Noam Chomsky
CHOMSKY, NOAM (1928- ), American educator, linguist, author, and political activist. Chomsky, an instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, used his linguistic background to create a grammatical format that transformed linguistics. His childhood in New York's Jewish ghetto sparked his political interest in the Spanish Civil War and developed his anarchist views surrounding authoritative government, but he created his most prominent writings on the Vietnam War.
Avram Noam Chomsky was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Chomsky's childhood interest in the Spanish Civil War led him to the bookstores of New York and a political culture influenced by anarchism. His research revealed a pattern of political power struggles that explained the destruction of the Spanish revolution. This pattern was his hindsight to political wisdom.
In 1955, Chomsky entered the University of Pennsylvania. He became interested in the political views of his Linguistic Professor, Zellig Harris, and completed his degree in linguistics. In 1957, Chomsky published his first book titled Syntactic Structures, which outlined his theory regarding the mental protocol behind language use. His theory identified similarities between languages and documented how children can learn language fluently at an early age.
In 1957, the United States became involved in the Vietnam War. Outraged by American involvement, Chomsky took action against the government's use of subtle media propaganda to influence public opinion. His book, New Mandarins (1969), provided some of the most substantial arguments against the political propaganda behind American foreign policy and media war coverage.
Ironically, while Chomsky's writings revolutionized English grammar, his words on war continue to outrage masses.