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The Intellectual Devotional: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Roam Confidently with the Cultured Class
This daily digest of intellectual challenge and learning will arouse curiosity, refresh knowledge, expand horizons, and keep the mind sharp
Millions of Americans keep bedside books of prayer and meditative reflection—collections of daily passages to stimulate spiritual thought and advancement. The Intellectual Devotional is a secular version of the same—a collection of 365 short lessons that will inspire and invigorate the reader every day of the year. Each daily digest of wisdom is drawn from one of seven fields of knowledge: history, literature, philosophy, mathematics and science, religion, fine arts, and music.
Impress your friends by explaining Plato's Cave Allegory, pepper your cocktail party conversation with opera terms, and unlock the mystery of how batteries work. Daily readings range from important passages in literature to basic principles of physics, from pivotal events in history to images of famous paintings with accompanying analysis. The book's goal is to refresh knowledge we've forgotten, make new discoveries, and exercise modes of thinking that are ordinarily neglected once our school days are behind us. Offering an escape from the daily grind to contemplate higher things, The Intellectual Devotional is a great way to awaken in the morning or to revitalize one's mind before retiring in the evening.
Millions of Americans keep bedside books of prayer and meditative reflection—collections of daily passages to stimulate spiritual thought and advancement. The Intellectual Devotional is a secular version of the same—a collection of 365 short lessons that will inspire and invigorate the reader every day of the year. Each daily digest of wisdom is drawn from one of seven fields of knowledge: history, literature, philosophy, mathematics and science, religion, fine arts, and music.
Impress your friends by explaining Plato's Cave Allegory, pepper your cocktail party conversation with opera terms, and unlock the mystery of how batteries work. Daily readings range from important passages in literature to basic principles of physics, from pivotal events in history to images of famous paintings with accompanying analysis. The book's goal is to refresh knowledge we've forgotten, make new discoveries, and exercise modes of thinking that are ordinarily neglected once our school days are behind us. Offering an escape from the daily grind to contemplate higher things, The Intellectual Devotional is a great way to awaken in the morning or to revitalize one's mind before retiring in the evening.
377 pages, Hardcover
First published October 3, 2006
1717 people are currently reading
7239 people want to read
About the author
David S. Kidder
20 books51 followersBorn in Upstate New York, David S. Kidder is a serial entrepreneur with a wide range of operational, technology, and marketing expertise focused on online product development and Internet advertising and marketing. He is currently co-Founder and serves as CEO of Clickable, an online advertising web service. Prior to Clickable, Kidder co-founded SmartRay Network, a mobile advertising delivery pioneer acquired by LifeMinders. Prior to SmartRay, he founded Net-X which was acquired by TargetVision. Kidder and his companies have appeared in publications and periodicals such as The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fast Company, and TechCrunch, among others.
Kidder is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology and was a recipient of ID Magazine's International Design Award. He lives in Westchester County, New York, with his wife and two sons.
Kidder is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology and was a recipient of ID Magazine's International Design Award. He lives in Westchester County, New York, with his wife and two sons.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 399 reviews
December 28, 2017
I've got a few more pages of this left but I'm marking it as read for the year so i don't forget.
I highly recommend this for anyone who loves learning & wants to incorporate it into their daily lives. I've kept up with this every day for the past year and have loved it! Best new year's habit I ever started. Can't wait to read the next edition in the new year! :)
I highly recommend this for anyone who loves learning & wants to incorporate it into their daily lives. I've kept up with this every day for the past year and have loved it! Best new year's habit I ever started. Can't wait to read the next edition in the new year! :)
June 26, 2013
This book was great fun, and I went through it in a very particular way that I would highly suggest for anyone looking for a good time. I read it through with a friend of mine, and we made a pact to each try and comment via email on each day’s reading. That means we had 730+ emails exchanged by the time we were finished. Some topics of discussion grew into debates which lasted for a week or two (my friend and I are somewhat opinionated…but VERY brilliant). Throughout the year of this, we learned a lot about the world, about each other, about ourselves, about our threshold of tolerance for people who disagree with us, and about the depth of our compulsive “get-the-last-word” syndrome. Okay…maybe it was just me. Maybe not. But probably. I resent that.
