文明的躍昇: 人類文明發展史

by Jacob Bronowski, 布羅諾斯基, 漢寶德 (Translator)

最後的文藝復興人 

最早的人類大歷史 



從已知用火到地球未來 

十三堂橫跨百萬年的的文明大講堂 



七○年代BBC傳奇科學節目、當代科普書先驅 

布羅諾斯基不朽名著 



建築大師漢寶德經典譯作 

復刻重現



「最後的文藝復興人」這個比喻已成為陳腔濫調， 

不過在極少數的情況下，這詞若能完美描繪事實，我們也願欣然接受， 

說到「最後的文藝復興人」，大概非本書作者布羅諾斯基莫屬了。 

有哪位科學家能與布羅諾斯基一樣，不僅能天衣無縫地在作品中 

交織自身的科學知識與歷史、藝術、人類學、文學、哲學等豐厚素養， 

同時又闡述得如此輕盈，毫不費力，且不淪於自我誇耀？ 



本書每一頁都有值得引述、妥善珍藏的格言， 

也可貼在門上昭告天下，甚至能夠當成偉大科學家的墓誌銘。 

如此震撼人心的文字，不需要依靠提高的聲調，或是浮誇的眼淚裝飾。 



布羅諾斯基筆下文字的魅力，來自他冷靜、仁慈、樸實的語調， 

以及他直直望向鏡頭時，口中發出的迷人捲舌R音， 

耀眼的閃光燈&

Genres: Science, History, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Anthropology, Evolution, Biology

316 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Jacob Bronowski was a British mathematician and biologist of Polish-Jewish origin. He is best remembered as the presenter and writer of the 1973 BBC television documentary series, The Ascent of Man.

In 1950, Bronowski was given the Taung child's fossilized skull and asked to try, using his statistical skills, to combine a measure of the size of the skull's teeth with their shape in order to discriminate them from the teeth of apes. Work on this turned his interests towards the human biology of humanity's intellectual products.

In 1967 Bronowski delivered the six Silliman Memorial Lectures at Yale University and chose as his subject the role of imagination and symbolic language in the progress of scientific knowledge. Transcripts of the lectures were published posthumously in 1978 as The Origins of Knowledge and Imagination and remain in print.

He first became familiar to the British public through appearances on the BBC television version of The Brains Trust in the late 1950s. His ability to answer questions on many varied subjects led to an offhand reference in an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus where one character states that "He knows everything." However Bronowski is best remembered for his thirteen part series The Ascent of Man (1973), a documentary about the history of human beings through scientific endeavour. This project was intended to parallel art historian Kenneth Clark's earlier "personal view" series Civilisation (1969) which had covered cultural history.

During the making of The Ascent of Man, Bronowski was interviewed by the popular British chat show host Michael Parkinson. Parkinson later recounted that Bronowski's description of a visit to Auschwitz—Bronowski had lost many family members during the Nazi era—was one of Parkinson's most memorable interviews.

Jacob Bronowski married Rita Coblentz in 1941. The couple had four children, all daughters, the eldest being the British academic Lisa Jardine and another being the filmmaker Judith Bronowski. He died in 1974 of a heart attack in East Hampton, New York a year after The Ascent of Man was completed, and was buried in the western side of London's Highgate Cemetery, near the entrance.

Reviews

[Joshua Nomen-Mutatio · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It's said that science will dehumanize people and turn them into numbers. That's false, tragically false. Look for yourself. This is the concentration camp and crematorium at Auschwitz. This is where people were turned into numbers. Into this pond were flushed the ashes of some four million people. And that was not done by gas. It was done by arrogance, it was done by dogma, it was done by ignorance. When people believe that they have absolute knowledge, with no test in reality, this is how they behave. This is what men do when they aspire to the knowledge of gods.

Science is a very human form of knowledge. We are always at the brink of the known; we always feel forward for what is to be hoped. Every judgment in science stands on the edge of error and is personal. Science is a tribute to what we can know although we are fallible. In the end, the words were said by Oliver Cromwell: "I beseech you in the bowels of Christ: Think it possible you may be mistaken."

I owe it as a scientist to my friend Leo Szilard, I owe it as a human being to the many members of my family who died here, to stand here as a survivor and a witness. We have to cure ourselves of the itch for absolute knowledge and power. We have to close the distance between the push-button order and the human act. We have to touch people."

— The Ascent of Man

[Roy Lotz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fifty years from now, if an understanding of man’s origins, his evolution, his history, his progress is not in the common place of the school books, we shall not exist.

I watched this series right after finishing Kenneth Clark’s Civilisation, as I’d heard The Ascent of Man described as a companion piece. So like my review of Clark’s work, this review is about the documentary and not the book (though since the book is just a transcription of the series, I’m sure it applies to both).

The Ascent of Man is a remarkable program. I had doubts that anyone could produce a series to match Civilisation, but Bronowski made something that might even be better. Bronowski was a polymath: he did work in mathematics, biology, physics, history, and even poetry. In this program, his topic is the history of science. Yet for Bronowski, the word “science” not only refers to the modern scientific method, but rather encompasses all of humanity’s efforts to understand and manipulate the natural world.

