In one of the first books in a series that will focus on the world of semiotics, Floyd Merrell opens up the meanings behind signs, blending the fields of biology, anthropology, psychology, and psychiatry. Merrell begins by placing Charles S. Peirce’s concept of the sign within the context of contemporary philosophy and scientific thought. He then delves into various disciplines to examine the means and methods by which we sense our world and how they intersect and correspond to the world of our signs. Drawing upon a variety of cultural phenomena and from recent events that have preoccupied the media over the past few years, Merrell delivers an account of our awareness of signs as they are processed by the entire range of our sensory channels. He also puts forth a broad cultural "logic" that can give direction to recent theories, empirical work, and essays that fall under the general rubric of "cultural studies." The result is a challenging, mind-expanding book unrivalled in the scope of its exploration into sign processing.