In this companion volume to his bestseller The Discoverers, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Daniel Boorstin brings to life more than 3000 years of human artistic achievement. This immensely readable & engrossing book examines what people have added to the world: painting, sculpture, architecture, theology, philosophy, poetry, drama, music, film etc.
Kennis-trilogie Reeks
Deze serie duikt in de diepten van menselijke creativiteit en culturele evolutie door eeuwen en beschavingen heen. Het verkent cruciale momenten in de geschiedenis van kunst, wetenschap en denken, van oude culturen tot het moderne tijdperk. Lezers worden meegenomen op fascinerende reizen van ontdekking en innovatie die onze wereld hebben gevormd. Het is een boeiend verhaal over hoe mensen dachten, creëerden en hun stempel op de geschiedenis drukten.
Aanbevolen leesvolgorde
An original history of man's greatest adventure: his search to discover the world around him. In the compendious history, Boorstin not only traces man's insatiable need to know, but also the obstacles to discovery and the illusion that knowledge can also put in our way. Covering time, the earth and the seas, nature and society, he gathers and analyzes stories of the man's profound quest to understand his world and the cosmos.
From the time of Socrates to today, humans have sought the answers to fundamental questions: Who are we? Why are we here? Previous bestsellers, The Discoverers & The Creators, told how we discovered the reality of our world, then celebrated artistic achievements. Boorstin now turns to the great figures in history who sought meaning & purpose in existence. He says Western culture has seen three grand epics of Seeking. There was 1st the heroic way of prophets & philosophers--men like Moses, Job, Socrates, Plato & Aristotle, as well as those in the communities of the early church & the Protestant Reformation--seeking salvation or truth from the god above or the reason within everyone. Then came an age of communal seeking, with people like Thucydides & Thomas More, Machiavelli & Voltaire pursuing civilization & the liberal spirit. Finally, there was an age of the social sciences, when man seemed ruled by the forces of history. Here are the stories of exceptional men such as Marx, Spengler, Toynbee, Carlyle, Emerson, Malraux, Bergson & Einstein. These thinkers still have the power to speak to us, not always so much for their answers as for their way of asking the questions that intrigue or obsess. This climax to his trilogy again shows Boorstin's ability to present challenging ideas coupled with sharp portraits of great writers & thinkers.