It was a very probing experience which led to new and surprising avenues of growth. At one point, as a result of my interaction with my friend, I was compelled to read a book with articles about the nature of language and communication (see my review of “Exploring Language” at http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... and at another point, as a result of the sheer delight I found in learning so many new things, I decided to further repair and refill my brain-leak of world history by taking on the slightly outdated, but thoroughly illuminating “Outline Of History” by H.G. Wells. Sometimes I ache to think about how my time in school could have been better and more happily spent, from elementary to graduate, in the ecstasy of enlightenment; but unfortunately academia is so career driven that most kids are too focused on grades and performance, and not enough on the enjoyment and thrill of discovery. Plus, I was too lazy and hormonally distracted. There’s that too. But it’s never too late!
The book broke the information into different subjects for each day of the week: Monday is history, Tuesday is literature, Wednesday is visual arts, Thursday is science, Friday is music, Saturday is philosophy, and Sunday is religion. Each day’s entry is written by authors who specialize in that field, and everything was checked and edited by “scholars with advanced degrees.” Which tacitly amounts to the professor closing his book with an, “…and if there are no questions…!” As for the areas I felt most familiar with, I think it was generally a fair treatment of most topics, with some exceptions of over-generalization, personal bias, and seemingly arbitrary or needless selections here and there which possibly nudged out more pertinent content (in my humble, un-advanced-degree opinion). But as a whole I felt it was very informative and did very well to fill in gaps in my education. And it was excellent as a starting point for conversation in each area. To be sure, there will be readings that will seem completely irrelevant or laborious to cover if it is not in your area of interest—like the bore that reading about classical music became for my friend and I, even though we are relatively interested in some classical music—but we have to remember that the authors and editors are trying to get us caught up to date, even if some ideas or subjects do not seem to be as significant to people now as they used to be. Some of the art and philosophical ideas may be deemed by the reader to be absolutely detestable and useless in his repertoire for getting at the meaning of life, the universe, and everything; but as a tool to better understand one’s culture and one’s world, and to have a better foundation for conversation with people who are different from you, it is all invaluable.
If you are one of those people who has newly experienced an awakening to learning and reading, and are thirsty for more information about the wonder and beauty in the world, then pick this up immediately and take it piecemeal. And take a friend with you on the journey—you’re going to want to talk about it.
“Intellectual Devotional: Modern Culture”, here I come! After a little break of course.
It was a very probing experience which led to new and surprising avenues of growth. At one point, as a result of my interaction with my friend, I was compelled to read a book with articles about the nature of language and communication (see my review of “Exploring Language” at http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... and at another point, as a result of the sheer delight I found in learning so many new things, I decided to further repair and refill my brain-leak of world history by taking on the slightly outdated, but thoroughly illuminating “Outline Of History” by H.G. Wells. Sometimes I ache to think about how my time in school could have been better and more happily spent, from elementary to graduate, in the ecstasy of enlightenment; but unfortunately academia is so career driven that most kids are too focused on grades and performance, and not enough on the enjoyment and thrill of discovery. Plus, I was too lazy and hormonally distracted. There’s that too. But it’s never too late!
The book broke the information into different subjects for each day of the week: Monday is history, Tuesday is literature, Wednesday is visual arts, Thursday is science, Friday is music, Saturday is philosophy, and Sunday is religion. Each day’s entry is written by authors who specialize in that field, and everything was checked and edited by “scholars with advanced degrees.” Which tacitly amounts to the professor closing his book with an, “…and if there are no questions…!” As for the areas I felt most familiar with, I think it was generally a fair treatment of most topics, with some exceptions of over-generalization, personal bias, and seemingly arbitrary or needless selections here and there which possibly nudged out more pertinent content (in my humble, un-advanced-degree opinion). But as a whole I felt it was very informative and did very well to fill in gaps in my education. And it was excellent as a starting point for conversation in each area. To be sure, there will be readings that will seem completely irrelevant or laborious to cover if it is not in your area of interest—like the bore that reading about classical music became for my friend and I, even though we are relatively interested in some classical music—but we have to remember that the authors and editors are trying to get us caught up to date, even if some ideas or subjects do not seem to be as significant to people now as they used to be. Some of the art and philosophical ideas may be deemed by the reader to be absolutely detestable and useless in his repertoire for getting at the meaning of life, the universe, and everything; but as a tool to better understand one’s culture and one’s world, and to have a better foundation for conversation with people who are different from you, it is all invaluable.
If you are one of those people who has newly experienced an awakening to learning and reading, and are thirsty for more information about the wonder and beauty in the world, then pick this up immediately and take it piecemeal. And take a friend with you on the journey—you’re going to want to talk about it.
