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Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud
Peter Watson's hugely ambitious and stimulating history of ideas from deep antiquity to the present day—from the invention of writing, mathematics, science, and philosophy to the rise of such concepts as the law, sacrifice, democracy, and the soul—offers an illuminated path to a greater understanding of our world and ourselves.
848 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 12, 2005
869 people are currently reading
6270 people want to read
About the author
Peter Watson
116 books328 followersPeter Watson was educated at the universities of Durham, London and Rome, and was awarded scholarships in Italy and the United States.
After a stint as Deputy Editor of New Society magazine, he was for four years part of the Sunday Times ‘Insight’ team of investigative journalists. He wrote the daily Diary column of the London Times before becoming that paper’s New York correspondent. He returned to London to write a column about the art world for the Observer and then at The Sunday Times.
He has published three exposes in the world of art and antiquities and from 1997 to 2007 was a Research Associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge. He has published twelve books of non-fiction and seven novels, some under the pen name of Mackenzie Ford. He lives in London where his interests include theatre, opera and fishing.
Awards, Etc.
Psychology Prize
Durham University, 1961
Italian Government Music Scholarship
Rome University, 1965
United States Government Bursary “for future world leaders”
To study the psychiatric profession and its links to the administration of justice
Books of the Year
Psychology Today Magazine, 1978, for War on the Mind
Daily Mail, 1990, for Wisdom and Strength
Independent on Sunday, for A Terrible Beauty, 2000
Times Literary Supplement, for Ideas, 2005
Time Magazine, for The Medici Conspiracy, 2006
Queen’s Pardon
Copy from Patrick Meehan after I had written a series of articles which brought about his release from prison after he had been wrongly convicted of murder, 1976.
Gold Dagger – Crime Writers’ Association of Great Britain
For The Caravaggio Conspiracy, 1983
Beacon Award – SAFE Award – Saving Antiquities for Everyone
For The Medici Conspiracy, 2006
US Library Association
The Great Divide.
Emmy Nomination
‘The Caravaggio Conspiracy, 1984.
Best sellers
The Caravaggio Conspiracy
Crusade
Landscape of Lies
Sotheby’s: The Inside Story
Nureyev
Lectures
Peter Watson has lectured at the following venues:
Universities
Cambridge
Berkeley
London
UCLA
Birmingham
Georgia
Georgia
Chicago
Birmingham
Santiago de Chile
York
Madrid
Harvard
Tufts
Military Bases
Fort Bragg
Private Institutions in
Cleveland
Berlin
Chicago
Belfast
Los Angeles
New York
Washington
Boston
Palm Beach
Other venues
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum, Copenhagen
Royal Society of Arts
Rugby School
Royal Library, Copenhagen
Festivals
Edinburgh
Oxford
Dartington
York
After a stint as Deputy Editor of New Society magazine, he was for four years part of the Sunday Times ‘Insight’ team of investigative journalists. He wrote the daily Diary column of the London Times before becoming that paper’s New York correspondent. He returned to London to write a column about the art world for the Observer and then at The Sunday Times.
He has published three exposes in the world of art and antiquities and from 1997 to 2007 was a Research Associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge. He has published twelve books of non-fiction and seven novels, some under the pen name of Mackenzie Ford. He lives in London where his interests include theatre, opera and fishing.
Awards, Etc.
Psychology Prize
Durham University, 1961
Italian Government Music Scholarship
Rome University, 1965
United States Government Bursary “for future world leaders”
To study the psychiatric profession and its links to the administration of justice
Books of the Year
Psychology Today Magazine, 1978, for War on the Mind
Daily Mail, 1990, for Wisdom and Strength
Independent on Sunday, for A Terrible Beauty, 2000
Times Literary Supplement, for Ideas, 2005
Time Magazine, for The Medici Conspiracy, 2006
Queen’s Pardon
Copy from Patrick Meehan after I had written a series of articles which brought about his release from prison after he had been wrongly convicted of murder, 1976.
Gold Dagger – Crime Writers’ Association of Great Britain
For The Caravaggio Conspiracy, 1983
Beacon Award – SAFE Award – Saving Antiquities for Everyone
For The Medici Conspiracy, 2006
US Library Association
The Great Divide.
Emmy Nomination
‘The Caravaggio Conspiracy, 1984.
Best sellers
The Caravaggio Conspiracy
Crusade
Landscape of Lies
Sotheby’s: The Inside Story
Nureyev
Lectures
Peter Watson has lectured at the following venues:
Universities
Cambridge
Berkeley
London
UCLA
Birmingham
Georgia
Georgia
Chicago
Birmingham
Santiago de Chile
York
Madrid
Harvard
Tufts
Military Bases
Fort Bragg
Private Institutions in
Cleveland
Berlin
Chicago
Belfast
Los Angeles
New York
Washington
Boston
Palm Beach
Other venues
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum, Copenhagen
Royal Society of Arts
Rugby School
Royal Library, Copenhagen
Festivals
Edinburgh
Oxford
Dartington
York
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 172 reviews
July 14, 2012
I have finally finished this tome. Over the 18-months it took to read I have from time to time added précis to this review, but now I have finished I have removed them. This book is a thousand pages of dense reading and nothing best summarizes its magnificence than the quotations from the fronts-piece:
There are no whole truths;.
All truths are half-truths.
It is trying to treat them as
Whole truths that plays the devil.
(Alfred North Whitehead, Dialogues. 1953.)
While it may be hard to live with generalizations,
it is inconceivable to live without them.
(Peter Gay, Schnitzler's Century. 2002.)
I did find the opening chapters, “Lucy to Gilgamesh” hard to follow but once Isaiah was underway I was underway. Too many highlights followed; it would take another book to elucidate them. Look at the cover of my edition: IDEAS, a subtitle “A history from fire to Freud” and a picture of an acorn; this says it all.
CJHD
15-Jul-12
There are no whole truths;.
All truths are half-truths.
It is trying to treat them as
Whole truths that plays the devil.
(Alfred North Whitehead, Dialogues. 1953.)
While it may be hard to live with generalizations,
it is inconceivable to live without them.
(Peter Gay, Schnitzler's Century. 2002.)
I did find the opening chapters, “Lucy to Gilgamesh” hard to follow but once Isaiah was underway I was underway. Too many highlights followed; it would take another book to elucidate them. Look at the cover of my edition: IDEAS, a subtitle “A history from fire to Freud” and a picture of an acorn; this says it all.
CJHD
15-Jul-12
June 25, 2011
Ideas by Peter Watson
Wow! It doesn't get more ambitious than this. This is a book about the history of ideas. How can anyone tackle such an ambitious topic in one book? Well, somehow someway Peter Watson does exactly that. The author jumps from one interesting topic to another with mastery: language, science, weaponry, religion, society, economics, inventions, music...
It was an investment in knowledge. An investment that pays off at the end. I can't remember the last time, I've learned so much from one book. It's a quest for knowledge and journey through time and inventions...I'm so thankful for authors like Mr. Watson who's incredible dedication and scholarly work make it so worth my time.
Positives:
1. So much knowledge covered in one book. Astonishing!
2. Interesting tidbits throughout and I enjoyed how the author ties things together.
3. Evolution of civilization has never been taught better, great job.
4. It's encyclopedic work condensed in a book.
5. Elegantly and clearly written.
6. A wide and I mean wide range of topics.
7. Uncanny ability to introduce a new topic just when you have exhausted the existing one.
8. Good overall flow.
Negatives:
1. It's an investment of time.
2. It's expected that some topics will be covered better than others.
3. I didn't quite understand Freud's impact.
4. The links didn't work! How disappointing...Amazon please make sure the links work before releasing the Kindle versions...argh.
In summary, this is a must book for all those curious about the greatest ideas of humankind. I commend the author for providing this gift of knowledge for all to enjoy. Thank you.
Wow! It doesn't get more ambitious than this. This is a book about the history of ideas. How can anyone tackle such an ambitious topic in one book? Well, somehow someway Peter Watson does exactly that. The author jumps from one interesting topic to another with mastery: language, science, weaponry, religion, society, economics, inventions, music...
It was an investment in knowledge. An investment that pays off at the end. I can't remember the last time, I've learned so much from one book. It's a quest for knowledge and journey through time and inventions...I'm so thankful for authors like Mr. Watson who's incredible dedication and scholarly work make it so worth my time.
Positives:
1. So much knowledge covered in one book. Astonishing!
2. Interesting tidbits throughout and I enjoyed how the author ties things together.
3. Evolution of civilization has never been taught better, great job.
4. It's encyclopedic work condensed in a book.
5. Elegantly and clearly written.
6. A wide and I mean wide range of topics.
7. Uncanny ability to introduce a new topic just when you have exhausted the existing one.
8. Good overall flow.
Negatives:
1. It's an investment of time.
2. It's expected that some topics will be covered better than others.
3. I didn't quite understand Freud's impact.
4. The links didn't work! How disappointing...Amazon please make sure the links work before releasing the Kindle versions...argh.
In summary, this is a must book for all those curious about the greatest ideas of humankind. I commend the author for providing this gift of knowledge for all to enjoy. Thank you.
September 28, 2019
Que usemos una escala del 1 al 10 para calificar algo es completamente natural; tenemos 10 dedos (al menos que son "visibles" para los demás), ni uno más. Pero usar una escala de 1 al 5, aparte de ofrecer ventajas "espaciales" (pero que dejan ociosos a los dedos de una mano) me parece, sencillamente, insuficiente. Mucho más cuando se trata de calificar obras intelectuales.
Digo todo esto solo para explicar que las 5 estrellas de GoodReads se quedan cortas para calificar algunos libros maravillosos.
"Ideas" de James Watson es ¡un libro de 10 estrellas!
No sé en qué estaba pensando su autor (periodista e historiador Inglés con otros libros no menos ambiciosos en su haber) al pretender un día escribir la "historia intelectual de la humanidad".
Otros en el pasado emprendieron proyectos similares.
la Enciclopedia de Diderot y compañía, el Espejo de Sima Guang (un libro de historia de China del período comprendido entre 400 a.e.c. y 1000 a.e.c. que tenía 354 capítulos) el diccionario Oxford de la lengua inglesa (sobre el que se hizo una hermosa película recientemente ¡veánla!)
