The Discoverers : a history of man's search to know the world and himself

Amazon.com Review Perhaps the greatest book by one of our greatest historians, \*The Discoverers\* is a volume of sweeping range and majestic interpretation. To call it a history of science is an understatement; this is the story of how humankind has come to know the world, however incompletely ("the eternal mystery of the world," Einstein once said, "is its comprehensibility"). Daniel J. Boorstin first describes the liberating concept of time--"the first grand discovery"--and continues through the age of exploration and the advent of the natural and social sciences. The approach is idiosyncratic, with Boorstin lingering over particular figures and accomplishments rather than rushing on to the next set of names and dates. It's also primarily Western, although Boorstin does ask (and answer) several interesting questions: Why didn't the Chinese "discover" Europe and America? Why didn't the Arabs circumnavigate the planet? His thesis about discovery ultimately turns on what he calls "illusions of knowledge." If we think we know something, then we face an obstacle to innovation. The great discoverers, Boorstin shows, dispel the illusions and reveal something new about the world. Although \*The Discoverers\* easily stands on its own, it is technically the first entry in a trilogy that also includes \*The Creators\* and \*The Seekers\*. An outstanding book--one of the best works of history to be found anywhere. \*--John J. Miller\* Review " A remarkable narrative of the grand intellectual venture of humankind, rich in fascinating, often dramatic details"-- (The Wall Street Journal) " A sumptuous, totally engaging panorama. No one who reads it will look at the chronicle of human ingenuity in the same way again." --David McCullough

An original history of man's greatest adventure: his search to discover the world around him.

Publishers Weekly

In Boorstin's 1983 bestseller The Discoverers , the achievements of Galileo, Columbus, Darwin, Gutenberg and Freud emerged as upwellings of creativity and courage, ingenious acts of revolt against ingrained habit. This richly illustrated two-volume edition reveals the world as known to the discovers themselves. We see the tools of discovery--Egyptian obelisks, early clocks, Leeuwenhoek's microscope, Mercator's maps, botanical drawings from James Cook's voyages--and glimpse the social, cultural and political background, made concrete in 550 pictures including paintings, sculpture, engravings and architecture. A photograph of 15th-century cast bronze type from Korea underscores an Eastern invention that could have changed the course of printing, perhaps of science and culture. In a feast for the mind and eye, itself a delightful adventure in discovery, Boorstin, librarian of Congress emeritus, profiles--and places in context--scores of innovators who broke with dogma and tradition. (Nov.)

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. Examines the human quest for knowledge and discoveries as it discusses such men as Galileo, Adam Smith, Columbus, Marx, Napoleon, Magellan, Faraday, Freud, Marco Polo, and St. Augustine History,Science,General,Biography & Autobiography,Expeditions & Discoveries,World,Discoveries in Geography,Adventurers & Explorers,Civilization - History,Civilization,Science - History Examines the human quest for knowledge and discoveries as it discusses such men as Galileo, Adam Smith, Columbus, Marx, Napoleon, Magellan, Faraday, Freud, Marco Polo, and St. Augustine Formats : EPUB, MOBI Genre : Science Quality : 5 An original history of man's greatest adventure: his search to discover the world around him. From the Trade Paperback edition Tells the ongoing story of the progressive discovery by man of the nature of the observable world and universe