“Intellectual Devotional: Modern Culture”, here I come! After a little break of course.
May 2, 2024
Una experiencia constituida por 365 entradas para 365 días que acabé disfrutando enormemente. Integrado por medio de anécdotas y pequeñas pero sólidas porciones de información divididas en 7 categorías fundamentales, el libro hace de la labor de aprender un acto sencillo, interesante y en muchas instancias incluso divertido.
Historia fue una de mis categorías preferidas y supe que lo sería incluso antes de iniciar la lectura. Otras, como religión o artes plásticas, acabaron sorprendiéndome por lo atractivas y eficientes que llegaron a ser. Literatura fue un viaje hábilmente dirigido por algunos de los autores, movimientos y clásicos más imprescindibles mientras ciencia consiguió hacer accesibles muchos conceptos o fenómenos que desconocía o que podía nombrar pero cuyo funcionamiento no podía precisar antes de este libro. Filosofía me brindó un vistazo conciso, certero, a algunas de las teorías y pensadores fundamentales que la integran. La única categoría que quizá encontré engorrosa por momentos fue música, pero no podría decir que me desagradó en absoluto.
Historia fue una de mis categorías preferidas y supe que lo sería incluso antes de iniciar la lectura. Otras, como religión o artes plásticas, acabaron sorprendiéndome por lo atractivas y eficientes que llegaron a ser. Literatura fue un viaje hábilmente dirigido por algunos de los autores, movimientos y clásicos más imprescindibles mientras ciencia consiguió hacer accesibles muchos conceptos o fenómenos que desconocía o que podía nombrar pero cuyo funcionamiento no podía precisar antes de este libro. Filosofía me brindó un vistazo conciso, certero, a algunas de las teorías y pensadores fundamentales que la integran. La única categoría que quizá encontré engorrosa por momentos fue música, pero no podría decir que me desagradó en absoluto.
February 13, 2018
Kitabın Adını görüp okuduğumuzda Entellektüel mertebesine bir basamak da olsa ulaşma arzusu olanlara diyeceğim; heves etmeyin! :) çünkü bu kitap mini bir karma Ansiklopedi tarzı hazırlanmış bir eser. Yani azıcık cehaletimizden kurtuluruz. Bazı bildiğimizi sandığımız ya da azıcık bir Bilgi sahibi olduğumuz, tümüyle bilmediğimiz kavramları, tarihi şahsiyetleri veya olayları kısacık bizi yormadan veriyor. Ama yorulmadan Entelektüel olunur mu? :). Tavsiye ederim faydası dokunur. Bana dokundu o kadar fazla birşey de olmadı.
January 13, 2008
When I bought this book, I intended to set it by my nightstand and treat it like a devotional and read one page per day. However, I read it cover to cover, which really suited me at this time.
Kidder and Oppenheim delivered exactly what was promised. Little vignettes of information on seven subjects: science, literature, philosophy, music, history, religion, and the visual arts. I learned a little about some subjects and recalled some information I had deliberately forgotten (Categorical Imperative...snore fest even when boiled down to one page).
I especially liked the visual arts pieces. The philosophy pieces were pretty dull - lots about logic and truth. And I appreciate that the editors tried to expand out of western culture to include some information on other cultures. Also - not a lot about women - but it seems like they did try.
Also - want to hear something weird? There were a couple of really obvious errors - misspelled words, missing words, repeated paragraphs. Bizarre. Maybe they were in a hurry to hit the shelves. In any right, I'd recommend if you're into this sort of thing or if you want to be distracted a few minutes at a time.
Kidder and Oppenheim delivered exactly what was promised. Little vignettes of information on seven subjects: science, literature, philosophy, music, history, religion, and the visual arts. I learned a little about some subjects and recalled some information I had deliberately forgotten (Categorical Imperative...snore fest even when boiled down to one page).
I especially liked the visual arts pieces. The philosophy pieces were pretty dull - lots about logic and truth. And I appreciate that the editors tried to expand out of western culture to include some information on other cultures. Also - not a lot about women - but it seems like they did try.
Also - want to hear something weird? There were a couple of really obvious errors - misspelled words, missing words, repeated paragraphs. Bizarre. Maybe they were in a hurry to hit the shelves. In any right, I'd recommend if you're into this sort of thing or if you want to be distracted a few minutes at a time.