En todos esos casos, sin embargo, era claro desde el principio que serían muchos los volúmenes que se escribirían antes de terminar la obra.
No fue este el caso de "Ideas" de Watson.
En un solo volumen de ~1200 páginas (más ~200 de notas y referencias bibliográficas) - al menos en la edición en español publicada por Crítica en 2005, que fue la que leí - logra compactar aproximadamente 60.000 años de historia intelectual de nuestra especie.
Es posible que muchos historiógrafos o expertos en disciplinas intelectuales específicas, encuentren en esta historia del pensamiento de 1.200 páginas omisiones imperdonables o períodos completos de la historia de las ideas de gran importancia y que han sido tratados tal vez superficialmente (yo - y no como experto - sentí por ejemplo que falto ampliar un poco las ideas de la Revolución Francesa.)
Para quiénes somos apenas unos legos en la materia ¡Ideas es un libro asombroso en su extensión y profundidad!
Conocí a Ideas en una librería hace un par de años. Me causo gran curiosidad, pero, debo confesarlo, me asustaron sus 1.400 páginas. No creía posible terminar un libro de esta extensión cuando, por mi indisciplina lectora de aquel tiempo, dejaba incompletos libros de menos de 200.
Esto cambio cuando por casualidad encontré a un profesor jubilado en un Centro Comercial, y a uno que quiero mucho y al que le debo buena parte de lo que soy como físico, Lorenzo de la Torre. Lorenzo nunca me había recomendado leer un libro en particular; ese día me recomendó leer a Watson. No recuerdo haber recibido antes un correo electrónico de Lorenzo. El primero que me envió, en los muchos años que nos conocemos, fue uno que incluía una copia electrónica de Ideas. ¡Gracias Lorenzo por ese regalo!
Ideas no es un libro para todo el mundo.
Si bien es un texto de divulgación histórica, es claro que a quienes les abrumen los detalles históricos, las fechas relevantes y los autores y libros decisivos relacionados con disciplinas intelectuales que les sean poco atractivas o ajenas a su experiencia (sociología, filosofía, química, medicina, ingeniería, psicología, música, astronomía, artes plásticas, antropología, física, arqueología, filología, matemáticas, poesía, alquimia, derecho, navegación, paleontología, historia de las religiones, teología, neurología, sicoanálisis, literatura, arquitectura, economía, exploración... ¿se me escapará una en la que no profundice en alguna parte Watson?) encontraran muchos apartes del libro difíciles de leer.
Sin embargo y si mi experiencia sirve de algo, soy físico y astrónomo, es decir, solo conozco una pequeña fracción de todas las disciplinas mencionadas antes ¡yo lo he disfrutado de pasta a pasta!
Si hay algo de la historiografía que sea maravilloso es que "ilumina con contexto" asuntos e ideas del presente y del pasado que parecen haber surgido de la nada o, al menos para mí como alguien no experto en historia, ideas que parecen haber aparecido de entre las neblinas de la historia sin un origen definido.
Ideas ilumina con una luz bastante uniforme (como solo se esperaría de una obra enciclopédica) casi cada esquina del pensamiento humano.
Leí con sumo cuidado los apartes dedicados al saber científico, en particular a los dedicados a la Astronomía y a la Física, de las que me preció saber. Sabía que de encontrar imprecisiones o afirmaciones equivocadas en estas áreas mi credibilidad de otras partes del libro se vería comprometida.
Para mi descanso (y espero para el de todos los que lo vayan a leer con el mismo cuidado), el libro es increíblemente preciso en la historia de las ideas de mi disciplina. Puedo exagerar, pero en mi me he permitido extender ese juicio (sin tener muchas pruebas) a todas las demás disciplinas cubiertas por Watson en este libraco.
Me tomo un mes leerlo. Lo hice especialmente en los fines de semana (dedicando un promedio de 8 horas en total durante sábado y domingo); en semana leía algo así como 1 hora diaria.
Cada minuto valió la pena. Los invito para que comiencen ahora mismo y les aviso de una vez que, contra todo pronóstico personal (como el que tenía yo cuando conocí el libro por primera vez) ¡terminaran de leer todo el libro!
Un detalle pequeño (pero para mi muy relevante). La tabla de contenido es genial. Además de enumerar el título de cada uno de los 36 capítulos, presenta también, por cada capítulo, una lista de las ideas mas importantes contenidas en él. Esto, a pesar de que esas mismas ideas no están separadas en el texto por títulos de sección. Con esto, la búsqueda de un tema particular, para futuras consultas, se hace un poco mas sencillo.
Mis capítulos preferidos (recuerden mi especialidad para juzgar mi elección):
- Los orígenes del lenguaje y la conquista del frío.
- Los orígenes de la ciencia, la filosofía y las humanidades.
- El derecho, el latín, la alfabetización y las artes liberales.
- Falsafah y Al-Jabr en Bagdad y Toledo.
- La difusión del saber y el ascenso de la exactitud.
- La amenaza atea y el surgimiento de la duda.
- La gran inversión de valores: el romanticismo.
- Los enemigos de la cruz y el corán: el fin del alma.
El capítulo final de conclusiones es ¡asombroso! El resumen general de las ideas y las tesis del mismo Watson sobre cuáles son las más importantes de la historia, además una especulación suya sobre el futuro de una de ellas (no les voy a arruinar la sorpresa) me dejo tan asombrado como el resto del libro.
Al día de hoy, solo lamento una cosa: no tener la memoria suficiente para recordar siquiera el 1% de lo que aprendí emocionado mientras leía el libro.
Tampoco estoy seguro que sea necesario hacerlo, pero la verdad es que me encantaría.
No me cabe la menor duda que conservare este libro como un gran tesoro y una fuente de consulta para mis propios libros.
Imitando a Watson en su ambición, aunque a una escala muchísimo menor, decidí desde el principio escribir un "hilo" en Twitter. Uno muy por cierto que termino teniendo 140 trinos (de los más largos que he visto en esa red). El hilo contiene principalmente datos que me impresionaron y quería compartir y conservar.
No debo dejar de confesar que escribí esos trino como un ejercicio mnemotécnico y recomiendo la técnica.
A quien encuentre útil (o al menos entretenido) leer y compartir cosas en esa red, aquí pueden encontrar mi hilo de "Ideas":
http://bit.ly/hilo-ideas
Digo todo esto solo para explicar que las 5 estrellas de GoodReads se quedan cortas para calificar algunos libros maravillosos.
"Ideas" de James Watson es ¡un libro de 10 estrellas!
No sé en qué estaba pensando su autor (periodista e historiador Inglés con otros libros no menos ambiciosos en su haber) al pretender un día escribir la "historia intelectual de la humanidad".
Otros en el pasado emprendieron proyectos similares.
la Enciclopedia de Diderot y compañía, el Espejo de Sima Guang (un libro de historia de China del período comprendido entre 400 a.e.c. y 1000 a.e.c. que tenía 354 capítulos) el diccionario Oxford de la lengua inglesa (sobre el que se hizo una hermosa película recientemente ¡veánla!)
En todos esos casos, sin embargo, era claro desde el principio que serían muchos los volúmenes que se escribirían antes de terminar la obra.
No fue este el caso de "Ideas" de Watson.
En un solo volumen de ~1200 páginas (más ~200 de notas y referencias bibliográficas) - al menos en la edición en español publicada por Crítica en 2005, que fue la que leí - logra compactar aproximadamente 60.000 años de historia intelectual de nuestra especie.
Es posible que muchos historiógrafos o expertos en disciplinas intelectuales específicas, encuentren en esta historia del pensamiento de 1.200 páginas omisiones imperdonables o períodos completos de la historia de las ideas de gran importancia y que han sido tratados tal vez superficialmente (yo - y no como experto - sentí por ejemplo que falto ampliar un poco las ideas de la Revolución Francesa.)
Para quiénes somos apenas unos legos en la materia ¡Ideas es un libro asombroso en su extensión y profundidad!
Conocí a Ideas en una librería hace un par de años. Me causo gran curiosidad, pero, debo confesarlo, me asustaron sus 1.400 páginas. No creía posible terminar un libro de esta extensión cuando, por mi indisciplina lectora de aquel tiempo, dejaba incompletos libros de menos de 200.
Esto cambio cuando por casualidad encontré a un profesor jubilado en un Centro Comercial, y a uno que quiero mucho y al que le debo buena parte de lo que soy como físico, Lorenzo de la Torre. Lorenzo nunca me había recomendado leer un libro en particular; ese día me recomendó leer a Watson. No recuerdo haber recibido antes un correo electrónico de Lorenzo. El primero que me envió, en los muchos años que nos conocemos, fue uno que incluía una copia electrónica de Ideas. ¡Gracias Lorenzo por ese regalo!
Ideas no es un libro para todo el mundo.
Si bien es un texto de divulgación histórica, es claro que a quienes les abrumen los detalles históricos, las fechas relevantes y los autores y libros decisivos relacionados con disciplinas intelectuales que les sean poco atractivas o ajenas a su experiencia (sociología, filosofía, química, medicina, ingeniería, psicología, música, astronomía, artes plásticas, antropología, física, arqueología, filología, matemáticas, poesía, alquimia, derecho, navegación, paleontología, historia de las religiones, teología, neurología, sicoanálisis, literatura, arquitectura, economía, exploración... ¿se me escapará una en la que no profundice en alguna parte Watson?) encontraran muchos apartes del libro difíciles de leer.
Sin embargo y si mi experiencia sirve de algo, soy físico y astrónomo, es decir, solo conozco una pequeña fracción de todas las disciplinas mencionadas antes ¡yo lo he disfrutado de pasta a pasta!
Si hay algo de la historiografía que sea maravilloso es que "ilumina con contexto" asuntos e ideas del presente y del pasado que parecen haber surgido de la nada o, al menos para mí como alguien no experto en historia, ideas que parecen haber aparecido de entre las neblinas de la historia sin un origen definido.
Ideas ilumina con una luz bastante uniforme (como solo se esperaría de una obra enciclopédica) casi cada esquina del pensamiento humano.
Leí con sumo cuidado los apartes dedicados al saber científico, en particular a los dedicados a la Astronomía y a la Física, de las que me preció saber. Sabía que de encontrar imprecisiones o afirmaciones equivocadas en estas áreas mi credibilidad de otras partes del libro se vería comprometida.