We thus begin with Homo erectus, learning how to chip away stone to make tools. As Bronowski notes, this simple ability, to chip away at a stone until a cutting edge is left, is a remarkable indication of human uniqueness. Since the behavior is learned and is not an instinct, it requires a preconception of what the toolmaker wants to create, a certain amount of imagination is required to picture the goal before it is realized. What’s more, creating a stone tool requires a sense of the structural properties of the rock. (I’ve actually tried making stone tools with various types of rock, and let me tell you that it’s not so easy. Even with an archaeologist giving me advice, I was only able to create stone tools of the sophistication of an Australopithecus—randomly beating the stone until a sharp edge was created.) Thus both our creative drive and our knowledge are involved in this quintessentially human activity. “Every animal leaves traces of what he was. Man alone leaves traces of what he created.”

This brings Bronowski to one of his main points, one of the themes of this series: that art and science are not fundamentally different; rather, they are two manifestations of the human spirit. What is this human spirit? It is a composite of many qualities, what Bronowski calls “a jigsaw of human faculties,” which include our wide behavioral flexibility, our capacity to play, our need to create, our curiosity about the natural world, our sense of adventure, our love of variety. Indeed, these can be pithily described by saying that humans retain many childlike characteristics throughout their lives. The name of the last episode is “The Long Childhood.”

One of my favorite sequences in this documentary is when Bronowski takes the viewer from the posts and lintels of the Greek temples, to the arches in the Roman aqueduct in Segovia, to the somewhat prettier arches in the Mezquita in Cordoba, to the cathedral at Reims with its magnificent flying buttresses. Each of these structures, he explains, is a more sophisticated solution to this problem: how do you create a covered space out of stone? The lintel and post system used by the Greeks leads to a forest of columns, and the Mezquita, although less crowded, is still filled with arches. The Medieval Christians achieved a magnificent solution by placing the buttresses on the outside, thus leading to the towering, open interior of Reims.

We’re used to thinking of this development as an architectural triumph, but as Bronowski points out, it was also an intellectual triumph. This progression represents better and better understandings of the structural properties of stone, of the force of gravity, and of the distribution of weight. And when you see it play out in front of your eyes, it’s hard to shake the impression that these marvelous works are also progressively more elegant solutions to a mathematical puzzle. This is just one example of Bronowski’s talent: to see the artistic in the scientific and the scientific in the artistic; and he does this by seeing the human spirit in all of it.

Here’s another example. Bronowski wants to talk about how humanity has come to understand space, and how this understanding of space underpins our knowledge of structure. How does he do it? He goes to the Alhambra, and analyzes the symmetry in the tiles of the Moorish Palace. Then, he bends down and spreads a bunch of crystals on the ground, and begins to talk about the molecular symmetry that gave rise to them. It’s such a stunning juxtaposition. How many people would think to compare Moorish architecture with modern chemistry? But it’s so appropriate and so revealing that I couldn’t help but be awed.

As the title suggests, this series is not simply about science (or art), but about science through history. Bronowski aims to show how humanity, once freed from the constraints of instinct, used a combination of logic and imagination to achieve ever-deeper conceptions of our place in the universe. This is the Ascent of Man: a quest for self knowledge. It’s sometimes hard for us moderns to grasp this, but consider that we are living in one of the brief times in history that we can explain the formation of the earth, the origin of our species, and even the workings of our own brains. Imagine not knowing any of that. It’s hard to envy former ages when you consider that their sense of their place of the universe was based on myth supported by authority, or was simply a mystery. I’m sure (and I earnestly hope) that future generations will believe the same about us.

Bronowski’s final message is a plea to continue this ascent. This means spreading a understanding and an appreciation of science, as his programs tries to do. This strikes me as terribly important. I’ve met so many people who say things like “Science is a form of faith” or “Science can’t solve every problem” or “Science is dehumanizing and arrogant.” It’s sad to hear intelligent people say things like this, for it simply isn’t true. It’s an abuse of language to call science a faith; then what isn’t? And yes, of course science can’t solve every problem and can’t answer every question; but can anything? Science can solve some problems, and can do so very well. And science, as Bronowski points out, is the very opposite of dehumanizing and arrogant. Science is a most human form of knowledge, born of humility of our intellectual powers, based on repeated mistakes and guesses, always pressing forward into the unknown, always revising its opinions based on evidence. Atrocities are committed, not by people who are trained to question their own beliefs, but by ideologues who are convinced they are right.

This is Bronowski’s essential message. But like in any good story, the telling is half of it. As I’ve mentioned above, Bronowski and his team are brilliant at finding unexpected ways to illustrate abstract ideas. This series is full of wonderful and striking visual illustrations of Bronowski’s points. On top of this, the man is a natural storyteller, and effectively brings to life many of this series’ heroes: Newton, Galileo, Alfred Russell Wallace, Mendel. He’s also a poet; one of his books is a study of William Blake’s poetry. This not only gives him a knack for similes, but helps him to explain how science is fundamentally creative. One of my favorite scenes is when Bronowski compares abstract portraits of a man to the ways that various scientific instruments—radar, infrared, cameras, X-rays—detect the man’s face. As he explains, both the portrait and these readings are interpretations of their subjects.