December 19, 2020
Una buena colección de hechos y curiosidades que quizás hayamos aprendido alguna vez en clases de historia y ciencias pasadas y que quizás no estén tan frescas en la mente. Un buen proyecto para tomarme un año para leerlo.
October 27, 2008
I gotta say, I really love this book. Small and easy to keep on the night stand it is a great way to end the day. I wrote my starting date on the first page and worked my way though a page a night. Some of the content was so interesting that it was hard to not peek ahead to the upcoming pages.
Occasionally I had to skip a night because of a late poker night, being sick, or some other odd reason but always made up for the lost night when I returned a day or two later. Very fun and highly recommended. Can't wait to get the subsequent versions of the book, including history and modern culture.
Occasionally I had to skip a night because of a late poker night, being sick, or some other odd reason but always made up for the lost night when I returned a day or two later. Very fun and highly recommended. Can't wait to get the subsequent versions of the book, including history and modern culture.
January 9, 2012
I got daily snippets of this book emailed to me from DailyLit. It was a double-edged sword -- I loved that I was able to read them in the time it takes to read an email, but hated how they only scratched the surface of some really interesting topics. Of course, the topics were also hit and miss.
Currently reading
July 19, 2025Still in process. I want to do this one section per day when I can get it from Libby as an audiobook. This falls under the long term project category. The following is each days breakdown.
MONDAY—HISTORY
A survey of people and events that shaped the development of Western civilization.
TUESDAY—LITERATURE
A look at great writers and a synopsis of their most important works—poems and novels that continue to inspire readers today.
WEDNESDAY—VISUAL ARTS
An introduction to the artists and artistic movements that yielded the world’s most influential paintings, sculptures, and works of architecture.
THURSDAY—SCIENCE
From the origin of black holes to a description of how batteries work, the wonders of science are simplified and revealed.
FRIDAY—MUSIC
What inspired our greatest composers, how to read a sheet of notes, and why Mozart is so revered—a comprehensive review of our musical heritage.
SATURDAY—PHILOSOPHY
From ancient Greece to the twentieth century, the efforts of humankind’s greatest thinkers to explain the meaning of life and the universe.
SUNDAY—RELIGION
An overview of the world’s major religions and their beliefs.
1st Monday - The Alphabet - Created by Egyptians as Hieroglyphics were too hard for all the varied people . Created 2000 BC prox 4000 years ago. Phoenicians spread it . The letter B is a simplified hieroglyphic of a house.
1st Tuesday- James Joyce Ullysees
1st Wednesday- Prehistoric Cave Dwellings in France
1st Thursday Cloning-Dolly Cloning is successful about 1 Percent of the time.
MONDAY—HISTORY
A survey of people and events that shaped the development of Western civilization.
TUESDAY—LITERATURE
A look at great writers and a synopsis of their most important works—poems and novels that continue to inspire readers today.
WEDNESDAY—VISUAL ARTS
An introduction to the artists and artistic movements that yielded the world’s most influential paintings, sculptures, and works of architecture.
THURSDAY—SCIENCE
From the origin of black holes to a description of how batteries work, the wonders of science are simplified and revealed.
FRIDAY—MUSIC
What inspired our greatest composers, how to read a sheet of notes, and why Mozart is so revered—a comprehensive review of our musical heritage.
SATURDAY—PHILOSOPHY
From ancient Greece to the twentieth century, the efforts of humankind’s greatest thinkers to explain the meaning of life and the universe.
SUNDAY—RELIGION
An overview of the world’s major religions and their beliefs.
1st Monday - The Alphabet - Created by Egyptians as Hieroglyphics were too hard for all the varied people . Created 2000 BC prox 4000 years ago. Phoenicians spread it . The letter B is a simplified hieroglyphic of a house.
1st Tuesday- James Joyce Ullysees
1st Wednesday- Prehistoric Cave Dwellings in France
1st Thursday Cloning-Dolly Cloning is successful about 1 Percent of the time.
April 15, 2019
One page snippets on history, literature, visual arts, science, music, philosophy, and religion. Great way to refresh what we might already know. I read 1-2 pages a day.
April 9, 2011
An interesting underlying concept. . . . The Introduction says that "Daily devotionals have long been a favored tool of those looking for a regular dose of spiritual growth." This volume? "'The Intellectual Devotional' is a secular compendium in the same tradition. It is one year's worth of daily readings that will refresh your spirit, stimulate your mind, and help complete your education." There is also a pattern: Monday's readings focus on history; Tuesday is literature day; Wednesday-visual arts; Thursday's emphasis is science; Friday is music; Saturday goes with philosophy; Sunday's specialty is religion.