Para mi descanso (y espero para el de todos los que lo vayan a leer con el mismo cuidado), el libro es increíblemente preciso en la historia de las ideas de mi disciplina. Puedo exagerar, pero en mi me he permitido extender ese juicio (sin tener muchas pruebas) a todas las demás disciplinas cubiertas por Watson en este libraco.
Me tomo un mes leerlo. Lo hice especialmente en los fines de semana (dedicando un promedio de 8 horas en total durante sábado y domingo); en semana leía algo así como 1 hora diaria.
Cada minuto valió la pena. Los invito para que comiencen ahora mismo y les aviso de una vez que, contra todo pronóstico personal (como el que tenía yo cuando conocí el libro por primera vez) ¡terminaran de leer todo el libro!
Un detalle pequeño (pero para mi muy relevante). La tabla de contenido es genial. Además de enumerar el título de cada uno de los 36 capítulos, presenta también, por cada capítulo, una lista de las ideas mas importantes contenidas en él. Esto, a pesar de que esas mismas ideas no están separadas en el texto por títulos de sección. Con esto, la búsqueda de un tema particular, para futuras consultas, se hace un poco mas sencillo.
Mis capítulos preferidos (recuerden mi especialidad para juzgar mi elección):
- Los orígenes del lenguaje y la conquista del frío.
- Los orígenes de la ciencia, la filosofía y las humanidades.
- El derecho, el latín, la alfabetización y las artes liberales.
- Falsafah y Al-Jabr en Bagdad y Toledo.
- La difusión del saber y el ascenso de la exactitud.
- La amenaza atea y el surgimiento de la duda.
- La gran inversión de valores: el romanticismo.
- Los enemigos de la cruz y el corán: el fin del alma.
El capítulo final de conclusiones es ¡asombroso! El resumen general de las ideas y las tesis del mismo Watson sobre cuáles son las más importantes de la historia, además una especulación suya sobre el futuro de una de ellas (no les voy a arruinar la sorpresa) me dejo tan asombrado como el resto del libro.
Al día de hoy, solo lamento una cosa: no tener la memoria suficiente para recordar siquiera el 1% de lo que aprendí emocionado mientras leía el libro.
Tampoco estoy seguro que sea necesario hacerlo, pero la verdad es que me encantaría.
No me cabe la menor duda que conservare este libro como un gran tesoro y una fuente de consulta para mis propios libros.
Imitando a Watson en su ambición, aunque a una escala muchísimo menor, decidí desde el principio escribir un "hilo" en Twitter. Uno muy por cierto que termino teniendo 140 trinos (de los más largos que he visto en esa red). El hilo contiene principalmente datos que me impresionaron y quería compartir y conservar.
No debo dejar de confesar que escribí esos trino como un ejercicio mnemotécnico y recomiendo la técnica.
A quien encuentre útil (o al menos entretenido) leer y compartir cosas en esa red, aquí pueden encontrar mi hilo de "Ideas":
http://bit.ly/hilo-ideas
June 11, 2018
This book, beginning with pre history and ending at modernism, is nothing less than the summation of entire intellectual accomplishment of mankind. Worth reading !!!
January 14, 2016
A good survey with some of the latest data and analysis. Not a bad book all-in-all but not enlightening...I've read most of this in other books over the years...but this is a survey piece so that should be expected. I was never, genuinely, engaged by the book but don't have anything bad to say about it. I believe this is a book for younger readers (20 somethings) that have not spent a lifetime reading. For them there would be lots of interesting directions to pursue in the future but for those, such as I, that have read widely there is nothing new here. Therefore, what I would like to offer is a recommendation with a proviso. A good book as a refresher and a great book as an introduction to the world/history of ideas. There is a fair amount to quibble with in the book but, in the end, quibbling is not criticizing. Good book...but not great.
February 11, 2023
Back in high school, with the rest of my immediate family, I'd visit my grandparents once a year.
From my Grandpa Hugo? Always and only he'd ask me this question: "What are you learning in school?"
When All Is Said, and Done, and Learned, What Remains?
Learning. Humanity's collective learning. AKA our History of Ideas.
Unlike "Timetables of History," this book isn't a comprehensive, detailed chronology, where you make of it what you will. Instead, "Ideas" is set up as a story, the kind of story where the unfolding plot is the juice of humanity's collective learning, our Big History.
Peter Watson's narrative never disappoints.
For Instance
Here's a random quote from Page 199 of my great big, walloping, rollicking (at least in terms of ideas) paperback:
When Aristotle died, in 322 B.C., he left a considerable personal library.
To aid his studies, he had amassed so many titles that, to quote Strabo, the geographer, 'He was the first to have put together a collection of books and to have taught the kings in Egypt how to arrange a library.'
Note: I haven't finished "Ideas" yet but I do love dipping into it, savoring humanity's collective learning every time.
From my Grandpa Hugo? Always and only he'd ask me this question: "What are you learning in school?"
When All Is Said, and Done, and Learned, What Remains?
Learning. Humanity's collective learning. AKA our History of Ideas.
Unlike "Timetables of History," this book isn't a comprehensive, detailed chronology, where you make of it what you will. Instead, "Ideas" is set up as a story, the kind of story where the unfolding plot is the juice of humanity's collective learning, our Big History.
Peter Watson's narrative never disappoints.
For Instance
Here's a random quote from Page 199 of my great big, walloping, rollicking (at least in terms of ideas) paperback:
When Aristotle died, in 322 B.C., he left a considerable personal library.
To aid his studies, he had amassed so many titles that, to quote Strabo, the geographer, 'He was the first to have put together a collection of books and to have taught the kings in Egypt how to arrange a library.'
Note: I haven't finished "Ideas" yet but I do love dipping into it, savoring humanity's collective learning every time.
July 26, 2018
1118 pages of a lot of things.
My first suggestion would be to change the title of the book to "Ideas: A history from European perspective" since the book is very Eurocentered and one-sided.
After part 3 there is barely any mention of great culture, education and inventions of Islamic, Asian and African worlds. The majority of book is focused on the redundant idea of Europe and great western military and intellectual achievements. Although doing a very good job of categorizing the periods of history, the book, after all, failed to focus properly on colonialism and results of destructions caused by expansionists ideas of imperial powers and use of Christianity in that process.
My first suggestion would be to change the title of the book to "Ideas: A history from European perspective" since the book is very Eurocentered and one-sided.
After part 3 there is barely any mention of great culture, education and inventions of Islamic, Asian and African worlds. The majority of book is focused on the redundant idea of Europe and great western military and intellectual achievements. Although doing a very good job of categorizing the periods of history, the book, after all, failed to focus properly on colonialism and results of destructions caused by expansionists ideas of imperial powers and use of Christianity in that process.
June 9, 2013
What a tome ! Weight wise, content wise, scope wise and depth wise. I don't remember when was last that I read a book which had so much to offer.. each page crammed with insights, facts, analysis that reading 3 pages in one go satiates the mind. The book of 'ideas' defines the 'ideas' since the birth of mankind and civilisation, as broadly as one can: as the sub title says ' a history of thought and invention, from fire to freud'.
The sheer expanse of ideas explored and the depth of this exploration leaves one spellbound and overwhelmed at the genius of Peter Watson. Can one man really grapple with evolution of imagination - right from the 'before language' era to 'the romance of soul' : critiques of religions (classical to oriental to occidental), science, liberal arts, to the the 'great hinge of history' (idea of 'Europe'), philosophy (from attack on authority, the idea of 'secular' and the 'birth of modern individualism' and the 'advent of doubt') to the ideas of 'parallel truths' (the 'modern incoherence' : uses and abuses of nationalism and imperialism, the American mind, the end of soul and modernism and discovery of the Unconscious)?
Phew. The only way to really take this 'analytical wikipedia on steroids' is to do so in small doses, enjoying little morsels and over a long period of time, returning to it a thousand time lovingly as if visiting an old friend and mentor and being left enriched with every visit. I can not recommend it highly enough. [A note: this is NOT light reading as it is not in the genre of 'pop philosophy or pop history/ pop science'. This is a serious piece of work and a culmination of a lifetime of knowledge of a renaissance man. So pick it up only if that is something you respect, like and can handle!].
The sheer expanse of ideas explored and the depth of this exploration leaves one spellbound and overwhelmed at the genius of Peter Watson. Can one man really grapple with evolution of imagination - right from the 'before language' era to 'the romance of soul' : critiques of religions (classical to oriental to occidental), science, liberal arts, to the the 'great hinge of history' (idea of 'Europe'), philosophy (from attack on authority, the idea of 'secular' and the 'birth of modern individualism' and the 'advent of doubt') to the ideas of 'parallel truths' (the 'modern incoherence' : uses and abuses of nationalism and imperialism, the American mind, the end of soul and modernism and discovery of the Unconscious)?
Phew. The only way to really take this 'analytical wikipedia on steroids' is to do so in small doses, enjoying little morsels and over a long period of time, returning to it a thousand time lovingly as if visiting an old friend and mentor and being left enriched with every visit. I can not recommend it highly enough. [A note: this is NOT light reading as it is not in the genre of 'pop philosophy or pop history/ pop science'. This is a serious piece of work and a culmination of a lifetime of knowledge of a renaissance man. So pick it up only if that is something you respect, like and can handle!].
April 22, 2020
El libro ha sido maravilloso. Como es normal disfrute más algunos capítulos que otros, pero en general el libro recorre tantos aspectos de la humanidad que ojalá tuviera una memoria capaz de recordar todo lo que leí y aprendí.
Quedé un poco desilusionada cuando me percate que el libro no aborda luego de 1900,pero fue mi error al no revisar la sinopsis del mismo.
Es un libro largo, lo que sin duda es un obstáculo para comenzar, además de que a veces la lectura no se hace muy "light". Me tomó media cuarentena terminarlo, leyendo mucho cada día.
En definitiva no es un libro para todo el mundo, por su extensión y el tema tratado, pero si te gusta la divulgación científica este libro es perfecto, la forma de expresar las ideas y la narrativa del autor es atrapante.