The cinematography is also excellent. There are some sequences in this documentary that are still impressive, saturated as we are with CGI. There are even some quite psychedelic sections. One of my favorite of these was a sequence of microscopic shots of human cells with Pink Floyd (who contributed music) jamming chaotically in the background. Unlike in Clark’s Civilisation, which uses exclusively ‘classical’ music and is devoid of special effects, the style of this documentary is surprisingly modern and even edgy. Another thing Bronowski does that Clark doesn’t, is include some information on non-Western cultures, from Meso-America, Japan, China, and Easter Island.

Yes, there are some parts of this that are outdated. Most obviously, much of the scientific information is no longer accurate—particularly the information on human evolution in the first episode. This is unavoidable, and is in fact a tribute to the ideals Bronowski championed. More jarring is Bronowski’s somewhat negative assessments of the culture of Easter Island and the lifestyle of nomadic peoples. Less controversially, he also has some negative words to say about Hegel. (Did you know Hegel published an absurd thesis when he was young about how the distance of the orbits of the planets had to conform to a number series?) Another mark of this program’s age is that Bronowski several times shows nudity and even a human birth. This would never fly on television today, at least not in the States.

But these signs of age are minor, and the program remains a tremendous accomplishment. The Ascent of Man is a landmark in the history of science education and of documentary making, and a stirring vision of the progress of humanity by an brilliant and sympathetic man. I hope you get a chance to watch it.

[Alynus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cartea de față trece în revistă evoluția omului din preistorie și până spre a doua jumătate a secolului 20, cu accent pe descoperirile științifice care au schimbat cursul istoriei. Scrisă acum mai bine de 50 de ani, această colecție de eseuri, cum este numită chiar de către autor, însoțește documentarul BBC cu același nume. Cu precizarea că unele informații sunt depășite și că uneori se simte în construcția frazelor că ele însoțesc un material video, mi-a făcut plăcere să redescopăr marile teorii științifice care au contribuit la progresul omenirii.

[Jason Estrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. This book inspired me in a way that I've never been before. What is explained by the man, is nothing short of crystal clear descriptions of Humankind's physical, scientific, sociological and theological discoveries from the very first roaming tribes to our modern era. It is presented, stripped of the wordy, overly philosophical ramblings and data heavy meanderings found in other books that cover similar subject matter. Concise, endearing, earthy, genius. A must for anybody who needs a refresher course on general science, anthropology, physics etc.

[Arianne X · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Inhumanity of Descent

This book is written in what at first seems to be a foreign language, but it is really a dead language, one no longer in use. This of course is the language of humanism. Science and human advancement are not possible without humanism. Now, we speak in the ignorant language of religious dogma with a tone of arrogance as we assert absolute truths outside the test of reality based on ancient superstitions. This is the new lingua franca of an anti-science, anti-intellectual society in descent. Religion, armed to the teeth with dogma and ignorance, with its promise of absolute truth, is a violent assault upon reason and reality. When people act as if they know the absolute or universal truth, there is no limit to the depth of darkness to which they can descend. Absolute belief enables, empowers, and encourages dark nihilistic forces. What we are now facing is power decoupled from reality. This is the key issue with AI. AI can be a great step forward in human ascent, but AI decoupled from reality will lead to human descent.

The inspired ignorant mob is now rolling back public health achievements and taking away healthcare accomplishments as well as banning books, which is the prelude to banning people. With the re-arrival of Trump comes the end to a cultural tradition of tolerance. The U.S. will soon no longer be hospitable to imagination, innovation, cooperation, and progress. What is left of humanism, reason, and basic social sanity, is now in retreat in the face of a lurid circus of coming cruelty and ignorant brutish tyranny. Retrograde fools armed with the clumsy certainty of their monstrous religious beliefs and political ideology, further equipped with the newest tools of technology are in the ascendency. Thinking itself is a threat to the political right because the right draws from a deep well of antirational religious beliefs and thus privileges the metaphysics of magic and myth over reason and experience. We are lurching toward another humanitarian crisis that the current generation is too stupid to see before its very own eyes!

Jacob Bronowski is of course the consummate humanist, a noble humanitarian, and a personal hero of mine. This book is more relevant now than when it was written in 1973, a year before the author’s untimely death. Relevant not for some of the scientific facts and remarks which are dated in some respects, but for the sheer humanism and unparalleled optimism Bronowski brings to the subject of human development. I think some of the more critical reviewers of this book focus too much on the ostensible and dated scientific claims and miss the deeper timeless nature of Bronowski’s approach which is about the nexus between human imagination, human action and human progress which drives human ascent. This book is an intellectual history which it makes it supremely relevant in an anti-intellectual age. Every era, age and civilization has continuities and turning points and I believe we are at a turning point now. A secular age of reason can give way to a subsequent age of religious violence and superstition. This has happened in the past and is currently underway now. One example, from the book, in 1973 the author could seriously state, without controversy, “The theory of evolution is no longer a battleground.” Need I say more?

Bone Chilling Prediction

From a book written fifty years ago, to wit: “And yet, fifty years from now, if an understanding of man’s origins, his evolution, his history, his progress is not the commonplace of the schoolbooks, we shall not exist.”

