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Product Description
"Crystal clear and concise...Explains how humankind got to know what it knows."
Clifton Fadiman
Selected by the Book-of-the-Month Club and the History Book Club
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An ambitious project,
By Kurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (London, SW1) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: A History of Knowledge (Paperback)
Charles Van Doren undertook an ambitious project in this book, which according to its cover blurb purports to be 'a compendium of everything that humankind has thought, invented, created, considered, and perfected from the beginning of civilisation into the twenty-first century.'There are, alas, a few things missing, as this book only has a bit over 400 pages. But that does not really detract from the thesis of the book; it is certainly a worthy outline of human history, particularly approached through the lens of intellectual achievement and the advance of knowledge. Van Doren got caught up in the quiz shows of the 1950s. Ironic that this fate should befall him, as his learning would obviously put to shame the current crop of would-be millionaires so popular on the television today. But, I digress. Van Doren spent the two decades before writing this book as an editor for Encyclopedia Britannica. He has put together a worthy outline to knowledge, broad in scope and with just enough detail to satisfy the hunger and whet the appetite simultaneously. 'The voluminous literature dealing with the idea of human progress is decidedly a mixed bag. While some of these writings are impressive and even inspiring, many of them are superficial, perhaps even ridiculous, in their reiteration (especially during the nineteenth century) of the comforting prospect that every day in every way we are growing better and better.' Van Doren does believe in progress, but not in inevitable progress. He distinguishes between general knowledge and knowledge of particulars, and explores the inter-relationship of knowledge and happiness: 'The desire to know, when you realise you do not know, is universal and probably irresistible. It was the original temptation of mankind, and no man or woman, and especially no child, can overcome it for long. But it is a desire, as Shakespeare said, that grows by what it feeds on. It is impossible to slake the thirst for knowledge. And the more intelligent you are, the more this is so.' Van Doren explores the advance of knowledge by time periods, then divided into general discussions with a specific centre. I give as an example the outline of topics in the chapter entitled An Age of Revolutions An Age of Revolutions Van Doren's own agenda and prejudice show through (a desire for the curbing of the rights of nation-states in favour of a one-world government, for instance -- without much detail about how that government would be constituted; after all, he is a realist who recognises that there's no point to such idle speculation in a history text), but he always returns to his charge of presenting the history of the whole through various parts. His final chapter, entitled 'The Next Hundred Years' examines the possible developments and societal changes (which we are already beginning to see) due to computers, chaos science, increased space exploration, genetic engineering and genome mapping, and an ever-present companion in history, war. This is a well-written exploration of world history written with clarity and style. It makes an excellent companion piece for almost any intellectual field.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
not a history of knowledge--more a synopsis of history,
By A Customer
This review is from: A History of Knowledge (Paperback)
Fine bedtime reading--highly soporific! This book has a huge Western Civilization/Chrisitianity bias, as though anyone reading it would only be interested in other cultures to the extent that they influenced the dominant culture. The shallowness of his remarks in areas that I know a great deal about lead me to distrust his remarks in areas that I am less familiar with. After a while, I found that what I really wanted to do was re-read Boorstin's Discoverers, which is far more interesting and satisfying.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Broad and bold in scope but subjective and carless at times,
By A Customer
This review is from: A History of Knowledge (Paperback)
Perhaps error and opinion are part and parcel of any book that would make so grand an assault upon the passage of time. Mr. Van Doren attempts to catalog all of history and, inevitably, fails on some counts. With a work like this I find it valuable to seek out and examine the author's discussion of the history I do know - scientific history in my case - and see how well they fare with that. My result - Van Doren parrots the typical legends of Einstein and Heisenburg but seems to understand little of who they were or what they accomplished. Careless mistakes abound as well - e.g. Galilio's date of death is given four years early (1642 vs 1646). But despite its flaws A History of Knowledge is eminently readable and, for those in pursuit of a larger context for what history they already know, quite useful. Perhaps the gravest "danger" of the work is it's confidence - when one is describing the sum events of all time there's precious little room for considering conflicting views and discussing the data that has lead to each - this is a history composed of declarative statements. However, if one can keep an ironic grin firmly in place in the face of Van Doren's confidence, his book as both knowledge and enjoyment to offer.
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