人类知识演化史

by Jürgen Renn, 于尔根·雷恩, 朱丹琼 (Translator)

雷恩教授分别考察了文字的演变、科学在古代世界的出现、近代早期的科学革命、知识的全球化、工业化等重大历史事件，最终在更广泛的知识史中重新构建了科学技术史。其研究方法借鉴了进化生物学、认知科学的相关成果，也融合了历史学、社会学的视角，又通过力学、化学、地质、农业等方面的具体例子，将多项具体研究整合进了一个大框架内。因此，本书不只是一种通俗意义上对科学的“文化史”叙事，更是通过专业、清晰、严谨的方式，对自然科学各专业领域内的具体研究进行的深入分析。科学被置入更广泛的人类知识背景，成了人类历史发展的关键因素。

针对当前的“人类世”地质年代及其带来的多重挑战，本书还在最后部分提出了一个切实而饱含希望的建议：如果我们能够基于新兴的社会网络分析，更充分和完善地利用互联网，构建一个全人类共同的“认知之网”，也许，人类自身及其文化将最终得以长久存续。

Genres: Science, History, History Of Science, Nonfiction, Philosophy

648 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2024

About the author

Jürgen Renn is a director at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, where, together with his group, he researches structural changes in systems of knowledge. His books include, with Hanoch Gutfreund, The Formative Years of Relativity: The History and Meaning of Einstein's Princeton Lectures and The Road to Relativity: The History and Meaning of Einstein's "The Foundation of General Relativity".

Reviews

[Kelly Patton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book fascinating on the one hand and a bit overdone on the other hand. It's thought-provoking premise is that the knowledge humans have gained - especially scientific knowledge - is predicated on our social system, our prior knowledge and the prior knowledge of humans the world over. This reader wishes the writer had spent less time making the argument and providing evidence and more time theorizing on it's implications for future evolution in thought. The author does point out more than once that humans are on the brink of creating our own extinction, and that perhaps working to make things so that we can buy more things is possibly not a great way to live. However, he provides no insight into how we might steer public thinking and professional research toward more sustainable living and our ultimate survival.

[John Badger · Rating 1 out of 5]

Verbose and lacking any central argument. In fact basically no arguments at all, just an academic ramble of a collection of famous names and events, but the author couldn’t tie it together to mean anything. Maybe because he’s a Marxist trying to cover science. Steer clear, regret giving it a chance purchase

[Steve]

Ugh. Read the long introduction and about the first 10 pages of the first chapter. Really didn’t care for the writing, hard to follow and actually sort of unpleasant.

I’m not sure why I reserved the book from the library, I’m sure I read a review or it was well mentioned in some article.