One Drawback

This book is essentially the script for the televised series of the same name hosted by Jacob Bronowski. As such, at times the book flows more like a spoken script meant to be paired with missing illustrations and visual demonstrations than it does a narrative or readable text.

[Paul Brogan · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are two things to remember about this book. First, it was published in 1973: it's surprising how in the course of less than 50 years our knowledge of our evolutionary history has advanced. Second, it was originally a TV series made by the BBC: the book is arranged into 13 essays, I assume based on the original episodes.

The book starts logically enough at our roots in east Africa five million years ago. Bronowski doesn’t make nearly enough of how touch-and-go it was, not only then but at several points later when we could easily have become extinct. I think this is mainly because much of what we have learned about the tenuousness of our evolution we did quite recently. Indeed, several human branches did die out, including the Neanderthal, and if a new book on this topic were to be written, I’d like to see more attention paid to the possible reasons for these demises.

He does make the valid point that our weakness, as well as our strength, lay in the fact that we were not nearly as shaped by our environment as other animals were, honed over time into a perfect balance with those things we ate and those that would eat us. Instead, it was our brain-hand relationship that caused us rather to shape our environment. While this was an eventual advantage, it was not always so; things like climate change forced us to migrate or face annihilation.

It is also interesting how in 1973 the main source of information concerning how both Homo erectus and Homo sapiens migrated across the globe was blood groups. DNA analysis was then still a young science, but blood groups still allowed a good guess at the process. For example, it enabled us to determine that humans crossed the Bering Strait into North America, not in one but in two separate migrations, something confirmed by DNA analysis, albeit with more precision.

The next chapter deals with the transition from a nomad culture—tracking animal herds—to one of agriculture. This, according to Bronowski, started 12,000 years ago, which leaves an enormous gap from the appearance of Homo sapiens 150,000 years ago (even earlier in the case of Homo erectus), in which it is assumed our ancestors happily continued hunting and gathering. What evidence we have, especially here in Africa, indeed points in that direction, but it is sparse. It’s as if several chapters are missing from the human story, the bit between the development of tools and the domestication of animals and plants. I should have liked a more thorough attempt at fleshing out the gaps.

The ensuing chapters focus on human achievements, such as mathematics, architecture, music, astronomy, physics, chemistry, and biology. This read like a history book. While it was interesting, it was not so much about the ascent of man—some may say that he had already ascended when he founded his first city, his first enclosure against the vagaries of the elements—as it was about his applying the finishing touches to a remarkable project that had started five million years before, that was not always assured of success, and that would forever be a work in progress.

Summarizing, I enjoyed the book, but knowledge moves on, man continues to ascend, and an update would be welcome.

[Mehmet]

İnsandaki entelektüel arayış, uğraş devam ettiği sürece, insanın yükselişi de devam edecektir. Yazar, kitabı iki temel sorunun üzerine inşa etmiş:
1- Neden diğer türler değil de insan bu derece yükseldi?
2- Bu yükselmede lokomotifliği kim yaptı?

Kitap boyunca bu sorulara yanıtlar arıyoruz ve bunları tartışıyoruz. Yazarın görüşü, insanın diğer türlerden evrimsel olarak daha avantajlı olmasını sağlayan bazı özelliklerinin bulunmasıdır. Bunlar doğayı biçimlendirme ve bir uğraş amacıyla kullanma, doğaya egemenlik kurma, doğayı anlamaya çalışmak gibi farklı bölümlerde açıklanıyor. En temel farklılıklardan birisi ise "entelektüel arayış". İnsanın hiç yoktan; ilave bir merak duygusuyla yaptığı çalışmaların; diğer hiçbir türde olamayacağını düşünüyor.
Kitabı; kapağına bakarak satın almak yanıltıcı olur. Kitabın bu sitedeki farklı dillerden 26 edisyonunun hiçbirinde evrime dair bir kapak yoktur. Bu baskının (İst. 2012) kapağını tasarlayan sayın Mehmet İlhan Kaya muhtemelen kitabın sadece ilk iki bölümünü okumuştur. Zira, bu kitap bir evrim tarihi değil, bir "bilim tarihi" olarak kabul edilebilir.

Kitapta yazarın düştüğü birkaç tuzak olduğunu düşünüyorum. Bunlar sırasıyla:
Lineer tarih düşüncesi
İnsanın yükselişini lineer bir tarih algısıyla yazan yazarın; dinlerin özellikle kullandığı, her şeyin çizgisel bir zaman üzerinde yol aldığı düşüncesinden etkilendiği ortadadır. Tıpkı Fukuyama'nın Kapitalizmin Nihai zafere doğru ilerlediğini söylemesi, Marx'ın tarihin akışının nihai zafere doğru ilerlediğini söylemesi gibi; yazar da insançocuğunun hikayesinin yükselişe devam ettiğini düşünüyor ve bunun da zorunlu olduğunu söylüyor. Oysa evrim; yahut da doğal seçilim çizgisel bir şey olarak görünse de; aslında her zaman böyle değildir. Zamanla bozulan, kötüye giden türler olduğu gibi; nesli tükenen canlı sayısı bugün hesaplanamamaktadır.