Quedé un poco desilusionada cuando me percate que el libro no aborda luego de 1900,pero fue mi error al no revisar la sinopsis del mismo.
Es un libro largo, lo que sin duda es un obstáculo para comenzar, además de que a veces la lectura no se hace muy "light". Me tomó media cuarentena terminarlo, leyendo mucho cada día.
En definitiva no es un libro para todo el mundo, por su extensión y el tema tratado, pero si te gusta la divulgación científica este libro es perfecto, la forma de expresar las ideas y la narrativa del autor es atrapante.
March 31, 2025
yine uzun soluklu ve ara başlıklardan makaleler devşirdiğimiz bir dönem oldu, şimdilik tekrar buluşmak üzere raftaki yerini alıyor diyelim..
February 21, 2021
Eksiz hakikat yoktur;
Bütün hakikatler yarı-hakikattir;
Onları eksiksiz hakikat olarak ele almak
Herşeyi alt üst eder.
Alfred North Whitehead, Diyaloglar(1953)
Bu hacimli kitap henüz ilk sayfasında bu alıntı ile başlayarak, var olunan günden itibaren fikir adına ortaya atılmış tüm dinamiklerin içeriğine bir göz atıyor. İnsanlık tarihinin alt metnini bir çok fikre veya sadece önemli olanlara değil tüm ortaya çıkmış fikirlerin penceresinden irdeleyip bize sunuyor. Çok çarpıcı fikirler eşliğinde, ufuk açıcı bir eser olmak ile birlikte, bildiklerimizi pekiştirme yada yanlış bildiklerimizi törpüleme görevi görüyor. Dünya tarihini oluşturanların savaşlar, hastalıklar, iktidarlardan v.s ziyade bunları teşkil eden fikriyatların yön verdirdiğine idrak ettiriyor. Bu eserden çok fazla değerli bilgiler istifade ettiğimi söyleyebilirim. Hacimli ve kurgu-dışı olması sizi ürkütmesin, sabır ile okunduğunda çok önemli bir eser olduğunu ve size çok şeyler kattığını göreceksiniz.
Bütün hakikatler yarı-hakikattir;
Onları eksiksiz hakikat olarak ele almak
Herşeyi alt üst eder.
Alfred North Whitehead, Diyaloglar(1953)
Bu hacimli kitap henüz ilk sayfasında bu alıntı ile başlayarak, var olunan günden itibaren fikir adına ortaya atılmış tüm dinamiklerin içeriğine bir göz atıyor. İnsanlık tarihinin alt metnini bir çok fikre veya sadece önemli olanlara değil tüm ortaya çıkmış fikirlerin penceresinden irdeleyip bize sunuyor. Çok çarpıcı fikirler eşliğinde, ufuk açıcı bir eser olmak ile birlikte, bildiklerimizi pekiştirme yada yanlış bildiklerimizi törpüleme görevi görüyor. Dünya tarihini oluşturanların savaşlar, hastalıklar, iktidarlardan v.s ziyade bunları teşkil eden fikriyatların yön verdirdiğine idrak ettiriyor. Bu eserden çok fazla değerli bilgiler istifade ettiğimi söyleyebilirim. Hacimli ve kurgu-dışı olması sizi ürkütmesin, sabır ile okunduğunda çok önemli bir eser olduğunu ve size çok şeyler kattığını göreceksiniz.
October 24, 2013
If someone asked me what the greatest book I've ever read was, I'd tell them I didn't want to answer that question, but if pressed, this would be it. Boorstin's The Discoverers got me interested in what they call 'Intellectual History', but this book cemented it as my number one sub-field of history. I will now read any book I find described as such, and I have Peter Watson to blame.thank.
Let me put it another way: an ex-girlfriend got this book for me as a christmas gift. It was probably the best thing I got out of that relationship, and perhaps the greatest gift anyone has ever gotten me. Seriously, this book is nearly my personal bible. I may have a copy buried with me.
Let me put it another way: an ex-girlfriend got this book for me as a christmas gift. It was probably the best thing I got out of that relationship, and perhaps the greatest gift anyone has ever gotten me. Seriously, this book is nearly my personal bible. I may have a copy buried with me.
March 2, 2015
Second review (finished 1/27/2013)
I read this book off and on during 2012 and the first part of 2013. It was even better the second time I read it.
March-ish I took a few days off from life and checked into a spa in Sonoma, and this was the only book I brought to read in between massages and soaking in spring water. Come to think of it, this is probably the one book I would bring to a desert island if I had to limit it to one book.
Then October-ish I picked it up again and started re-reading the second half. (I also downloaded it on the Kindle so that I would be more likely to have it with me.)
The first half is very interesting, but for some reason I found the second half -- starting roughly with the rhetorical question Why is Europe so awesome? -- to be completely riveting this time around. The book is pretty unabashed about the supremacy of Europe, though there are ~1000 pages and thus plenty of ink spent on other cultures.
He lays out a good case that the seeds for the Renaissance go back as far as 1200, and that the "dark" ages were not as dark as we learned in school.
The book seemed less objective to me on second reading because it's pretty clear that he can't wait for Europe to shake off the mental bonds of religion and get on with the Enlightenment and so forth. However, he is careful to point out (and this was news to me) that the Enlightenment was not seen in a positive light for a very long time. The general feeling seemed to be that it led directly to things like the Reign of Terror in France.
The other thing that Mr. Watson has no patience for is periods when people are "looking inward" like the Romantic Era and maybe even the Reformation. Held up as the classic example of this is Freud, who gets pummeled by Mr. Watson for quite a few pages. The big problem with turning inward, according to Mr. Watson, is that it leaves nothing to build on for later generations. This is in contrast with science, which is verifiable, cumulative, and undeniable.
I was surprised when he pointed out that Germany completely dominated science and the arts from about 1850 until the rise of Hitler. I hadn't noticed that. Fortunately, he has a book on just that topic that I'm going to check out.
He also has a book of equal length covering just the 20th Century that I should probably re-read. But first I have to make it through the piles of books that stacked up on my Kindle and my night stand while I was reading this one.
---
First review (finished 8/7/2007)
I'm taking my time through this book because i want to savor it -- also because it's too heavy for me to lift for long periods.
I read this book off and on during 2012 and the first part of 2013. It was even better the second time I read it.
March-ish I took a few days off from life and checked into a spa in Sonoma, and this was the only book I brought to read in between massages and soaking in spring water. Come to think of it, this is probably the one book I would bring to a desert island if I had to limit it to one book.
Then October-ish I picked it up again and started re-reading the second half. (I also downloaded it on the Kindle so that I would be more likely to have it with me.)
The first half is very interesting, but for some reason I found the second half -- starting roughly with the rhetorical question Why is Europe so awesome? -- to be completely riveting this time around. The book is pretty unabashed about the supremacy of Europe, though there are ~1000 pages and thus plenty of ink spent on other cultures.
He lays out a good case that the seeds for the Renaissance go back as far as 1200, and that the "dark" ages were not as dark as we learned in school.
The book seemed less objective to me on second reading because it's pretty clear that he can't wait for Europe to shake off the mental bonds of religion and get on with the Enlightenment and so forth. However, he is careful to point out (and this was news to me) that the Enlightenment was not seen in a positive light for a very long time. The general feeling seemed to be that it led directly to things like the Reign of Terror in France.
The other thing that Mr. Watson has no patience for is periods when people are "looking inward" like the Romantic Era and maybe even the Reformation. Held up as the classic example of this is Freud, who gets pummeled by Mr. Watson for quite a few pages. The big problem with turning inward, according to Mr. Watson, is that it leaves nothing to build on for later generations. This is in contrast with science, which is verifiable, cumulative, and undeniable.
I was surprised when he pointed out that Germany completely dominated science and the arts from about 1850 until the rise of Hitler. I hadn't noticed that. Fortunately, he has a book on just that topic that I'm going to check out.
He also has a book of equal length covering just the 20th Century that I should probably re-read. But first I have to make it through the piles of books that stacked up on my Kindle and my night stand while I was reading this one.
---
First review (finished 8/7/2007)
I'm taking my time through this book because i want to savor it -- also because it's too heavy for me to lift for long periods.
August 15, 2021
Un libro pesado, pero enriquecedor, lleno de erudición y cuestiones punzantes. Le doy 5 estrellas porque en mi caso me ha enriquecido mucho. Probablemente los profesionales en el campo de la historia de las ideas tengan una opinión diferente. Me sorprendió que una de sus conclusiones apunta a que muy probablemente Borges tenga razón en su ensayo «La nadería de la personalidad». El libro no menciona a Borges, pero sospecho que tanto Borges como Watson abrevaron en el pragmatismo estadounidense, lo que los conduce a argumentar de manera convergente sobre el tema de la conciencia.
October 8, 2015
My rating for this book reflects how much I enjoyed it. I am conscious of my own limited knowledge to be really able to say whether this is the history of ideas it sets out to be - but at the very least it is an excellent piece of writing based on an almost inconceivably wide set of sources. This is a huge book, and if you love to think broadly then definitely worth the investment in time to read.
There are a couple of niggles - it does seem to have a bias to western European orientated ideas and therefore there is a suspicion that there might be great ideas from other cultures missed out. But at least Watson explains why it is such in that one of the great ideas he follows through is the idea of Europe. To be fair, this is not all about European ideas and thinkers, large chunks of the book are not. I was also surprised there were no ideas relating to warfare - not because I am a war monger but simply because warfare has been such a major part of human history and has had ideas and concepts relating to it. But these are niggles in a great read and a great achievement by the author.
There are a couple of niggles - it does seem to have a bias to western European orientated ideas and therefore there is a suspicion that there might be great ideas from other cultures missed out. But at least Watson explains why it is such in that one of the great ideas he follows through is the idea of Europe. To be fair, this is not all about European ideas and thinkers, large chunks of the book are not. I was also surprised there were no ideas relating to warfare - not because I am a war monger but simply because warfare has been such a major part of human history and has had ideas and concepts relating to it. But these are niggles in a great read and a great achievement by the author.
July 18, 2013
I borrowed this book from the library as an e-book. Much of what I read in it varied from interesting to fascinating. It was a slow read partly because of the length. But I did have trouble following the flow as the general impression for me was that it jumped around. It was generally chronological and within any particular sub-topic it gave me plenty of things to think about in the evolution of ideas. Purely for the material I would give it 5 stars but I had to check it outat least five times for three weeks at a time. In other words, it was not hard to put down. But when I did pick it up again I did enjoy what I was learning.