Maybe the best way of illustrating the nature of this volume is to randomly select a set of days (1-364). Week 8, Day 1=The spread of Islam. The one page snippet traces the spread of Islam after the death of Muhammad. The next random page is a Saturday--hence, philosophy. The school of Epicureanism is featured. As the text notes, to give a flavor (Page76): "The Epicureans therefore believed one should live mostly in an austere way, eating simple foods and enjoying only the occasional luxury." Week 18, Monday, focuses on "Spain in the New World." Here, we get a one page brief on the role of Spain in the Americas--from Christopher Columbus in 1492 onward.
Page 194 is a Friday--music day. Here, we read of the composer Franz Schubert. Page 314, Saturday and philosophy. A brief one pager on existentialism, noting the work of Sartre and Camus.
All in all, a nice little volume. Hardly revolutionary or eye opening. But for the person who wants to gain a bit more of a sense of our culture and key people, events, movements, etc., a nice, comfortable way of doing so. . . .
Maybe the best way of illustrating the nature of this volume is to randomly select a set of days (1-364). Week 8, Day 1=The spread of Islam. The one page snippet traces the spread of Islam after the death of Muhammad. The next random page is a Saturday--hence, philosophy. The school of Epicureanism is featured. As the text notes, to give a flavor (Page76): "The Epicureans therefore believed one should live mostly in an austere way, eating simple foods and enjoying only the occasional luxury." Week 18, Monday, focuses on "Spain in the New World." Here, we get a one page brief on the role of Spain in the Americas--from Christopher Columbus in 1492 onward.
Page 194 is a Friday--music day. Here, we read of the composer Franz Schubert. Page 314, Saturday and philosophy. A brief one pager on existentialism, noting the work of Sartre and Camus.
All in all, a nice little volume. Hardly revolutionary or eye opening. But for the person who wants to gain a bit more of a sense of our culture and key people, events, movements, etc., a nice, comfortable way of doing so. . . .
August 9, 2013
Acabo de terminarlo y tengo el deseo de volverlo a leer. Muy pocos libros logran eso. Me gustó bastante su desarrollo: Una lección al día, 365 lecciones al año... En realidad empieza con temas muy interesantes y no decae, empieza en lo básico (si así se le quiere llamar) y después se va adentrando en cosas cada vez más complicadas pero igualmente leíbles.
Debo admitir que no pude —o no supe— experimentar el libro como se debía, más bien para mí fue un poco más que 365 días para ser más culto, a veces no leía mi lección diaria, y terminaba el siguiente día leyendo dos. Hasta recuerdo una vez que estuve sin leer una semana entera y terminé leyendo tres semanas para adelantarme. No sé qué pasaba por mi cabeza, pero así fue. Y por eso me tardé más de lo que se suponía.
Y no presumo haber salido más culto después de la lectura, pero sí con ciertas nociones de temas del día a día. Y eso era lo que me interesaba. Algunas lecciones rayaban en lo aburrido, pero no estaban de más: sobretodo las de música, a lo mejor debí escucharlas las pistas que me nombraban.
Simplemente finalizo diciendo que deberían intentar leer éste libro. Si lo leen bien (y hasta mal) les gustará. Es excelente de todas maneras.
Debo admitir que no pude —o no supe— experimentar el libro como se debía, más bien para mí fue un poco más que 365 días para ser más culto, a veces no leía mi lección diaria, y terminaba el siguiente día leyendo dos. Hasta recuerdo una vez que estuve sin leer una semana entera y terminé leyendo tres semanas para adelantarme. No sé qué pasaba por mi cabeza, pero así fue. Y por eso me tardé más de lo que se suponía.
Y no presumo haber salido más culto después de la lectura, pero sí con ciertas nociones de temas del día a día. Y eso era lo que me interesaba. Algunas lecciones rayaban en lo aburrido, pero no estaban de más: sobretodo las de música, a lo mejor debí escucharlas las pistas que me nombraban.
Simplemente finalizo diciendo que deberían intentar leer éste libro. Si lo leen bien (y hasta mal) les gustará. Es excelente de todas maneras.
April 17, 2010
My wife bought this and it's been on the back of the toilet for those short-reading needs.
It's in the appropriate place.
For example, the entry on Charles Darwin was three paragraphs about how he tried quack remedies for his headaches, then a sentence on how he came up with "survival of the fittest." But that quote was some other guy, not Darwin.