Batı merkezli tarih yazımı
Kitapta 139. sayfada Lorenzo Ghiberti'yi perspektif okulunda "öncül" olarak anlattığı bölümde, Lorenzo'nun Alhazen'in "Optik Bilimi" isimli kitabına şerh yazdığını da ağzından kaçırır yazar. İbni Heyzem'den (Alhazen) bir daha hiç bahsetmez. Bir fısıltı gibi geçen ismi, öylece havada kalır; hatta kitabın indeksine bile alınmaz. Oysa İbni Heyzem'e şerh yazan Lorenzo Ghiberti bu alanda yazar tarafından öncül kabul edilecektir. Yazar, İslamın bilime katkısından bahsettiği her bölümde İslam'ın bunu kimden aldığını özenle dile getirir. Usturlap Yunanlılardan, Kemerler Latinlerden, sıfır ise Hintlilerden alınmıştır. Paracelsus'un Avicenna'nın kitaplarını yaktığını söylediği bölümde; Paracelsus'u öve öve bitiremezken; bu davranışını adeta geçmişin köhne dönemini yıktığını ima eder gibi anlatmaktadır. Oysa Avicenna, yani İbn-i Sina; yazarın ısrarla "Aristo'ya şerh yazan" diye tanımladığı İbn-i Sina Paracelsus'un bulunduğu dönemdeki tıp anlayışından fersah fersah ötede olup; tıp bilgilerini "Aristo"ya şerh düşerek öğrenmemiştir.

Bu sadece İslam'a yapılmamış, Çin'in bilime katkısını geçtim; son bölümde "veya Çin" demek dışında bilim tarihinde adı bile geçmez. Barutun mucitleri tarihten dışlanmıştır. İleri matematikçi İnkaların da aralarında bulunduğu bütün Amerika uygarlıkları "tekerleği bile icat edememiş, yalnızca sırta konmuş yük aşamasında" kalmıştır yazara göre.

İnsançocuğunun seçilmişliğine inanan yazar, bilimde lokomotifliği de Batı uygarlığına vermiştir. Giordano Bruno'yu yakan batı uygarlığına! Bu elim olay bile bir sayfada kısaca anlatılıp geçiştirilmiştir.

Kitabın Batı merkezci tarih yazımıyla yazıldığını düşünüyorum. Medeniyette Batı'nın öncüllüğü tartışılması faydalı bir konu değildir. Newton'un Optik Bilimi kitabından bahsederken, Newton'dan asırlar önce yaşamış Harezmi'den, İbni Heyzen'den bahsetme zorunluluğu vardır. Zira, kitapta sıklıkla biliminsanlarının fikrilerine itibar edilmemesinden dem vururken; yazar bunu kendisi yapmıştır.

Seçilimci tarih algısında, -her ne kadar yazıları yazarlarıyla değerlendirmek adetim olmasa da- yazarın Yahudi olması sebep olmuş olabilir mi? Gerçi tabib İbn-i Meymun, yahut filozof İbn-i Cebirol gibi Yahudi isimler de atlanmış.

Yine de okunması gereken bir kitap, bu kitaptan öğrenilecek çok şey var. Bilim rafında mutlaka bulunmalı.

https://agacingovdesi.com/2021/04/02/...

[Seizure Romero · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was assigned for a college course I took about a thousand years ago. The instructor was obsessed with Jacob Bronowski, so he played many, if not all of the documentary episodes that went along with the book, probably so he could sit in the corner and hide his boner (c'mon, the course was called "The Ascent of Man" fer chrissakes. It should have been called "The Life and Times of Jacob Bronowski Plus Some Stuff That Might Make You Ungrateful Wankers Appreciate Not Living in Mud Huts." The guy was way too into it. And don't even act like you never had to hide a boner in college). So anyway, I payed very close attention to the movies and left my copy of the book in its plastic wrap and managed to get a better grade than my friends (neener). Years later, when those cheap bastards at Half-Price Books offered me a quarter for my still-in-plastic-$16.95-cover-price copy, I counter-offered a few suggestions as to what they could do with their quarter and went home and finally opened it and read the damned thing. It was alright.

[Mohammed Alsalik · Rating 4 out of 5]

يتحدث الكتاب عن التطور الحضاري للإنسان والذي بدأ كما يقول الكتاب منذ عشرة الآف سنة فقط والذي بدأ عندما اتخذ الانسان قراره بالتوقف عن الترحال والإستقرار في مدينة ..منذ ذلك الوقت فقط بدأت مسيرة الحضارة
أكبر خطوة في ارتقاء الإنسان تكمن في انتقاله من مرحلة البداوة الى المرحلة الزراعية وتأسيس القرية

ثم ينتقل للحديث عن تطور العلوم وتقدمها ويبدأ بالرياضيات التي يعتبرها أكثر العلوم دقة وأعمقها فكرا وينتقل بعده لعلم الفلك ويروي قصة العالم غاليليو وصراعه مع الكنيسة ومحكمة التفتيش ويروي تفاصيل محاكمته
وفي الكتاب جزء طويل عن العالم اسحاق نيوتن واختراعاته العديدة وعن العالم العبقري آينشتاين ولم أهتم كثيرا للتفاصيل العلمية المعقدة والمملة في الكتاب بل لفت نظري الجانب الشخصي من حياة العلماء وخصوصا آينشتاين حيث كان هذا العبقري لا يعبأ بالنجاح أو الشهرة وكان يكره الحرب والقسوة والنفاق وفوق كل شيء كان يكره التعصب وقد رفض أن يصبح رئيسا لإسرائيل لهذه الإعتبارات

