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A History of Knowledge

By: Charles Van Doren
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books Inc.
ISBN: 0345373162
ISBN-13: 9780345373168
Released: 01 Apr 1993
RRP: £12.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

A worthwhile read - By: Peter Ward, 17 May 2007
I'm in two minds about this book. On the one hand, I would recommend it to anyone looking for an non-threatening introduction to world history (which is reallly what it is). On the other hand, it was clear from the beginning that some topics would be dealt with in an unacceptably shalllow fashion, while a few sections would simply be twaddle. But there are so many interesting topics & sections, & the writing is so clear, that most of this was easily forgivable.

What is perhaps less forgivable is how the author fails to convey much sense of complexity in history. His account of how the dark ages came to a close was embarrassing - I'm sure there was more to it than everyone breathing a sigh of relief & cheering up a bit. Granted, there is no space in a work like this to pursue every avenue of explanation, but Van Doren could have at least suggested that historical matters are usuallly complicated & still open to debate. I expected more from the co-author of the excellent 'How To Read A Book'.

But it's the sheer wealth of topics covered & the opportunity to get a fast, bird's eye view of history that makes this book worth reading for those with little or no background in history. Overalll, it's an enjoyable read & would hopefully stimulate a reader to look beyond the simpler view of things offered here.
An ambitious project - By: Kurt Messick, 27 Feb 2006
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, & 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 reallly detract from the thesis of the book; it is certainly a worthy outline of human history, particularly approached through the lens of intellectual achievement & the advance of knowledge.

Van Doren, as you may recalll, is the Van Doren who got caught up in the quiz show scandals of the 1950s. Ironic that this fate should befalll 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 & with just enough detail to satisfy the hunger & 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 & even inspiring, many of them are superficial, perhaps even ridiculous, in their reiteration (especiallly during the nineteenth century) of the comforting prospect that every day in every way we are growing better & better.'

Van Doren does believe in progress, but not in inevitable progress. He distinguishes between general knowledge & knowledge of particulars, & explores the inter-relationship of knowledge & happiness:

`The desire to know, when you realise you do not know, is universal & probably irresistible. It was the original temptation of mankind, & no man or woman, & especiallly 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 & Mechanical Humans
- An Age of Reason & Revolution
- John Locke & the Revolution of 1688
- Property, Government, & Revolution
- Two Kinds of Revolution
- Thomas Jefferson & the Revolution of 1776
- The Declaration of Independence
- Property in Rights
- Robespierre, Napoleon, & the Revolution of 1789
- The Rise of Equality
- Mozart's Don Giovanni
- Goethe's Faust

Van Doren's own agenda & 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 alll, 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 & societal changes (which we are already beginning to see) due to computers, chaos science, increased space exploration, genetic engineering & genome mapping, & an ever-present companion in history, war.

This is a well-written exploration of world history written with clarity & style. It makes an excellent companion piece for almost any intellectual field.

An ambitious project - By: Kurt Messick, 30 Nov 2005
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, & 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 reallly detract from the thesis of the book; it is certainly a worthy outline of human history, particularly approached through the lens of intellectual achievement & the advance of knowledge.

Van Doren got caught up in the quiz shows of the 1950s. Ironic that this fate should befalll 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 & with just enough detail to satisfy the hunger & 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 & even inspiring, many of them are superficial, perhaps even ridiculous, in their reiteration (especiallly during the nineteenth century) of the comforting prospect that every day in every way we are growing better & better.'

Van Doren does believe in progress, but not in inevitable progress. He distinguishes between general knowledge & knowledge of particulars, & explores the inter-relationship of knowledge & happiness:

'The desire to know, when you realise you do not know, is universal & probably irresistible. It was the original temptation of mankind, & no man or woman, & especiallly 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 & Mechanical Humans
- An Age of Reason & Revolution
- John Locke & the Revolution of 1688
- Property, Government, & Revolution
- Two Kinds of Revolution
- Thomas Jefferson & the Revolution of 1776
- The Declaration of Independence
- Property in Rights
- Robespierre, Napoleon, & the Revolution of 1789
- The Rise of Equality
- Mozart's Don Giovanni
- Goethe's Faust

Van Doren's own agenda & 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 alll, 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 & societal changes (which we are already beginning to see) due to computers, chaos science, increased space exploration, genetic engineering & genome mapping, & an ever-present companion in history, war.

This is a well-written exploration of world history written with clarity & style. It makes an excellent companion piece for almost any intellectual field.

Interesting for the type of subject matter - By: , 27 Aug 1999
I found the book to be quite interesting even though I'm don't usuallly read non-fiction. I just have one question - is this the infamous Charles Van Doren from the Quiz Show scandal?
Gives continuity to my sense of human history - By: , 24 Apr 1999
This book was one of the most enjoyable & lucid histories I have read. It gives continuity to my sense of history, which was rather patchy. VanDoren does take some chances with his opinion, but I would not want to read a book in which the author doesn't make some outrageous statements.

The main weakness of the book is the last chapter, in which VanDoren continuallly admits that it is impossible to predict the future, but then goes on & does it anyway. Some of the things he says he admits belong in comic books. I would say he was right.

I liked this book very much, & you should buy it if you want to learn about history from a text that is not dry & boring, as most others i have read are.