It claims to cover the "Seven fields of knowledge." Just in case you were wondering how many there were. Sorry, engineers, doctors and lawyers, you ain't got knowledge.
It's in the appropriate place.
For example, the entry on Charles Darwin was three paragraphs about how he tried quack remedies for his headaches, then a sentence on how he came up with "survival of the fittest." But that quote was some other guy, not Darwin.
It claims to cover the "Seven fields of knowledge." Just in case you were wondering how many there were. Sorry, engineers, doctors and lawyers, you ain't got knowledge.
December 29, 2019
Interesante. Se lee una entrada por día y toca temas que van desde música y literatura hasta religión y ciencia.
June 1, 2020
Siempre tuve curiosidad por leer uno de estos compendios de cultura general en los que te proponían una píldora de sabiduría al día. Aproveché que un día estaba este libro en Amazon en una de sus ofertas flash y dije que por qué no, anímate a completar el reto en un año. Y así ha sido: 365 cosas, algunas que ya sabía, otras que amplié y la mayoría que no tenía ni idea. Y, por qué no decirlo, la mayoría también no me interesaban en absoluto. Cada día de la semana lo reservan para una temática: la historia (que la suelen resumir bien, aunque te puedes encontrar temas como la Segunda Guerra Mundial y la Guerra Civil Española resumidas en dos páginas ¡!), la literatura (mi preferida, excepto cuando en los últimos meses se ponen a analizar poemas clásicos americanos), la música y las artes plásticas (horriblemente narradas, tan solo son transcripciones de biografías wikipédicas), la ciencia (con artículos muy interesantes y otros muy técnicos que no entendía), la filosofía (interesante también, pero muchas veces la explican muy mal) y la religión (que es muy útil, excepto cuando se pone a explicarte varios profetas islámicos y se va por los cerros de Úbeda). Como curiosidades para leer cada día no está mal, pero concienciaos que al día siguiente las habréis olvidado todas. Y cuando acabe el año ni os cuento.
did-not-finish
February 10, 2017I'm reading The Intellectual Devotional over the course of 2017 (as a follow-up to reading Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac in 2016). I'm now three weeks in and have a few remarks about it.
The book is set up on a seven-day cycle, and it really works best to start the book on a Monday, rather than on the first of the year, because it labels its pages by day of the week running from Monday to Sunday. I am reading this book in a year that started on a Sunday, so I read the introduction that day and read "Monday, Day 1" on January 2. Looking ahead, it also looks like in spite of the "365 daily lessons from the seven fields of knowledge" sticker on the front of the book, there are actually only 364 lessons (52 weeks x 7 days of the week).
Each day of the week looks at a different area of study by giving you an essay about a particular figure or topic in that field of knowledge. Monday is history, Tuesday is literature, Wednesday is visual arts, Thursday is science, Friday is music, Saturday is philosophy, and Sunday is religion.
I'm sure I'll learn some things over the course of this book, but my initial reaction is disappointment. I think this would be more useful for someone in junior high or high school than for an adult; I think most of this book will be summarizing things I already know (or knew at one point and forgot) rather than covering a lot of new ground. Here are some of my reactions so far:
* It looks like this is not going to stray very far outside the white male canon. Flipping ahead, I've seen a grand total of three entries for women: Joan of Arc, Marie Curie, and Mary Cassatt. I haven't seen a single entry for a black person. I'm hoping some of the pages that stuck together as I flipped through will prove me wrong, but that seems unlikely.
* The font size is very, very small. Each page leads off with one paragraph in text I would describe as being on the small side of normal, and then the rest of the page drops down to a radically smaller size.
* I hope the music entries will get more interesting later on, but it's starting out by talking through how music works (how to read music; what is melody; what is harmony) which is incredibly, incredibly elementary if you've studied even the tiniest bit of music before.
The book is set up on a seven-day cycle, and it really works best to start the book on a Monday, rather than on the first of the year, because it labels its pages by day of the week running from Monday to Sunday. I am reading this book in a year that started on a Sunday, so I read the introduction that day and read "Monday, Day 1" on January 2. Looking ahead, it also looks like in spite of the "365 daily lessons from the seven fields of knowledge" sticker on the front of the book, there are actually only 364 lessons (52 weeks x 7 days of the week).
