The World's Greatest Idea
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"writing that is both witty and insightful. As a history buff, I enjoyed this book immensely..." --Myles Gough, Cosmos magazine
"This is a witty and surprising read - you learn something new with each idea" --Laboratory News
"Read this fascinating book." --Frank's Book reviews, Voice FM, Ballarat
"very interesting reading" --Bournemouth Echo
[a new idea per chapter] - nourishing in itself, but also providing some readers with just enough to want another portion"
--Yorkshire Post --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
"This is a witty and surprising read - you learn something new with each idea" --Laboratory News
"Read this fascinating book." --Frank's Book reviews, Voice FM, Ballarat
"very interesting reading" --Bournemouth Echo
[a new idea per chapter] - nourishing in itself, but also providing some readers with just enough to want another portion"
--Yorkshire Post --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Product Description
Where would humanity be now without fire, vaccinations, farming - or wine? A great idea is one that has changed the path of human civilisation. But which is the greatest of them all? John Farndon, author of the bestselling Do You Think You're Clever?, has set out to find the answer. A distinguished panel of experts agreed on a list of 50 ideas, and each chapter of The World's Greatest Idea sees Farndon explore the argument for a different one. The candidates are intriguingly varied: Electricity grids enable us to power our cities, but then sewers allowed those cities to grow. Without the wheel, modern civilisation would be pretty much impossible, but take away Logic and we'd lose the essential structures for rational thought ...But then what would be the point of all of this without the idea of romance? The World's Greatest Idea is an enthralling voyage of discovery through the most powerful intellectual, social, scientific and creative brainwaves humans have ever had. They are ranked in the book determined by a public vote on www.theworldsgreatestidea.com But will you agree with the verdict?
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
'The World's Greatest Idea' by John Farndon (Kindle Edition) This is a truly remarkable book, because it doesn't appear to have been cobbled together by someone who needed to read up on each topic before he was able to discuss it. No, it soon becomes obvious that the author has approached his task already possessing a sound grasp of his subject - of his fifty subjects in fact! John Farndon would seem to be a rare phenomenon indeed in the 21st Century, a man who has refused to specialize and has opted instead for acquiring an undertanding of a wide range of human experience. And never fear, if you read his book you won't be left wanting to throw clichés at him like `Jack of all trades, master of none' - he really does know his stuff!
`The World's Greatest Idea' strikes me as a perfect example of the whole's being greater than the sum of the parts. The parts: the fifty great ideas of course. The whole: the human mind itself, fizzing and sparking away in a rather comfortless universe, conjuring up dreams, stratagems, cunning devices, systems of belief... John Farndon's book succeeds where quite a number of more portentous studies of human thought have failed, in converying a sense of our dazzling inventiveness, and the sheer scale and range of our achievements, mostly admirable, but occasionally villainous.
John Farndon is committed to the idea that 'the proper study of mankind is Man' - not 'the proper study of mankind is quantum mechanics' or suchlike. I heartily recommend his book.
`The World's Greatest Idea' strikes me as a perfect example of the whole's being greater than the sum of the parts. The parts: the fifty great ideas of course. The whole: the human mind itself, fizzing and sparking away in a rather comfortless universe, conjuring up dreams, stratagems, cunning devices, systems of belief... John Farndon's book succeeds where quite a number of more portentous studies of human thought have failed, in converying a sense of our dazzling inventiveness, and the sheer scale and range of our achievements, mostly admirable, but occasionally villainous.
John Farndon is committed to the idea that 'the proper study of mankind is Man' - not 'the proper study of mankind is quantum mechanics' or suchlike. I heartily recommend his book.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I'm constantly faced with my own ignorance but this book helps to reduce it slightly. There may be somewhere else that you could you get an understanding of steam power, an indication of quantum physics, a thoughtful discussion about welfare state, an explanation of scientific method and a clear-eyed view of the banking crisis (and this is the tip of the iceberg) but I don't think it could be done in such an engaging, simple yet unpatronising way. When I read John Farndon's books I feel I've learnt something and challenged my views - but really enjoyed doing it. It's a cliche but I did have trouble putting this one down.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
John Farndon's THE WORLD'S GREATEST IDEA is a brilliant book by a scintillating science writer. He has enormous facility moving between subjects as disparate as the Steam Engine and Contraception and helping you rank them along with a panel of 50 experts and numerous readers. And he tells you the amusing reason why Marriage was ranked #50 and Contraception #3. (And why therefore the Internet was #1.)
Most Recent Customer Reviews
ideal book to dip in and out of whether travelling on the train or...
What is the world's greatest idea - fire, electricity, natural selection? In true Top of the Pops style, John Farndon counts us down from 50 to one - the World's greatest ever idea... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Laboratory Product News
A Fascinating Tour of Great Ideas
John Farndon sets out to do the impossible - to compare and rate the best and most important ideas ever conceived. He comes up with 50 wonderful ideas and ranks them in order. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Paul Sloane
Not very satisfied
I found this book a bit boring in some points. Although interesting for the amount of information that offers, each idea doesn't have any connection with the others. Read more
Published 12 months ago by davide
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