November 8, 2019
Tarix boyunca movcud olmuş bütün fikirləri (yontulmuş daş alətlərdən psixoanalizə qədər, onun da ötəsində) əhatə edən, hər şey haqqında məlumat verən bir növ ensiklopediya ! 1084 səhifəlik bu kitabın öyrətdiyi ən gözəl şey hansısa bir fikrin təsadüfən ortaya çıxmadığı, həmin fikir üçün əvvəlcədən əlverişli mühitin formalaşdığıdır. Məs. Dawrin təkamül nəzəriyyəsini birdən birə ortaya atmamış, (elmi dairələrdə) Darwindən öncə təkamül fikri formalaşmışdır. Qısaca, oxumağa dəyər dediyim kitablardan biri. İdeologiyalar haqqında öyrənmək istəyən və ya marağı olan həvəskarlar üçün tarix boyunca mövcud olan fikirləri öyrənmək fikrimcə başlanğıc olaraq mütləqdir.
August 1, 2008
In spite of its writing style, which is so academic that I have to underline or highlight to keep myself paying attention, this is a truly exciting book, as ambitious as the title implies.
I read it in bursts --between fiction and poetry reads--because it's too heavy to retain the information if I put in long stretches.
If you liked, you could read just the parts that interested you-- though to some extent each chapter builds on the one before.
September 17, 2012
Ambicioso ensayo que no llega a germinar: este libro no es la historia de las ideas de la humanidad, sino de Peter Watson. Se trata de una exposición de las principales corrientes de pensamiento de la humanidad, desde un prisma progresista, nihilista, antioccidental y anglocéntrico. No obstante, el estilo es brillante: de un párrafo a otro, el fluir del texto es increíble, a pesar de sus más de mil páginas.
December 20, 2025
Given that many reviewers to date have given this a perfect 5 stars, I agree with minor qualification, yet not enough to lower this to 4 stars on GR’s narrow range. Anyone with the hubristic ambition to survey the best (and a bit of the worst) that has been thought by a few and known by some if not many deserves acclaim for what seems to me what must have been most of a life's work! Watson keeps an amazingly even-handed control for the vast stretches he covers, and the book, although a careful reader can glimpse his own preferences within the history of ideas, does prove arguably open-minded to the forces that seek, as the book gains momentum, to shut down individual conscience and personal liberty in the service of protecting a cause, a deity, or a system.
He reminds us how thin is our civilized veneer. Iconoclasts in early medieval Byzantium nearly obliterated the beauties of earlier Christian art. Prejudice and stupidity prove powerful eradicators of goodness and beauty. "That certain works of Cicero should survive in one copy, and that under the layer of a palimpsest, emphasises how fragile civilisation is." (257) The failure of Christianity to stem modernity is shown much later in the anti-modernist papal campaigns of the 19c to be rooted in a very Christian assertion of individual conscience above dictatorial authority. The success of Islam today, contrarily, he explains, lies in its success in the 19c to combat its own secularizing and liberalizing dissidents. So, he provocatively muses, which faith is in healthier shape today?
Such startling juxtapositions characterize this book. So affordable, and a wealth of a liberal education for an infinitesimal fraction of college tuition. This book taught me far more than decades of on-and-off reading ever has or ever could about how ideas and people and events build and connect and clash. By the way, only a couple of superficial errors marred the entire text, an amazing feat considering the amount of data amassed. It took me over a month to read, and each chapter (36 plus intro and conclusion) a substantial part of an evening, but what reward for so little of my own labor.
My own favorites among hundreds of those introduced were Alex Ferguson, a skeptical philosopher from the Scottish Enlightenment who denied we can advance very far at all through our historical treadmill; Robert Owen, the proto-socialist and radical British advocate for labor rights and secular inquiry; Max Weber's separation into knowledge by personal religious or spriritual experience vs. science and technological progress able to be shared by us all; William James' pragmatism; and Karl Marx if only for his pithy quote that sums up his concept of alienation so well: workers have no control over their conditions or their product, and 'are forced to operate "well within their capabilities."' (567) [His earlier book examined the 20c separately; "Ideas" stops around 1900.] Watson shows his own bias, I suppose, in favor of the liberal stance and the challenging rejoinder over the conservative posture and the defensive pose, but what reader would not want this-- for it shows a quick and generous human mind grappling with the same weighty ideas we must as we follow Watson's lead-- in favor of an inert summary of names and dates?
You may expect from my quick picks that the bulk of the book is thus given over to early modern history and ideas, but these concepts serve more as the capstone which is supported by centuries of earlier thinkers. While he does seem to whirl past much in medieval times, the comparative paucity of extant information compared to more recent times does make this pace understandable. The book does build upon earlier ideas, and the ideas of course gain heft as centuries follow one another and later thinkers learn from and contend against one another. Watson sums up the three most influential ideas in our common historical inheritance: the soul, the idea of Europe, and the experiment. These do not assume the Plato-Charlemagne-Newton sort of trichotomy that you might think; nor is the narrative so neatly divided.
The concluding chapter shows how these ideas all meshed around the later 19th c and pressures of Marx, Freud (both are shown in contemporary perspective for their failures as well as accurate observations; Freud's negative reputation among many today I found eye-opening and arguably far too little popularized!) and above all Darwin. The break of the outside, verifiable, quantifiable, and accessible realm with the inner, transient, insubstantial, and perhaps perpetually inaccessible mind-soul-spirit serves as this book's climactic assertion. He argues that Aristotle, in effect, is to be chosen over Plato. Watson closes by backing those who would side with observing from our human window the actions of the zoo rather than those of the monastery. That is, he turns us back after 740 pp. to our dim and irretrievable origins far more ancient than the oldest artifacts recorded here. He doubts that we can grasp whatever swirls about inside of ourselves, and he seems to deny any ultimate attainment of knowledge about what lies beneath our surface. Like his scientific and rational and secular forebears, the triumph of modern man, Watson seems to agree, lies in how we connect on the exterior to one another, for only there can we all agree to common connections and attain shared satisfactions.
He reminds us how thin is our civilized veneer. Iconoclasts in early medieval Byzantium nearly obliterated the beauties of earlier Christian art. Prejudice and stupidity prove powerful eradicators of goodness and beauty. "That certain works of Cicero should survive in one copy, and that under the layer of a palimpsest, emphasises how fragile civilisation is." (257) The failure of Christianity to stem modernity is shown much later in the anti-modernist papal campaigns of the 19c to be rooted in a very Christian assertion of individual conscience above dictatorial authority. The success of Islam today, contrarily, he explains, lies in its success in the 19c to combat its own secularizing and liberalizing dissidents. So, he provocatively muses, which faith is in healthier shape today?
Such startling juxtapositions characterize this book. So affordable, and a wealth of a liberal education for an infinitesimal fraction of college tuition. This book taught me far more than decades of on-and-off reading ever has or ever could about how ideas and people and events build and connect and clash. By the way, only a couple of superficial errors marred the entire text, an amazing feat considering the amount of data amassed. It took me over a month to read, and each chapter (36 plus intro and conclusion) a substantial part of an evening, but what reward for so little of my own labor.
My own favorites among hundreds of those introduced were Alex Ferguson, a skeptical philosopher from the Scottish Enlightenment who denied we can advance very far at all through our historical treadmill; Robert Owen, the proto-socialist and radical British advocate for labor rights and secular inquiry; Max Weber's separation into knowledge by personal religious or spriritual experience vs. science and technological progress able to be shared by us all; William James' pragmatism; and Karl Marx if only for his pithy quote that sums up his concept of alienation so well: workers have no control over their conditions or their product, and 'are forced to operate "well within their capabilities."' (567) [His earlier book examined the 20c separately; "Ideas" stops around 1900.] Watson shows his own bias, I suppose, in favor of the liberal stance and the challenging rejoinder over the conservative posture and the defensive pose, but what reader would not want this-- for it shows a quick and generous human mind grappling with the same weighty ideas we must as we follow Watson's lead-- in favor of an inert summary of names and dates?
You may expect from my quick picks that the bulk of the book is thus given over to early modern history and ideas, but these concepts serve more as the capstone which is supported by centuries of earlier thinkers. While he does seem to whirl past much in medieval times, the comparative paucity of extant information compared to more recent times does make this pace understandable. The book does build upon earlier ideas, and the ideas of course gain heft as centuries follow one another and later thinkers learn from and contend against one another. Watson sums up the three most influential ideas in our common historical inheritance: the soul, the idea of Europe, and the experiment. These do not assume the Plato-Charlemagne-Newton sort of trichotomy that you might think; nor is the narrative so neatly divided.
The concluding chapter shows how these ideas all meshed around the later 19th c and pressures of Marx, Freud (both are shown in contemporary perspective for their failures as well as accurate observations; Freud's negative reputation among many today I found eye-opening and arguably far too little popularized!) and above all Darwin. The break of the outside, verifiable, quantifiable, and accessible realm with the inner, transient, insubstantial, and perhaps perpetually inaccessible mind-soul-spirit serves as this book's climactic assertion. He argues that Aristotle, in effect, is to be chosen over Plato. Watson closes by backing those who would side with observing from our human window the actions of the zoo rather than those of the monastery. That is, he turns us back after 740 pp. to our dim and irretrievable origins far more ancient than the oldest artifacts recorded here. He doubts that we can grasp whatever swirls about inside of ourselves, and he seems to deny any ultimate attainment of knowledge about what lies beneath our surface. Like his scientific and rational and secular forebears, the triumph of modern man, Watson seems to agree, lies in how we connect on the exterior to one another, for only there can we all agree to common connections and attain shared satisfactions.
August 17, 2023
Esta teñida por la vena de la tradición anglosajona, sin embargo, es necesario. Se lee de maravilla.
February 8, 2021
I started to read this book almost seven years ago. Only reason finished this book is my obsession about finishing books, anyway the book not was so bad to read within 7 years.
Peter Watson is good collector. He collect knowledge which he thinks matter for ideas mind. He did not comment or made interference about ideas. Just facts.