Each day of the week looks at a different area of study by giving you an essay about a particular figure or topic in that field of knowledge. Monday is history, Tuesday is literature, Wednesday is visual arts, Thursday is science, Friday is music, Saturday is philosophy, and Sunday is religion.
I'm sure I'll learn some things over the course of this book, but my initial reaction is disappointment. I think this would be more useful for someone in junior high or high school than for an adult; I think most of this book will be summarizing things I already know (or knew at one point and forgot) rather than covering a lot of new ground. Here are some of my reactions so far:
* It looks like this is not going to stray very far outside the white male canon. Flipping ahead, I've seen a grand total of three entries for women: Joan of Arc, Marie Curie, and Mary Cassatt. I haven't seen a single entry for a black person. I'm hoping some of the pages that stuck together as I flipped through will prove me wrong, but that seems unlikely.
* The font size is very, very small. Each page leads off with one paragraph in text I would describe as being on the small side of normal, and then the rest of the page drops down to a radically smaller size.
* I hope the music entries will get more interesting later on, but it's starting out by talking through how music works (how to read music; what is melody; what is harmony) which is incredibly, incredibly elementary if you've studied even the tiniest bit of music before.
September 20, 2008
I usually review every book I read on my on book blog, but I didn't get around to it with this book.
I read this book over the course of a year. It's designed to be a daily reading in the sense that Biblical devotionals are, hence the title.
I learned a great deal I didn't know, remembered some things I had forgotten, and really enjoyed this book. I took off a star because I did find some grammar/usage errors. The most common was using "lead" as the past tense form of the verb "to lead," which should actually be "led." Maybe others won't notice, but it's a pet peeve, and it did decrease my enjoyment. I particularly found the philosophy and science interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to learn a little bit each day.
I read this book over the course of a year. It's designed to be a daily reading in the sense that Biblical devotionals are, hence the title.
I learned a great deal I didn't know, remembered some things I had forgotten, and really enjoyed this book. I took off a star because I did find some grammar/usage errors. The most common was using "lead" as the past tense form of the verb "to lead," which should actually be "led." Maybe others won't notice, but it's a pet peeve, and it did decrease my enjoyment. I particularly found the philosophy and science interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to learn a little bit each day.
July 14, 2007
I LOVE this book. Each page represents a day of the week and each day of the week is a different intellectual topic: History, Literature, Science, Music, Philosophy, Religion and Visual Arts. One page is dedicated to a subject under one of the aforementioned headings. So, It takes maybe, five minutes to learn something completely new. Or if you already know a little bit about the topic the book will often bear details that most would not have in the knowledge of the subject.
December 31, 2018
Es un libro interesante que te acompaña durante todo el año, sin embargo no deja de ser una lista de curiosidades y hechos.
Ahora que, bien usado, sirve a modo de referente para después ahondar más en algún temas que encuentres aquí.
A mí me pasó con algunas obras literarias.
Ahora que, bien usado, sirve a modo de referente para después ahondar más en algún temas que encuentres aquí.
A mí me pasó con algunas obras literarias.
October 17, 2017
Her gün yeni bilgiler keşfetmek isteyenler için ideal bir kitap serisi Entelektüelin Kutsal Kitabı. 365 sayfada 365 farklı bilgi sunuluyor okuyuculara. Haftanın her günü belirli konulara ayrılmış; Pazartesi-Tarih, Salı-Edebiyat, Çarşamba-Görsel Sanatlar, Perşembe-Bilim, Cuma-Müzik, Cumartesi-Felsefe, Pazar-Din. Her bir bölüm alanında uzman kişiler tarafından hazırlanmış ve çeviri sırasında yine alanında uzman kişilere danışılmış. Her güne ayrılmış bir sayfayı okuyarak farklı konularda bilgi edinmek oldukça eğlenceli. Kitap isim olarak biraz iddialı. Her güne tek sayfa ayrılınca konular bazen yüzeysel, bazen oldukça özet kalmış, kitabı bitirenin bu bilgilerle entelektüel olmasını beklemiyorum. Ama yine de herkesin bilmesi gereken konulara çeşitli ek bilgilerle beraber güzelce değinilmiş. Okuduğunuzda bunları zaten biliyorum dediğiniz konular tabi olacak ama bilgi tazelemekten zarar gelmez diye düşünüyorum. Bence en güzeli okuduktan sonra ilginizi çeken konular üzerine daha fazla araştırma yapmak ve not almak. Bu notlar sayesinde kendinize ait okunacak kitap listesi, dinlenecek müzik listesi oluşturacağınız kesin. Çünkü kitap okuyucuyu fazlasıyla meraka teşvik ediyor. Bir cuma günü Chopin ile ilgili konuyu okurken açıp bestelerini dinlemenin, çarşamba günü Düşünen Adam heykeli ile ilgiyi konuyu okurken internetten açıp incelemenin keyfi başka. Serinin ikinci kitabı biyografilere ayrılmış. Yine haftanın yedi günü için liderler, filozoflar, yenilikçiler, savaşçılar ve zalimler, yazarlar ve sanatçılar, asiler ve reformcular, din adamı ve peygamberler başlıkları altında bilgiler düzenlenmiş. Benim kitaplığımda olmayan serinin 3. kitabı ise Modern Kültür okumaları üzerine derlenmiş. İlgi alanınıza göre 3 kitaptan birini seçip 365 gün sürecek okumalara başlayabilirsiniz
September 15, 2007
The authors of this book took on WAY more than they could handle. Limiting oneself to just a page on topics like the French Revolution, genetics, and the Hebrew Bible is bound to leave giant holes in the information. And that's exactly what happened here. But it's still a nice reference and starting point. Except for the instances when they're just plain wrong. (But that's a minority of the time.)
