A World of Ideas : The Dictionary of Important Ideas and Thinkers

by Chris Rohmann

THE THINKERS, THE THOUGHTS, AND THE THEORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD WE LIVE IN.

With A World of Ideas, you can get to the bottom of the big bang theory; find out where Freud's ideas were coming from, and where Einstein's might take us; demystify surrealism and structuralism, communism and capitalism. Prepared with the assistance of an academic board of leading scholars, this invaluable reference includes

- Hundreds of entries, alphabetically arranged, with key words and concepts highlighted and cross-referenced--more than two thousand in all
- A special emphasis on multicultural influences and contemporary thought
- A comprehensive index giving easy access to all essential terms and names

A World of Ideas is an indispensable resource for the curious reader.

Genres: Philosophy, Reference, Nonfiction, History, Science, Psychology

499 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[William Schram · Rating 5 out of 5]

A World of Ideas is a dictionary-styled reference guide to the ideas that people have had. Chris Rohmann has collected hundreds of entries on subjects that range from philosophy to art to science. If there is an important idea out there, it is probably in this book. The book also covers short biographies of people important to that particular field. Sometimes the entry is in another place, so it has a placeholder that tells you where to look for it. As I mentioned, the book is organized like a dictionary. The book also has cross-references to discuss other entries that elaborate on the current entry. They do this by putting the word entirely in capital letters.

The unfortunate thing about dictionaries is that it is difficult to describe them without using tautology or saying something mundane. This book is really interesting and isn’t really out of date. This is a bit surprising since ideas do evolve over time. On the other hand, it isn’t like game theory has changed its definition. In summary, I liked the book. It was very informative.

[Todd Hansink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any book of this kind will inevitably leave something good out. Nevertheless, I liked this book and have always appreciated books that try to be comprehensive. If you want the five-star experience then read this book along with "A History of Knowledge: Past, Present, and Future" by Charles Van Doren.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good reference book. I use it all the time when I'm writing. Need to know who these Calvanists are that everyone keeps talking about? Brush up on your taoism knowledge, or, in turn, your epistemology research.

[Nygvik Nomza · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be dull and boring. It wasn’t exactly my type of thing to read. Excuse me I am using my microphone anyways this book was not really my kind of thing was kinda know and needed to be sharpen. It could use some more entertainment unit, but as I said, this was more when it’s encyclopedia than anything else. And I couldn’t even read the next letter which was E. I’ve given up on this book it now the very useful and very important to read for some people but to me it was just going to end up in the thrift store anyway, it talks about the different ideologies and regulations of different people I just found this to be eye rolling lay boring and dull. That to be said if you can read it that’s great but if he can’t read it like me it’s OK but it wasn’t my cup of tea to be exact and more in the other encyclopaedic books that are more interesting and other things are gonna be more interesting I was tempted to go to the thrift store just to get a replacement book because it was so boring and dull.



If you find that this book is good for you, that’s great I am not going to let this affect your mood for the block, but it is a free world.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

A valuable ref book. The main criteria I used were: a) were there enough entries b) was it clear. You don't get credit for having Plato, it's a given, but having Gramsci earns points. This book adds to what ever other similar reference books you have without being redundant. The entries are not out-dated and are quite clear. I didn't give it 5 stars because I felt it could have had more entries and (my personal opinion) the type could have been smaller to make the book thinner.

[Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a person who reads dictionaries, I was not very impressed with "A World of Ideas: A Dictionary of Important Theories, Concepts, Beliefs, and Thinkers."

[Pita Ema · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives basic knowledge of some famous theories, concept and believe.

[Nathan Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be the most useful book I ever bought ... I used it throughout college, in a variety of classes. I would recommend buying this book this for any student, at any level. Trust me ... it is well worth the cover price.

[Jim Williams]

Great Reference book to add to your library.

[Sherrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I didn't really read the entire thing. This is more of a reference book. A very interesting one that should be a part of my library!

[Mabelle Gonzalez]

This is a good reference book if you just want to know the key points.