Language made us human. Writing gave us civilization.

We are born with language, but writing had to be invented. The Writing Code explores the creation of civilization’s greatest achievement. Where was writing created and why?

Join us on this fascinating journey as The Writing Code traces the origins and evolution of writing with authors (Elmore Leonard & Margaret Atwood), linguists (George Miller & Steven Pinker), historians, editors, anthropologists, book makers, a mathematician (Charles Seife) and a physicist who prefers to write with a quill pen—Neil deGrasse Tyson.

The Writing Code is the bookend to The Human Language Series, first broadcast on PBS and now available in the libraries and curricula of more than 2,000 colleges and universities worldwide. Like The Human Language Series, The Writing Code consists of three, 55-minute DVDs.