If you can read this sentence, then you are using one of the most important innovations in human history'the alphabet. Who invented the alphabet? How many different alphabets are there? Why do people need to write? All of these questions are discussed in Alphabetical Order: How the Alphabet Began. With full-color charts and illustrations showing exactly how signs and symbols evolved into letters and words, Alphabetical Order is a chance to see and understand the story behind the different alphabets people use every day.Tiphaine Samoyault is a professor of literature near Paris, where she makes her home.