a large piece of paper with just three words written upon it in large type. It said, ‘SIGNS MEAN BUSINESS’. In a sense, those three simple words, taken together, sum up what we are trying to achieve within this book. We are trying to make a case for the importance of signs within systems of various forms. Signs are critically important in all forms of activity, including business. Signs are important because they establish what it is to be human. Without signs we could not think, we could not communicate what we think and we could not ensure that we collaborate successfully in our working, home and leisure activity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 130.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Alexander, C. (1964). Notes on the Synthesis of Form. Harvard University Press, Harvard, Mass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bateson, G. (1972). Steps to an Ecology of Mind. Balantine books, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beynon-Davies, P. (2009e). Neolithic informatics: the nature of information. International Journal of Information Management 29(1): 3–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Saussure, F. (1964). Course in General Linguistics. Peter Owen, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, J. (1916). Essays in Experimental Logic. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Eco, U. (1977). A Theory of Semiotics. Macmillan, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mattesich, R. (1989). Accounting and the input-output principle in the prehistoric and ancient world. ABACUS 25(2): 74–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mattesich, R. (2000). The Beginnings of Accounting and Accounting Thought. Routledge, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mead, M. (1962). Keynote Address. Approaches to Semiotics: transactions of the Indiana University Conference on Paralinguistics and Kinesics. Indiana University, US.

    Google Scholar 

  • Millikan, R. G. (1984). Language, Thought and Other Biological Categories: New Foundations for Realism. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, C. W. (1946). Signs, Language and Behavior. Prentice-Hall, New York.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Morris, D. (1979). Manwatching: a field guide to human behaviour. Harry N. Abrahams, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pierce, C. S. (1931). Collected Papers. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinker, S. (2001). The Language Gene. Penguin, Harmondsworth, Middx.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowland, W. D. (2003). Foreword. Communication in History: technology, culture, society. D. Crowley and P. Heyer. Boston, Pearson Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rudgley, R. (1999). The Lost Civilisations of the Stone Age. Simon and Schuster, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmandt-Bessarat, D. (1978). The Earliest Precursor of Writing. Scientific American 238(6).

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmandt-Bessarat, D. (1992). Before Writing. The University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmandt-Bessarat, D. (1996). How Writing Came About. The University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stamper, R. K. (1973). Information in Business and Administrative Systems. Batsford, London.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Copyright information

© 2011 Paul Beynon-Davies

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Beynon-Davies, P. (2011). Signs: Units of significance. In: Significance. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230295025_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics