What is the History of Knowledge?

What is History?

by Peter Burke

What is the history of knowledge? This engaging and accessible introduction explains what is distinctive about the new field of the history of knowledge (or, as some scholars say, 'knowledges in the plural') and how it differs from the history of science, intellectual history, the sociology of knowledge or from cultural history. Leading cultural historian, Peter Burke, draws upon examples of this new kind of history from different periods and from the history of India, East Asia and the Islamic world as well as from Europe and the Americas. He discusses some of the main concepts used by scholars working in the field, among them 'order of knowledge', 'situated knowledge' and 'knowledge society'. This book tells the story of the transformation of relatively raw 'information' into knowledge via processes of classification, verification and so on, the dissemination of this knowledge and finally its employment for different purposes, by governments, corporations or private individuals. A concluding chapter identifies central problems in the history of knowledge, from triumphalism to relativism, together with attempts to solve them.

The only book of its kind yet to be published, What is the History of Knowledge? will be essential reading for all students of history and the humanities in general, as well as the interested general reader.

Genres: History, Philosophy, History Of Science, Education

160 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 14, 2015

About the author

Peter Burke is a British historian and professor. He was educated by the Jesuits and at St John's College, Oxford, and was a doctoral candidate at St Antony's College. From 1962 to 1979, he was part of the School of European Studies at Sussex University, before moving to the University of Cambridge, where he holds the title of Professor Emeritus of Cultural History and Fellow of Emmanuel College. Burke is celebrated as a historian not only of the early modern era, but one who emphasizes the relevance of social and cultural history to modern issues. He is married to Brazilian historian Maria Lúcia Garcia Pallares-Burke.

Reviews

[Petra]

For research so I'm leaving this unrated. In his short book, Burke tries to explain how important it is to research history of knowledge and the ways information has moved from ancient Egypt and Greece to present times. It is very intriguing intellectually but overly too abstract to make sense in the beginning. The abstract language and varying anecdotes made it quite a job to get through despite it being only little bit over 100 pages.

[Charlie Huenemann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an odd but useful book. From the title, one might expect it would provide a history of knowledge. But think again: it is a book about the history of knowledge, which means it is a book about the field of academics who would say, when asked, that they work on the history of knowledge. The gaining of knowledge - or the production of knowledge - is a complicated human affair, and so it involves not just science and geography and so on, but social history, economic class, gender, politics, and all the other forces that shape what is done by knowledge workers. Most of Burke’s book is devoted to two broad areas, “Concepts” and “Processes,” in which he basically gives the quick version of the most important terms employed by the historians interested in knowledge. (You can think of this, then, as the book you’d hand the graduate student who comes to your office and is beginning work on the subject. The chapter on “concepts” is even delivered in handy alphabetical order - which tells you that the aim is to introduce, and not provide an original synthesis.) So, in all, don’t turn to the book for a history of knowledge; but do turn to it if you are ready to start getting a history of knowledge for yourself.

[Natalia Bravo Jiménez · Rating 3 out of 5]

El que mucho abarca poco aprieta. Igual gracias por la cantidad de datos freaks que podré mencionar cuando la ocasión me lo permita.

[Charles Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

It isn't often that I immediately seek out and buy new books after reading an author, but I did for Peter Burke. This book held my interest throughout, with its mix of theory clearly explained and then employed to discuss a multitude of examples, together with a realistic appraisal of the limitations of the theory. Full of interesting anecdotes! I'm only annoyed that I hadn't come across his books before - he has been publishing since the seventies! Have now caught up with three more of his books and am reading a fourth! Not sure if he has got better as time goes by, or if it is just that I have read too much in quick succession, but the others, though very good, don't seem to me to be as good as this one, his most recent!

[Babetik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top. Ako vždy.

[Shuhui Shen]

It's difficult to mark this book as my current research focuses predominantly on empirical case studies. Burke presents us with a comprehensive research guide. (It has wider coverage than I have ever imagined. Some perspectives, which do not receive full attention, become individual sections in this guidance. The most impressive one is Burke's discussions on quantitative methods. While it is data and figure that shape quantitative methods, collecting and analysing data could be selective and qualitative. In addition to this specific point, Burke almost takes every possible step of knowledge production into consideration. However, his research should have been more closely engaged with more scientists' works, such as Newton and Descartes. I think that these two scholars are necessary for discussing scientific methods. It is interesting to think about the differences between cultural history and the history of knowledge. Some points have good potentials while others are poorly and insufficiently defined

[Galatea · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick overview of the intellectual field of the History of Knowledge.

The scholarship is impeccable but there wasn't much of a narrative here, moreso just headers with topics that ran between 1-3 pages for 125 pages in total. Intellectually, it was fascinating, but it was a hell of a slog to get through.

[Xinyi Wen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still remember the anecdote “from Moscow to Lisbon”. This is an extraordinary introduction to the history of knowledge, with different perspectives and entrances to the question. Contemporary scholars of HPS would be inspired to develop their own paths through it

[Tyler Goldberger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Questions what knowledge exactly is. Might be a good thought exercise to look at it again once I think more about knowledge, memory, and productions of power.