Book excerpt: The first two essays describe Sir William Jones, a brilliant and engaged man of letters who became an authority on the languages, laws, and literatures of many of the major world civilizations. The next four essays describe Jones's contributions to linguistics, jurisprudence, history, natural science, and other fields. The last two essays address Jones's impact in German- speaking areas and his place in the history of British Orientalism. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR