- Hardcover: 422 pages
- Publisher: Citadel Press (1 Oct 1992)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1559720379
- ISBN-13: 978-1559720373
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 17 x 4.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 886,553 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in A History of Knowledge: Past, Present, and Future for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Product details |
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Synopsis
Covers every aspect of knowledge--scientific, intellectual, and historical--from the beginning of the human experience into the twenty-first century and beyond.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
BY THE TIME written history began, some fifty centuries ago, mankind had learned much more than our primitive ancestors knew. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
BY THE TIME written history began, some fifty centuries ago, mankind had learned much more than our primitive ancestors knew. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format: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
- The Industrial Revolution
- Human Machines and Mechanical Humans
- An Age of Reason and Revolution
- John Locke and the Revolution of 1688
- Property, Government, and Revolution
- Two Kinds of Revolution
- Thomas Jefferson and the Revolution of 1776
- The Declaration of Independence
- Property in Rights
- Robespierre, Napoleon, and the Revolution of 1789
- The Rise of Equality
- Mozart's Don Giovanni
- Goethe's Faust
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
Format: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
Format: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.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
An ambitious project
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,... Read more
Published on 27 Feb 2006 by Kurt Messick
Interesting for the type of subject matter
I found the book to be quite interesting even though I'm don't usually read non-fiction. I just have one question - is this the infamous Charles Van Doren from the Quiz Show... Read more
Published on 26 Aug 1999
Gives continuity to my sense of human history
This book was one of the most enjoyable and lucid histories I have read. It gives continuity to my sense of history, which was rather patchy. Read more
Published on 23 April 1999
Western Civ redux
Van Doren writes in a very engaging style, and manages to say quite a bit about the finer aspects of Western thought and history, especially considering the relative size of this... Read more
Published on 14 Mar 1999
uh boy <groan> doesn't even pass for toilet reading
To get a glimpse of the arrogance and ignorance of Charles Van Doren, just read the last section of the book on the upcoming "computer revolt." Enough said.
Published on 26 Feb 1999
Useless trash, boring and trivial
I can't believe I was seduced. The text rambles to no point. There are no footnotes for his sometimes outrageous assertions, no source to challenge. Read more
Published on 24 Dec 1998
Fabulous the first time, just gets better with subsequent re
I have just finished this book for the third time. The first time I read it for pure pleasure (pleasure?? a history text?? Please!). Read more
Published on 5 Dec 1998
Outstanding summary of how humans have viewed the world.
This book provides a very broad description of the events in our history that have influenced our understanding of the world -- from the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans through the... Read more
Published on 14 Jun 1998
An ideal primer for philosophy & history
I wish I had read this book years ago. I have bought a copy for each of my children. Naturally some areas have been emphasised at the expense of others, but the scope of the work... Read more
Published on 25 April 1998
Outstanding.
I wish I had read this book when I was in high school or college; nevertheless, I greatly enjoyed it at age 38. Read more
Published on 17 Feb 1998
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