من الملفت وصفه للإمبراطورية الإسلامية بأنها حضارة اتسمت بالقوة الهائلة والسماحة والرحمة بينما كانت أوروبا تغط في العصور المظلمة ويقول ان الإسلام كان في محتواه الفكري نموذجا للتأمل والتحليل فالنبي محمد كان يؤكد بإصرار على أن الإسلام ليس دين معجزات ولم يعط الإسلام الله صفات شخصية بشرية خلافا للدينيين التوحيديين السابقين ويصف الصوفية في الإسلام بانها ليست دما ونبيذا وجسدا وخبزا بل هي نشوة سماوية لا دنيوية ويعتبر ان أهم إبتكار أنجزه العلماء العرب كان في مجال كتابة الأعداد فقد استبدل المسلمون الطريقة الرومانية لكتابة الأعداد بالطريقة العشرية الحديثة التي لا زالت تسمى بالطريقة العربية إلى الآن ..ولم تعرف أوروبا هذا النظام إلا بعد خمسة قرون على ذلك ... هذا الجزء من الكتاب يجعلك تشعر بالفخر وبالحسرة في ذات الوقت

الكتاب مفيد ولكن عيبه القاتل هو الإغراق في التفاصيل العلمية المملة والمعقدة التي يصعب يفهمها على غير المتخصص

[Koen Crolla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never thought I'd say this, but this book would be better if it had been written by an anthropologist rather than a mathematician.

The Ascent of Man is the companion book to the 1973 BBC documentary of the same name; I didn't realise this when I bought it (I haven't seen it), but I remembered I knew of its existence upon reading the introduction. It certainly reads like a BBC documentary, with a tediously slow and pompous prose that works better for television narration by David Attenborough or indeed Jacob Bronowski than for a book.
It sets out to give an overview of the whole of human history, briefly going over our biological evolution, and then covering in some detail our cultural evolution.

It's worth noting that Bronowski isn't, despite what seems to be a sincere effort, a biologist, historian, or anthropologist, but a mathematician with a background in physics. Maybe this is why his discussion of our evolutionary origins is often too sloppy (for instance, he explains that he does not like the name Australopithecus because it means ``southern ape'', which is confusing for something that ``for the first time was not an ape'', which is obviously wrong; I considered that probably to be an artefact of his native Polish, which, like most languages, does not have a colloquial distinction between monkeys and apes but does have one between monkeys and non-human apes on the one hand (małpa) and humans on the other, but Bronowski made it clear later on that he doesn't speak a word of Polish anymore), and his discussion of history just repeats a whole lot of layperson misconceptions and ancient canards (starting with the idea that nomadic cultures are culturally arid, because nomads don't have time to create artifacts that aren't strictly practical or the ability to cart them around with them, and just continuing on from there until he reaches the 20th century).
Or maybe it's just because the book was written in 1973, before many of the things we now know were well-known (for instance, the reason the New World lagged behind the Old in terms of technology; Bronowski suggests it's because it was colonised later, around the end of the last ice age, ignoring his earlier statement that that's also the time period cultural evolution began in earnest in the Old World as well) and when the kind of cultural condescension he exhibits (casually referring to Europe as ``the civilised world'', completely disregarding China and ``the Mohammedans'' (though he calls Mohammed ``Mahomet'') even as he patronisingly praises the latter for their Golden Age mathematics elsewhere) was more acceptable. I don't know.

Either way, and high-profile accolades notwithstanding (Dawkins, Sagan, Singh), The Ascent of Man could be a lot better than it is. Bronowski should have gotten a historian to punch him in the chest from time to time.

[Charles · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not finish this book so I won't officially count it in my own stats as read. But there's no real way to indicate that here. They need an "abandoned" choice. The reason why I'm reviewing it is because there are numerous errors in the first chapter that make this a problematic read. That's as far as I got. These errors have to do with human evolution. This book was originally published in 1973 so that explains some of the mistakes, but not all. And the mistakes that would not be blamed on the time of writing made me unable to feel comfortable with what else I might find in the book, perhaps errors that I didn't recognize as errors.

An added disappointment is that there is a foreword by Richard Dawkins written in 2011. Dawkins certainly would have recognized these errors, which makes me suspect that he didn't actually read the book. I cannot recommend this book.