Some quotes;
The main concern among German sociologists was ‘modernity’, how modern life differed in a social,
political, psychological, economic and moral sense from what had gone before. This idea was particularly
prominent in Germany because of the country’s formal unification on 1 January 1871. All of Max
Weber’s work was aimed at identifying what made modern, Western civilisation distinctive but, as Roger
Smith has characterised it, all the early sociologists were interested in how modernity came about. Here is
Smith’s table:
Herbert Spencer: modernity involved a change from a predominantly militant [military]
society to an industrial one;
Karl Marx: the change was from feudalism to capitalism;
Henry Maine (the British sociologist/anthropologist, whose most famous work was Ancient
Law, which took an evolutionary approach): status → contract;
Max Weber: traditional authority → rational-legal authority;
Ferdinand Tönnies: Gemeinschaft (community) → Gesellschaft (association).
Lawyers had written the Declaration of Independence and it was mainly lawyers who drafted the
constitutions of the states and of the new United States. One effect of this was to shape early American
literature. In Revolutionary America there were no poets, dramatists or even novelists who could begin to
compare with the political writings of Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, Tom Paine or James
Wilson. The new nation was politically-minded and legally-minded. ‘They did away with ecclesiastical
law, administrative law and even chancery law, and limited the reach of common law–it all reeked of the
Old World of privilege and corruption.’ It was this attitude that gave rise to the idea of judicial
supremacy, and judicial review. It was this attitude that gave rise to the separation of powers. It gave rise
to the law school and to the abolition of the distinction between barrister and solicitor.76 There would be
no America as we know it without the Puritan Revolution, the ideas of John Locke and Montesquieu and
a knowledge of republican Rome, but Tom Paine (the ‘lethargic visionary’ in John Ferling’s words) was
surely right when he observed that ‘the case and circumstance of America present themselves as in the
beginning of a world…We are brought at once to the point of seeing government begin, as if we had lived
at the beginning of time.’
Imperialism, therefore, wasn’t just conquest. It was a form of international government, of globalisation,
and it did not only benefit the ruling powers. The colonialists comprised not just Cecil Rhodes, but
Warren Hastings and Sir William Jones.89
The first inkling we have of English was when it arrived in the fifth century AD, spoken by Germanic
warriors, who were invited to Britain as mercenaries to shore up the ruins of the recently-departed Roman
empire.112 The original inhabitants of the British Isles were Celts, who spoke Celtish, no doubt laced with
a little Latin, thanks to the Romans. But the Germanic tribes–Saxons, Angles and Jutes–spoke a variety of
dialects, mutually intelligible, and it was some time before the Angles won out. The present-day language
of Friesland, by the North Sea in Holland, is judged to have the closest language to early English, where
such words as trije (three), froast (frost), blau (blue), brea (bread) and sliepe (sleep) are still in use.113
Early English took on a few words from Latin/Celtic, such as ‘win’ (wine), ‘cetel’ (cattle) and ‘streat’
(street), but the great majority of English words today come from Old English–you, man, son, daughter,
friend, house and so on. Also the northern words ‘owt’ (anything) and ‘nowt’, (nothing), from ‘awiht’ and
‘nawiht’.114 The ending ‘-ing’ in place names means ‘the people of…’–Reading, Dorking, Hastings; the
ending ‘-ham’ means farm, as in Birmingham, Fulham, Nottingham; ‘-ton’ means enclosure or village, as
in Taunton, Luton, Wilton. The Germanic tribes brought with them the runic alphabet, known as the
futhorc after the first letters of that alphabet. Runes were made up mainly of straight lines, so they could
more easily be cut into stone or wood. The language had twenty-four letters, lacking j, q, v, x and z but
including æ, Þ, and uu, later changed to w.
In all there were well over fifty major thinkers of the Islamic world who emerged at this time to campaign
for the modernisation of Islam–people such as Qasim Amin of Egypt, Mahmud Tarzi of Afghanistan,
Sayyid Khan of India, Achmad Dachlan of Java and Wang Jingshai of China. But the three most
influential Islamic modernists, whose names deserve to be more widely known in the West, were: Sayyid
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, of Iran (1838–1897), Muhammad Abduh, of Egypt (1849–1905), and
Muhammad Rashid Rida (1865–1935), who was born in Lebanon but spent most of his adult life in Egypt.
Al-Afghani’s main message was that European success was basically due to two things, to its science and
to its laws, and he said that these were derived from ancient Greece and India. ‘There is no end or limit to
science,’ he said, ‘science rules the world.’ (This was in1882.) ‘There was, is, and will be no ruler in the
world but science.’ ‘The English have reached Afghanistan; the French have seized Tunisia. In reality,
this usurpation, aggression and conquest have not come from the French or the English. Rather it is
science that everywhere manifests its greatness and power.’ Al-Afghani wanted the whole Islamic
position to be reconsidered. He argued that ‘mind is the motor of historical change’ and he said that Islam
needed a Reformation. He pilloried the ulama or religious scholars of the day who read the old texts but
didn’t know the causes of electricity, or the principles of the steam engine. How, he asked, could these
people call themselves ‘sages’? He likened the ulama to a light with a narrow wick ‘that neither lights its
surroundings nor gives light to others’. Al-Afghani studied in France and Russia and while he was in
Paris he became friendly with Ernest Renan. Al-Afghani specifically said that the religious person was
like an ox yoked to a plough, ‘yoked to the dogma whose slave he is’, and he must walk eternally in the
furrow that has been traced for him in advance. He blamed Islam for the ending of Baghdad’s golden age,
admitting that the theological schools stifled science, and he pleaded for a non-dogmatic philosophy that
would encourage scientific inquiry.
Muhammad Abduh also studied in Paris, where he produced a famous journal called The Strongest Link,
which agitated against imperialism but also called for religious reform.79 Returning to Egypt he became a
leading judge and served on the governing body of the al-Azhar mosque-college, one of the most
influential bodies of learning in the Arab world. He campaigned for the education of girls and for secular
laws, beyond the sharia. He was especially interested in law and politics. Here are some of the things he
wrote: ‘Human knowledge is in effect a collection of rules about useful benefits, by which people
organise the methods of work that lead to those benefits…laws are the basis of activities organised…to
produce manifest benefits…the law of each nation corresponds to its level in understanding…It is not
possible therefore to apply the law of one group of people to another group who surpass the first in level
of understanding…order among the second group will be disturbed…’ Politics, he insisted on another
occasion, should be determined by circumstances, not by doctrine. Abduh went on to make the case for
legal reform in Egypt, for clear simple laws, avoiding what he called the ‘ambiguities’ of the Qur’an. He
referred Egypt to France after the Revolution, which he said went from an absolute monarchy, to a
restricted monarchy, to a free republic. He wanted a civil law to govern most of life, agreed by all in a
logical manner. In his legal system, there was no mention of the prophet, Islam, the mosque, or religion.
Muhammad Rashid Rida attended a school in Lebanon which combined modern and religious education.
He spoke several European languages and studied widely among the sciences.80 He was close to Abduh
and became his biographer. He too had his own journal, al-Manar (The Beacon), which disseminated
ideas about reform until his death. Rida’s view was that social, political, civic and religious renewal was
necessary and ongoing, so that societies could ‘ascend the paths of science and knowledge’. ‘Humans at
all times need the old and the new,’ he said. He noted that while the British, French and Germans mostly
preferred their own ways of doing things, and thinking, they were open to foreign influences as well. He
admitted to being helped by, and liking, men who he deemed heretics. He sounds here a bit like Erasmus
but he also recalls Owen Chadwick’s point, mentioned earlier, where he said that it was only from about
1860 that Europeans who regarded themselves as Christian could be friendly with non-believers. Most
importantly, Rida said that the sharia has little or nothing to say about agriculture, industry and trade–‘it
is left to the experience of the people’. The state, he says, consists of precisely this–the sciences, arts and
industries, financial, administrative and military systems. They are a collective duty in Islam and it is a
sin to neglect them. The one rule to remember is ‘Necessity permits the impermissible.’
The Roman achievement was colossal. The Romans themselves were aware of it and it is no surprise that
they came to believe in Roma Aeterna, the eternal city. But, as every schoolchild knows, Rome was not
eternal. ‘The best-known fact about the Roman Empire,’ says Arthur Ferrill, ‘is that it declined and fell.’
André Piganiol put it, ‘Roman civilization did not die a natural death. It was killed.’
Julius Caesar was deified posthumously after his death in 44 BC, the first emperor to receive this
accolade. Being related to Caesar, Augustus openly referred to himself as the ‘son of [the] god’.25 He too
was deified after his death, as was his successor, Tiberius. His successor, Caligula, deified himself during
his lifetime. The pagans had a tradition of free thought and citizens were free to vary in the literalness
with which they viewed the emperor as god. In the western part of the empire, it was often the emperor’s
numen, a general divine power, attaching to the rank, which was worshipped. In the east, on the other
hand, it was often the man himself who was believed to be a god
For example, Julius
Africanus (c. 160–240) argued that the world would last for six thousand years. According to his
calculations the birth of Christ had occurred exactly 5,500 years after the Creation and therefore,
‘Wisdom,’ according to an ancient Egyptian proverb, ‘has alighted on three things: the brain of the
Franks, the hands of the Chinese, and the tongue of the Arabs.
The most notable stemmed
from the famous edict of Muhammad, ‘Seek ye learning though it be in China.’
Peter Watson is good collector. He collect knowledge which he thinks matter for ideas mind. He did not comment or made interference about ideas. Just facts.
Some quotes;
The main concern among German sociologists was ‘modernity’, how modern life differed in a social,
political, psychological, economic and moral sense from what had gone before. This idea was particularly
prominent in Germany because of the country’s formal unification on 1 January 1871. All of Max
Weber’s work was aimed at identifying what made modern, Western civilisation distinctive but, as Roger
Smith has characterised it, all the early sociologists were interested in how modernity came about. Here is
Smith’s table:
Herbert Spencer: modernity involved a change from a predominantly militant [military]
society to an industrial one;
Karl Marx: the change was from feudalism to capitalism;
Henry Maine (the British sociologist/anthropologist, whose most famous work was Ancient
Law, which took an evolutionary approach): status → contract;
Max Weber: traditional authority → rational-legal authority;
Ferdinand Tönnies: Gemeinschaft (community) → Gesellschaft (association).
