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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 001
EAN num: 9780345373168
ISBN number: 0345373162
Label: Ballantine Books
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 448
Printing Date: March 17, 1992
Publishing house: Ballantine Books
Release Date: March 17, 1992
Sale Popularity Level: 28951
Studio: Ballantine Books
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
A one-voume reference to the history of ideas that is a compendium of everything that humankind has thought, invented, created, considered, and perfected from the beginning of civilization into the twenty-first century. Massive in its scope, and yet totally accessible, A HISTORY OF KNOWLEDGE covers not only all the great theories and discoveries of the human race, but also explores the social conditions, political climates, and individual men and women of genius that brought ideas to fruition throughout history.
'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
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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Poor writing with inaccurate "facts" and that was the very first few pages. When I would finish a paragraph I couldn't stop myself from thinking how it could have been written more clearly. I stopped reading after he said Jesus was born on December 25th and according to the Christian creed Jesus ascended into hell. There is more than one Christian creed, and Jesus was not born in the year 0 on December 25th. If he was going to get these very basic facts wrong I didn't want to waste my time.
Rated by buyers -
I just finished reading this book. It is a book explaining pivotal events, people and achievements of world history. The history of the world, or the human world, or the civilized human world covers a relatively short period of time compared with the history of earth. It is closely related to religion, arts and literature, philosophy, governance and particularly war. Modern culture and science and technology as we know them occurred only in the last two hundred years.
The book starts off with the wisdom of the ancients, including those in Egypt, India, China, Mesopotamia, Aztec and Inca. It also traces the origin of religion from human sacrifice to Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism.
The chapters that follow give a good account of the development of knowledge over eons, organized into the following sessions:
- The Greek explosion of knowledge
- The Roman civilization
- Light in the Dark Ages
- The Middle Ages
- Knowledge born in the Renaissance
- Europe reaching out to the world
- The invention of the scientific method
- An age of revolutions
- The nineteenth century as a prelude to modernity
- The world in 1914: the great wars
- The triumph of democracy
- The twentieth century science and technology
- Modern arts and the media
- The subsequent hundred years
I think many of us studied these subjects in our academic life. There is no new knowledge coming out of this concise history book of knowledge. Furthermore, I note that the author mainly focuses on the development of western civilization. It is a narrow view as far as the knowledge of the world is concerned. Although it may be said that the western civilization has dominated the world in the last few centuries, mainly on modern government and science, there are much valuable knowledge in the East which should be worth mentioning. Notwithstanding that, the author does cleverly summarize all the major events and personalities in western history; and along the way, he also gives some insight to the contribution of the knowledge to civilization along many centuries. I find reading the book satisfying. It is like a revision of the development of human civilization over 5000 years. It is also like a bowl of instant noodle which can fill your stomach in three minutes without much effort, because the essence is condensed to an easily manageable proportion. Besides that, the book is a useful reference material which comes in handy when I want to refer to some particularly important incidents in western history.
Not much more can be said about history of knowledge better than that expressed by the author, and I do not intend to copy and paste his passages. However, besides things of the past, one interesting part of the book is the development of knowledge in the subsequent hundred years. No one can predict the future. Thus the commentaries on the advancement of knowledge in the subsequent hundred years are pure speculation, sometimes bordering on sci-fi fantasies, but fantasies based on known facts at present. The book was written in 1991, some seventeen years ago. At that time, there were still ten more years before the commencement of the 21th century. Looking back today, there are hints on which parts of the predictions are turning into reality.
Predictions on future world governance hinge on modern war equipment of nuclear weapons. When the cold war ended in the last decade of the 20th century, the fear of a nuclear war did not go away. More nations have now developed their own nuclear weapons, which are also available to some non-nuclear weapon countries and terrorists. The author predicts that the checks and balances for world peace on the total destruction force of nuclear weapons may lead to a world government. Development in the last seventeen years has not been optimistic. Rather than moving towards a world government, perhaps in the form of an United States of Earth, there have been developments towards regional powers. Among the chaotic world of powers, there emerge several attractors leading to cartels in Europe, North America, Asia and Africa. When vying for limited natural resources, there are conflicting interests among the cartels. We may need a catastrophic event before the human race may eventually unite to deal with a common problem.
The development of computer technology was already quite advanced in 1991. There have been predictions that computers would evolve into thinking machines communicating through worldwide networks. There are also consensus views in the science community that the computer would attain singularity (self-consciousness) within 30 years. We now see the Internet growing at an exponential rate and it now possesses almost all the knowledge of the world. Computer networks occupy most of the space of our daily life. They are still short of a self-conscious mind, but all ... Read More
Rated by buyers -
Though sweeping in the expanse of its subject, A History of Knowledge looses focus in its final quarter. Charles van Doren begins his history before recorded time and follows the history of ideas up to and beyond the year 1991. As he skips across the peaks of history touching on the major historical events, he keeps his reader's interest with his masterful retelling of history.
He justifies his concentration on western civilization because of the "Greek revolution" of the 4th century B.C. By their interest in the physical world and how it works, the Greeks discovered philosophy, logic, and the scientific method thereby eclipsing the civilizations of the east. He continues with the Greeks laying the foundations for liberal education.
Contrary to other reviews, there is not a Christian bias to this book. The Church inherited the Greek tradition and was a major player in the history of Europe. Truly, Charles van Doren seems impartial at best to Christianity, even scrapping all religions to the dustbin as an enemy of democracy and egalitarianism.
Charles van Doren covers the major thinkers and occurrences up until the end of the 18th century in only 300 pages--definitely reflecting his long career as a writer and editor of the Encyclopedia Britannica. From the time of the French Revolution until his predictions of the possible future, the writing becomes less informative and more editorial, betraying a fondness for egalitarianism, Marxism, and a global government.
Over and over again he lauds the French Revolution as a watershed in history. He speaks highly of that egalitarian dream of Marx; although with the good sense to condemn communism as being a perversion of Marx's ideal, but mostly because of its totalitarian and theocratic tendencies. Towards the end he even begins speaking of the ideal of a one world government based on egalitarianism, a moderate redistribution of wealth, and equality of opportunity.
Tradition is continually seen as anathema to reason and the progress of ideas. At times this is justified, at other times, however, Charles van Doren berates tradition because it is merely tradition. Rightly so he condemns Aristotle's idea of some peoples being "natural slaves," but is not nuanced enough to realize that this does not necessarily negate the idea of a "natural aristocracy" as John Adams termed those men of the young American republic who, through being educated, informed, and persuasive, improve and lead society and culture forward.
The book, though good in the beginning, is overall less than satisfying. The final 100 pages of the 400 page book are unfocused and rife with subjective asides that have controversy and fantasy that distract from the work's noble objective promised by the title.
Rated by buyers 
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This is an excellent book...especially the important ideas of our modern times, including the insights of how the sucess of a democracy rests on the people trusting their government, and of our unfortunate addiction to violence. I am grateful to you, Charles Van Doren, for your important contribution to my understanding of our civilization.
Rated by buyers -
Charles van Doren has written a very readable and thoughtful review of the western cultural tradition that both includes virtually all of the important formative elements and connects them in a sensible way. This book is ideal as a companion to other textbooks for university courses in western history and culture. It is also a worthwhile review for the general public who want to have a better understanding of our debt to the ancient Greeks and Romans, and to trace the developments that led from the Dark Ages to the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Age of Reason.
Van Doren is somewhat less helpful in dealing with the 20th century, and his speculation about the 21st century. He does, however, correctly discuss the dangers of adopting a modern theocracy. In that, he anticipates some of the foreign policy problems we have faced recently in the Middle East.
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