The Routledge Companion to Semiotics brings together introductory essays from an impressive range of leading international figures across disciplines where semiotics is studied. Topics covered include: the history, development and uses of semiotics, key theorists including Saussure and Pierce, the increasingly important field of socio semiotics, the semiotics of media and culture, cognition and 'nature'. Featuring an extended glossary of crucial terms and thinkers as well as suggestions for further reading, this is an invaluable reference guide for students of semiotics at all levels.