Lawyers had written the Declaration of Independence and it was mainly lawyers who drafted the
constitutions of the states and of the new United States. One effect of this was to shape early American
literature. In Revolutionary America there were no poets, dramatists or even novelists who could begin to
compare with the political writings of Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, Tom Paine or James
Wilson. The new nation was politically-minded and legally-minded. ‘They did away with ecclesiastical
law, administrative law and even chancery law, and limited the reach of common law–it all reeked of the
Old World of privilege and corruption.’ It was this attitude that gave rise to the idea of judicial
supremacy, and judicial review. It was this attitude that gave rise to the separation of powers. It gave rise
to the law school and to the abolition of the distinction between barrister and solicitor.76 There would be
no America as we know it without the Puritan Revolution, the ideas of John Locke and Montesquieu and
a knowledge of republican Rome, but Tom Paine (the ‘lethargic visionary’ in John Ferling’s words) was
surely right when he observed that ‘the case and circumstance of America present themselves as in the
beginning of a world…We are brought at once to the point of seeing government begin, as if we had lived
at the beginning of time.’
Imperialism, therefore, wasn’t just conquest. It was a form of international government, of globalisation,
and it did not only benefit the ruling powers. The colonialists comprised not just Cecil Rhodes, but
Warren Hastings and Sir William Jones.89
The first inkling we have of English was when it arrived in the fifth century AD, spoken by Germanic
warriors, who were invited to Britain as mercenaries to shore up the ruins of the recently-departed Roman
empire.112 The original inhabitants of the British Isles were Celts, who spoke Celtish, no doubt laced with
a little Latin, thanks to the Romans. But the Germanic tribes–Saxons, Angles and Jutes–spoke a variety of
dialects, mutually intelligible, and it was some time before the Angles won out. The present-day language
of Friesland, by the North Sea in Holland, is judged to have the closest language to early English, where
such words as trije (three), froast (frost), blau (blue), brea (bread) and sliepe (sleep) are still in use.113
Early English took on a few words from Latin/Celtic, such as ‘win’ (wine), ‘cetel’ (cattle) and ‘streat’
(street), but the great majority of English words today come from Old English–you, man, son, daughter,
friend, house and so on. Also the northern words ‘owt’ (anything) and ‘nowt’, (nothing), from ‘awiht’ and
‘nawiht’.114 The ending ‘-ing’ in place names means ‘the people of…’–Reading, Dorking, Hastings; the
ending ‘-ham’ means farm, as in Birmingham, Fulham, Nottingham; ‘-ton’ means enclosure or village, as
in Taunton, Luton, Wilton. The Germanic tribes brought with them the runic alphabet, known as the
futhorc after the first letters of that alphabet. Runes were made up mainly of straight lines, so they could
more easily be cut into stone or wood. The language had twenty-four letters, lacking j, q, v, x and z but
including æ, Þ, and uu, later changed to w.
In all there were well over fifty major thinkers of the Islamic world who emerged at this time to campaign
for the modernisation of Islam–people such as Qasim Amin of Egypt, Mahmud Tarzi of Afghanistan,
Sayyid Khan of India, Achmad Dachlan of Java and Wang Jingshai of China. But the three most
influential Islamic modernists, whose names deserve to be more widely known in the West, were: Sayyid
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, of Iran (1838–1897), Muhammad Abduh, of Egypt (1849–1905), and
Muhammad Rashid Rida (1865–1935), who was born in Lebanon but spent most of his adult life in Egypt.
Al-Afghani’s main message was that European success was basically due to two things, to its science and
to its laws, and he said that these were derived from ancient Greece and India. ‘There is no end or limit to
science,’ he said, ‘science rules the world.’ (This was in1882.) ‘There was, is, and will be no ruler in the
world but science.’ ‘The English have reached Afghanistan; the French have seized Tunisia. In reality,
this usurpation, aggression and conquest have not come from the French or the English. Rather it is
science that everywhere manifests its greatness and power.’ Al-Afghani wanted the whole Islamic
position to be reconsidered. He argued that ‘mind is the motor of historical change’ and he said that Islam
needed a Reformation. He pilloried the ulama or religious scholars of the day who read the old texts but
didn’t know the causes of electricity, or the principles of the steam engine. How, he asked, could these
people call themselves ‘sages’? He likened the ulama to a light with a narrow wick ‘that neither lights its
surroundings nor gives light to others’. Al-Afghani studied in France and Russia and while he was in
Paris he became friendly with Ernest Renan. Al-Afghani specifically said that the religious person was
like an ox yoked to a plough, ‘yoked to the dogma whose slave he is’, and he must walk eternally in the
furrow that has been traced for him in advance. He blamed Islam for the ending of Baghdad’s golden age,
admitting that the theological schools stifled science, and he pleaded for a non-dogmatic philosophy that
would encourage scientific inquiry.
Muhammad Abduh also studied in Paris, where he produced a famous journal called The Strongest Link,
which agitated against imperialism but also called for religious reform.79 Returning to Egypt he became a
leading judge and served on the governing body of the al-Azhar mosque-college, one of the most
influential bodies of learning in the Arab world. He campaigned for the education of girls and for secular
laws, beyond the sharia. He was especially interested in law and politics. Here are some of the things he
wrote: ‘Human knowledge is in effect a collection of rules about useful benefits, by which people
organise the methods of work that lead to those benefits…laws are the basis of activities organised…to
produce manifest benefits…the law of each nation corresponds to its level in understanding…It is not
possible therefore to apply the law of one group of people to another group who surpass the first in level
of understanding…order among the second group will be disturbed…’ Politics, he insisted on another
occasion, should be determined by circumstances, not by doctrine. Abduh went on to make the case for
legal reform in Egypt, for clear simple laws, avoiding what he called the ‘ambiguities’ of the Qur’an. He
referred Egypt to France after the Revolution, which he said went from an absolute monarchy, to a
restricted monarchy, to a free republic. He wanted a civil law to govern most of life, agreed by all in a
logical manner. In his legal system, there was no mention of the prophet, Islam, the mosque, or religion.
Muhammad Rashid Rida attended a school in Lebanon which combined modern and religious education.
He spoke several European languages and studied widely among the sciences.80 He was close to Abduh
and became his biographer. He too had his own journal, al-Manar (The Beacon), which disseminated
ideas about reform until his death. Rida’s view was that social, political, civic and religious renewal was
necessary and ongoing, so that societies could ‘ascend the paths of science and knowledge’. ‘Humans at
all times need the old and the new,’ he said. He noted that while the British, French and Germans mostly
preferred their own ways of doing things, and thinking, they were open to foreign influences as well. He
admitted to being helped by, and liking, men who he deemed heretics. He sounds here a bit like Erasmus
but he also recalls Owen Chadwick’s point, mentioned earlier, where he said that it was only from about
1860 that Europeans who regarded themselves as Christian could be friendly with non-believers. Most
importantly, Rida said that the sharia has little or nothing to say about agriculture, industry and trade–‘it
is left to the experience of the people’. The state, he says, consists of precisely this–the sciences, arts and
industries, financial, administrative and military systems. They are a collective duty in Islam and it is a
sin to neglect them. The one rule to remember is ‘Necessity permits the impermissible.’
The Roman achievement was colossal. The Romans themselves were aware of it and it is no surprise that
they came to believe in Roma Aeterna, the eternal city. But, as every schoolchild knows, Rome was not
eternal. ‘The best-known fact about the Roman Empire,’ says Arthur Ferrill, ‘is that it declined and fell.’
André Piganiol put it, ‘Roman civilization did not die a natural death. It was killed.’
Julius Caesar was deified posthumously after his death in 44 BC, the first emperor to receive this
accolade. Being related to Caesar, Augustus openly referred to himself as the ‘son of [the] god’.25 He too
was deified after his death, as was his successor, Tiberius. His successor, Caligula, deified himself during
his lifetime. The pagans had a tradition of free thought and citizens were free to vary in the literalness
with which they viewed the emperor as god. In the western part of the empire, it was often the emperor’s
numen, a general divine power, attaching to the rank, which was worshipped. In the east, on the other
hand, it was often the man himself who was believed to be a god
For example, Julius
Africanus (c. 160–240) argued that the world would last for six thousand years. According to his
calculations the birth of Christ had occurred exactly 5,500 years after the Creation and therefore,
‘Wisdom,’ according to an ancient Egyptian proverb, ‘has alighted on three things: the brain of the
Franks, the hands of the Chinese, and the tongue of the Arabs.
The most notable stemmed
from the famous edict of Muhammad, ‘Seek ye learning though it be in China.’
May 20, 2024
Después de 3 meses donde he descuidado un poco la lectura he terminado con esta maravilla de libro. 1,200 páginas de información que abarca prácticamente toda la historia humana. Aunque el libro aborda a la historia desde la perspectiva de las ideas humanas e intelectuales, e incluso se concentra mayoritariamente en las ideas e historia europeas, u occidental, no deja de ser una increíble obra y un logro espectacular por parte del autor.
Durante la última cuarta parte del libro pareciera que el autor se percata de que no será posible abarcar todo lo que quisiera, pero logra tocar más que un poco de todo: las deidades, números, lenguajes, las ciudades, la religión, la ciencia, el renacimiento, el islam, Jesucristo, el Imperio Romano, revoluciones, el subconsciente, nacionalismo, y así una lista interminable.
Últimamente he tenido un bloqueo al momento de leer novelas, como con Crimen y castigo actualmente, por lo que espero que ya con este libro terminado pueda avanzar con mis lecturas planeadas de este año.
Durante la última cuarta parte del libro pareciera que el autor se percata de que no será posible abarcar todo lo que quisiera, pero logra tocar más que un poco de todo: las deidades, números, lenguajes, las ciudades, la religión, la ciencia, el renacimiento, el islam, Jesucristo, el Imperio Romano, revoluciones, el subconsciente, nacionalismo, y así una lista interminable.
Últimamente he tenido un bloqueo al momento de leer novelas, como con Crimen y castigo actualmente, por lo que espero que ya con este libro terminado pueda avanzar con mis lecturas planeadas de este año.