July 27, 2009
Each day you read a devotional in the seven different fields of knowledge: History, Literature, Visual Arts, Science, Music, Philosophy, and Religion. They are so much fun to read and I have already learned so much. Just the other day I read about a man named Eratosthenes who discovered a way to measure the earth's size in the 3rd century-how cool is that!
May 4, 2014
Continued:
In short, this book disappointed me. It's not an intellectual devotional. It's an evangelical devotional in disguise. I will continue reading it every day except Sunday. Even though most of the weekday passages are also very westernly focused.
Again, I am disappointed in the deception played by the authors.
In short, this book disappointed me. It's not an intellectual devotional. It's an evangelical devotional in disguise. I will continue reading it every day except Sunday. Even though most of the weekday passages are also very westernly focused.
Again, I am disappointed in the deception played by the authors.
March 7, 2016
Bir miktar entelektüel birikiminiz varsa bu kitabı okumak zaman kaybı olabilir. Ara ara lise konuları seviyesinde bilgiler var, biraz hacimli de olduğu için tedbirli yaklaşmak gerek. Bana toplamda yaradı, ama benim için kazanım/verilen zaman oranı tatmin edici değil. Ve çok şükür bitti diyerek reviğvi bitiriyorum.
November 5, 2018
Good book, covering main areas and gives you the knowledge, which you didn’t even realize, that you did not knew up until now.
But the only thing that i didn’t like the most is, there were barely any women mentioned. As i remember just one maybe 2 at maximum. And i hope they wrote about more women in those fields in their other books.
But the only thing that i didn’t like the most is, there were barely any women mentioned. As i remember just one maybe 2 at maximum. And i hope they wrote about more women in those fields in their other books.
March 31, 2018
I literally carried this book around like the Bible in high school. It’s like highly curated elevator pitches of Wikipedia pages.
May 29, 2023
It was just ok. It didn't broaden my knowledge after reading it. I don't remember a thing. Still, if you want to read it, go ahead. Simple and short to read one a day.
January 1, 2025
Libro para ir absorbiendo poco a poco, tengo que reconocer que hay que cosas que no conocía, eso es bueno todos los dia se puede aprender
December 30, 2018
I read this over the course of the year as it is designed to do. It covers a topic in a general category each day: Monday -history, Tuesday - literature, Wednesday -visual arts, Thursday - science, Friday - music, Saturday - philosophy, and Sunday - religion. The topics were an interesting and informative beginning to my day all year.
My only quibble is that the information is largely Western world focused. The history and literature topics cover almost entirely American or European events/people/works. Religion covers only Jewish or Christian topics through week 27. The title includes the phrase "complete your education" which is rather ridiculous. But given that title, the range of topics needs to include a more global perspective. Nevertheless the daily texts were well worth reading and made me do some in-depth research on more than one occasion.
My only quibble is that the information is largely Western world focused. The history and literature topics cover almost entirely American or European events/people/works. Religion covers only Jewish or Christian topics through week 27. The title includes the phrase "complete your education" which is rather ridiculous. But given that title, the range of topics needs to include a more global perspective. Nevertheless the daily texts were well worth reading and made me do some in-depth research on more than one occasion.
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