[Seham · Rating 5 out of 5]

التطور الحضاري الذي استغرق الانسان آلاف السنين حصره الرياضي جاكوب برونوفسكي في عدة فصول.
لم يتطور الانسان الا بالاستيطان لما بدأ يدجن بعض الحيوانات- الكلب أولها :) ثم الماعز و ما يؤكل لحمه، ثم حيوانات الجر- و يزرع بعض النباتات. و من هنا انطلقت المدنية فكانت أول مستوطنة هي أريحا، و كذلك كانت بداية الحروب، اذا غارت مجموعة من البدو الرحل لتسلب حاصدي القمح ما فاض عندهم من حنطه، و من ذلك يتضح أن الحروب ليست غريزية، بل هي شكل من أشكال السرقة و اللصوصية.
ثم يعرض ارتقاء الانسان بالاعمار و استخراجه للمعادن محللاً جميع ما أنتجه الانسان من علوم (فيزياء كيمياء أحياء) و تناول ما يستحق أن يُذكر عن الرجال ذوي الفضل و كيف توصلوا لما ما انتهوا إليه، و تأثير اكتشافاتهم على الحياة الاجتماعية و الفنية و الفكرية للإنسان.
كان بودي تلخيص جميع الفصول الا أن الكتاب غزير بالمعلومات.
كتاب شيق، كتاب موجز لكل شيء :)

[Simon Hollway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful stuff...consistently sublime segues between chapters, historical periods and theories. At least a dozen phenomenal insights into several anthropological mainstays. A manner of metaphor and analogy that distills entire theses into a single, resonant sentence. Humility of expression and thought twinned with a generosity of spirit keep the subject in the spotlight throughout whilst the narrator discretely maintains the tempo unseen, offstage.

As suitable for the adept as it is for either the dilettante or the debutante. Bronowski unveils his formidable, but never alienating, intellect. Top marks.

[Rıdvan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okuması zaman aldı. Ancak bilinsel yayınlar zaten hep böyledir. Bu kitabı diğer bilinsel yayınlardan ayıran ise çok daha kolay anlaşılır dili.
Taaa ilk insandan başlamış ve kısa bir tarih özeti çıkarmış yazar. Oldukça faydalı. Kapaktan evrim anlaşılsa bile kitap sadece evrimle başlıyor ama süratle ilerlieyip sanayi devrimi iç savaşlar avrupa asya kadim medeniyetler ve her şeyden kısaca bahsediyor.

[أحمد · Rating 3 out of 5]

كان من الممكن أن استمع إلى كلمات هذا الكتاب بينما أشاهد لقطات طبيعية أخّاذة، أو توثيق لحياة قبائل بدائية، أو أشاهد مواقع الحفريات والآثار، أو إعادة تمثيل لأحداث تاريخية مرّت ببعض العلماء، أو حتى محاكاة مجسمة لعمل الخلايا والجزئيات، فالكتاب في الأصل هو نَص تعليقات برنامج وثائقي اسمه ارتقاء الإنسان، أعدّه المؤلف وعُرف به، وأذاعته قناة البي بي سي الوثائقية، ثم لما مرّت سنة على انتهاء حلقات البرنامج، مات صاحبه!، أو كما يقتبسون من الإنجيل في صفحة وفيات الأهرام: فلما انقضت أيام خدمته انصرف إلى بيته

مثلاً





هذا وقد حوّل المؤلف نصوص الحلقات إلى كلمات مطبوعة، وقال أنه التزم فيه بدقة بنص الأحاديث التي عرضت على الشاشة، لأن: للكاتب المطبوع حريّة فوق هذا مضافة،فليس به ذلك الالتزام القاسي بالتقدّم مع الزمن إلى الأمام كما هو الحال بالنسبة لكل الأحاديث، إذ يستطيع القارئ أن يقوم بما لا يستطيعه المشاهد أو المستمع، فله أن يتوقف وأن يتأمل، ويقلب ما مر عليه من صفحات ويعود إلى ما قرأه من حجج، ويقارن بين حقيقة وأخرى، ويقيم - عمومًا - تفاصيل البراهين دون أن يشتت ذلك فكره، وهذه المبررات ليست كافية صراحة فآلة الفيديو كان قد تم اختراعها حينذاك


ولأنني عدمت هذه الصور والمشاهد واللقطات والمحاكات، ولأن المؤلف قال إنه لا يتتبع خطًا زمنيًا وإنما أبرز التطورات، فقد فَقَدَ الكتاب نصف متعته، والكتاب في جزئه الأول على أي حال لم أره إلا مملا!، عندما كان يتحدث عن الإنسان الأول والحفريات وفنّ الكهوف، والعصور الجليدية، والنار الاختراع الأعظم؛ وتبدد الملل لحظات عندما قرأت:


إن تطوير مهارات دقيقة مثل هذه ومثل استخدام النار ليس بظاهرة تؤخذ منفردة، فعلينا أن نتذكر دائمًا أن المضمون الحقيقي للتطور، بيولوجيا أم حضاريًا، هو ابتكار سلوك جديد، ولأن السلوك لا يترك حفريات فقد كان علينا أن نبحث عنه في العظام والأسنان؛ والعظام والأسنان في حد ذاتها ليست مثيرة، ولا حتى بالنسبة للمخلوق الذي تنتمي إليه، فإنها تخدمه كمعدات للعمل، وهي تهمنا لأنها - كمعدات - تفصح عن أعماله، فالتغيّر في المعدات إنما يكشف عن التغيرات في السلوك والمهارة