December 27, 2022
Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud claims to be a book about ideas, but it is so much more. In truth, it traces the evolution of ideas from the start of human history all the way to 'modern' times, placing these ideas in their proper chronology and social context. The result is a powerful story of progress of the human mind (if 'progress' is the right word for such a meandering path). Peter Watson's masterpiece is both enlightening and entertaining at the same time, and I recommend it highly to anyone who is curious to learn about the world.
March 9, 2023
Ideas: A History From Fire To Freud, by Peter Watson. Easily one of my favourite non-fiction books of all time, comprehensively taking you on a tour of ideas all the way from proto-concepts like bipedalism, through the development of writing, agriculture, metallurgy, philosophy, natural sciences, social progressivism, all the way up to splitting the atom. Laid out in an accessible and relatable progression of concepts building off of each other. Love this book. Have read it several times now...
July 30, 2018
Amazing.
February 16, 2023
Excellent book. Not a page turner by any means because the subject matter is a bit dry but it is a monumental achievement none the less. God damn religion I tell ya…
December 4, 2025
Vastísima recopilación de información presentada de manera muy didáctica y amena.
Aunque es una lectura extensa y exigente es sumamente interesante y clarificadora. Me ha ayudado a ubicar y comprender infinidad de pensadores y filosofías que tenía difusos y a descubrir otros.
El único punto negativo que le veo es una visión benevolente del imperio británico frente a otros imperios de la historia. Pretende hacernos tragar con que los vicios del colonialismo eran ajenos a los ingleses.
Salvo este punto chovinista, el resto del libro lo he disfrutado muchísimo. Recomendable 100%
Aunque es una lectura extensa y exigente es sumamente interesante y clarificadora. Me ha ayudado a ubicar y comprender infinidad de pensadores y filosofías que tenía difusos y a descubrir otros.
El único punto negativo que le veo es una visión benevolente del imperio británico frente a otros imperios de la historia. Pretende hacernos tragar con que los vicios del colonialismo eran ajenos a los ingleses.
Salvo este punto chovinista, el resto del libro lo he disfrutado muchísimo. Recomendable 100%
November 3, 2022
A modern canon. If people need a minimal library to read, this masterpiece absolutely should be in it.
January 8, 2022
¿Qué es lo que nos hace humanos? ¿En qué nos diferenciamos de los demás seres vivos? Podría decirse
que, en la capacidad para el lenguaje, para el pensamiento simbólico, para asimilar información externa, para establecer conexiones entre pensamiento y palabra, para prever el futuro y recordar el pasado, para crear una explicación del mundo. Como ningún otro ser vivo somos conscientes de que existimos y también de que dejaremos de existir. Esto es lo que el ser humano posee hoy, pero no siempre fue así. Un largo proceso de desarrollo mental, de innovaciones y abstracciones, en definitiva, de ideas, ha puesto al ser humano, para bien o para mal, en un lugar especial dentro del panorama del planeta.
¿Cuál es la idea más importante en la historia de la humanidad? ¿La más hermosa? ¿La más
trascendental? Difícil responder. Tal vez sea más apropiado preguntar: ¿cuáles son las ideas más importantes? ¿cuáles, las que nos han traído hasta donde estamos? Los candidatos son diversos: el
dominio del fuego, la invención de la agricultura, el desarrollo del lenguaje, la evolución de la escritura, la invención de la fábrica, el descubrimiento de la gravedad, la idea de la vida misma. Habrá diversas respuestas. Sin embargo, existen hechos objetivos que definitivamente orientan al ser humano actual. Por el libro de Watson desfilan desde las pinturas rupestres hasta el descubrimiento del electrón; desde la epopeya de Gilgamesh hasta el hallazgo del inconsciente; desde la invención de la agricultura hasta la de la democracia. Aparecen las epopeyas de griegos, romanos, egipcios, indios, chinos, persas, babilonios, europeos y americanos, así como los preceptos de las diferentes religiones: zoroastrismo, judaísmo, islamismo, cristianismo, protestantismo, budismo, hinduismo. Los
orígenes de la música, la medicina, las matemáticas, las bibliotecas, la química, la botánica, la física cuántica, el psicoanálisis, el lenguaje, las fábricas, los laboratorios de investigación, en relatos que conectan de manera precisa el origen de las ideas con el momento histórico en el que estas se plasmaron, para confirmar que el desarrollo y el progreso han sido por lo general constantes. Sin embargo, expone también el caso de civilizaciones que brillaron para luego eclipsarse y manifiesta que la historia intelectual está lejos de ser una línea recta, lo que se constituye precisamente en su atractivo.
También están las razones por las cuales Europa se convirtió en la cuna de muchas de las ideas que nos han dominado en los últimos mil años. Los sicólogos, antropólogos y sociólogos encontrarán
emocionante uno de los desarrollos más importantes de los siglos XI a XIII: el descubrimiento del
individuo. Se sabe por ejemplo cómo las universidades empezaron en las catedrales y cómo
evolucionaron los métodos de admisión, las condiciones de grado, los currículos y las relaciones entre
maestros y alumnos. Los investigadores hallarán interesante la historia del origen de la ciencia en la isla de Jonia, en la que los primeros científicos eran como flotillas de barcos con rumbos de todo tipo, a los que los unía la fascinación por los mares inexplorados. Los músicos se sorprenderán con la polémica alrededor de lo que se considera el instrumento musical más antiguo. Los estadísticos sabrán quién fue la primera persona en recopilar estadísticas sociales sobre variaciones de la mortalidad, algo que interesaba al naciente negocio de los seguros de vida. Los economistas considerarán apasionante la idea del surgimiento del dinero circulante, el rendimiento económico y las relaciones entre economía y administración de estado. Diversos lectores descubrirán la sugestiva discusión alrededor de los conceptos carácter, conciencia, mente, alma e inteligencia, y concluirán que en definitiva el
conocimiento del universo físico es más alcanzable que el del universo interior, lo que Watson llama “el yo escurridizo”. Y todo buen lector se asombrará al saber que hubo una época en la que el libro estuvo herido de muerte y la narración de cómo fue salvado.
“Ésta es quizá la lección más importante que podemos extraer de una historia de las ideas: que la vida
intelectual —acaso la dimensión más importante, satisfactoria y característica de la existencia
humana— es una cosa frágil, que puede perderse o destruirse con facilidad”
que, en la capacidad para el lenguaje, para el pensamiento simbólico, para asimilar información externa, para establecer conexiones entre pensamiento y palabra, para prever el futuro y recordar el pasado, para crear una explicación del mundo. Como ningún otro ser vivo somos conscientes de que existimos y también de que dejaremos de existir. Esto es lo que el ser humano posee hoy, pero no siempre fue así. Un largo proceso de desarrollo mental, de innovaciones y abstracciones, en definitiva, de ideas, ha puesto al ser humano, para bien o para mal, en un lugar especial dentro del panorama del planeta.
¿Cuál es la idea más importante en la historia de la humanidad? ¿La más hermosa? ¿La más
trascendental? Difícil responder. Tal vez sea más apropiado preguntar: ¿cuáles son las ideas más importantes? ¿cuáles, las que nos han traído hasta donde estamos? Los candidatos son diversos: el
dominio del fuego, la invención de la agricultura, el desarrollo del lenguaje, la evolución de la escritura, la invención de la fábrica, el descubrimiento de la gravedad, la idea de la vida misma. Habrá diversas respuestas. Sin embargo, existen hechos objetivos que definitivamente orientan al ser humano actual. Por el libro de Watson desfilan desde las pinturas rupestres hasta el descubrimiento del electrón; desde la epopeya de Gilgamesh hasta el hallazgo del inconsciente; desde la invención de la agricultura hasta la de la democracia. Aparecen las epopeyas de griegos, romanos, egipcios, indios, chinos, persas, babilonios, europeos y americanos, así como los preceptos de las diferentes religiones: zoroastrismo, judaísmo, islamismo, cristianismo, protestantismo, budismo, hinduismo. Los
orígenes de la música, la medicina, las matemáticas, las bibliotecas, la química, la botánica, la física cuántica, el psicoanálisis, el lenguaje, las fábricas, los laboratorios de investigación, en relatos que conectan de manera precisa el origen de las ideas con el momento histórico en el que estas se plasmaron, para confirmar que el desarrollo y el progreso han sido por lo general constantes. Sin embargo, expone también el caso de civilizaciones que brillaron para luego eclipsarse y manifiesta que la historia intelectual está lejos de ser una línea recta, lo que se constituye precisamente en su atractivo.
También están las razones por las cuales Europa se convirtió en la cuna de muchas de las ideas que nos han dominado en los últimos mil años. Los sicólogos, antropólogos y sociólogos encontrarán
emocionante uno de los desarrollos más importantes de los siglos XI a XIII: el descubrimiento del
individuo. Se sabe por ejemplo cómo las universidades empezaron en las catedrales y cómo
evolucionaron los métodos de admisión, las condiciones de grado, los currículos y las relaciones entre
maestros y alumnos. Los investigadores hallarán interesante la historia del origen de la ciencia en la isla de Jonia, en la que los primeros científicos eran como flotillas de barcos con rumbos de todo tipo, a los que los unía la fascinación por los mares inexplorados. Los músicos se sorprenderán con la polémica alrededor de lo que se considera el instrumento musical más antiguo. Los estadísticos sabrán quién fue la primera persona en recopilar estadísticas sociales sobre variaciones de la mortalidad, algo que interesaba al naciente negocio de los seguros de vida. Los economistas considerarán apasionante la idea del surgimiento del dinero circulante, el rendimiento económico y las relaciones entre economía y administración de estado. Diversos lectores descubrirán la sugestiva discusión alrededor de los conceptos carácter, conciencia, mente, alma e inteligencia, y concluirán que en definitiva el
conocimiento del universo físico es más alcanzable que el del universo interior, lo que Watson llama “el yo escurridizo”. Y todo buen lector se asombrará al saber que hubo una época en la que el libro estuvo herido de muerte y la narración de cómo fue salvado.
“Ésta es quizá la lección más importante que podemos extraer de una historia de las ideas: que la vida
intelectual —acaso la dimensión más importante, satisfactoria y característica de la existencia
humana— es una cosa frágil, que puede perderse o destruirse con facilidad”
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