ثم عاد الملل كما كان!، ومضى الإنسان يرتقي من القنص إلى الزراعة، وتفجّر الينبوع، فجاء الماء وجاء القمح معًا، وجاء البدو الرحّل بأوجههم السمراء المغبرة ينظرون في حماس - كما يصف المؤلف - إلى الطريقة الجديدة في الحياة، فاستطونت الشعوب، وجاء الحسد!، فتسوّرت المدينة، وبنيت القلاع، ويختم هذا الفصل:


وما يزال البدو الرحل في دورهم التاريخي الأخير - كمثيري حرب - خطأ بل وأسوأ من خطأ في تاريخ عالم اكتشف خلال الأثنى عشر ألف سنة الأخيرة أن الحضارة تصنعها الشعوب المستقرة




ولم أعرف هل كان يعرّض المؤلف بأحدهم هنا أو لا!، فهو من علماء اليهود، وهذا الكلام كُتب عام 1972 تقريبًا، ولكن لا يبدو هذا، فهو القائل عن دولة الإسلام في موضع آخر من كتابه عقب حديثه عن ظهور الإسلام ودور العلماء والفلاسفة المسلمين،في كلام كثير جميل، لا يغفل فيه الإشارة بالتأكيد إلى دور الأمم الأخرى من غير المسلمين أو العرب:


ربما كان حجم الامبراطورية الإسلامية هو الذي يجعلها سوقًا للمعرفة تضم بين طلبتها مسيحيين نسطوريين في الشرق ويهود في الغرب، وربما كانت هذه إحدى مميزات الإسلام كدين، فهو دين لم يحتقر معرفة الشعوب وهو يجاهد كي يهديهم إليه




ومضى الجزء الأول بما فيه، وجاء الثاني، وتغيّر أسلوب الكتاب كثيرًا، فهو فيه اقترب من مجالات تخصصه واهتماماته، أي الرياضيات والعناصر الفيزيائية وعلوم الإحياء، وجرى الحديث هنا بشكل مباين لحديثه في الجزء الأول، ورأيته وقد قطع ثنيات الحديث فجأة ليقرر:

إنني أتحدث عن هذه المواضيع بنوع من العاطفة، لأنها بالنسبة لي تحمل بالطبع خصيصة الخبرة لا الذاكرة



وهذه العاطفة يدخل في جوهرها بالتأكيد شغف الحديث عن الروّاد الأوائل وأعمالهم، والاهتمام بالبشر قبل أعمالهم، فهو تحدث عن حيوات (وبشيء من التفصيل، خاصة في سيَر جاليلو ونيوتن وداروين) واعمال هؤلاء الأعلام، ثم طوى هذه الصفحات المشرقة كلها بقوله:


أن الرجال الذين صنعوا هذه التصورات الذهنية، الواحد منهم بعد الآخر، هم أبطال عصرنا الروّاد، مندليف وهو يفنّط بطاقاته، ج.ج. طومسون الذي أسقط العقيدة الاغريقية بأن الذرة لا تنقسم، رذرفورد الذي أحالها إلى نظام شمسي، نيلز بوهر الذي جعل هذا النموذج يعمل، شادويك الذي اكتشف النوترون، وفيرمي الذي استخدمه ليكتشف النواة ويحوّلها، وعلى رأس هؤلاء جميعًا محطمو المعتقدات التقليدية، المؤسسون الأوَل للتصورات الذهنية الجديدة: ماكس بلانك، الذي منح الطاقة الصفةَ الذرية، صفة المادة، ولودفيج بولتسمان الذي ندين له أكثر من أي شخص آخر بحقيقة أن غدت الذرة - ذلك العالم - ولها من الواقعية ما لعالمنا نفسه [..] ليس لديّ من الألفاظ ما يضارع هذا الجمال المركّز الثاقب الذي قدمه بولتسمان، ولكني سأقتبس من الشاعر "وليم بليك"، الأبيات الأربعة التي ابتدأ بها قصيدته نذير البراءة:


"كي ترى العالم في حبّة رمل
والسماء في زهرة بريّة
عليك أن تقبض الأبدية في راحة كفّك
والخلود في ساعة زمن"




اممم، أين كان هذا الأسلوب من قبل، و"وليم بليك"!، وهو في الحقيقة قد وضع كتابًا عنه، وهناك قصة مستغربة تقول إنه زوجته - وقبل زاوجه منها - طلبت منه أن ترسمه عاريًا! - هو لا هي! - فوافق!، وفي سبيل إزجاء الوقت ناولته ديوان وليم بليك ليتشاغل به لحين انتهائها


والمؤلف أشار إلى شكسبير ومسرحياته في أربع إشارات متفرقة على مدار الكتاب، لم تكن بينهن هذه المرّة عندما كان يتحدث عن معتقدات القدماء، ويقول مثلاً أن المصريين كانوا يعتقدون أن التمسايح تولد من طمي النيل بتأثير أشعة الشمس، هنا بالذات قلت في نفسي إنه واسع المعرفة ليعرف أمثال هذه المعتقدات، إنه بارع!، ثم أنهيت الكتاب وقرأت بعده -اتفاقًا - مسرحية أنطونيو وكليوباترا لشكسبير، ودهشت حقًا عندما عاد أنطونيو - من مصر - إلى روما، وقابل ليوبدوس النبيل والحاكم الروماني، ليرحّب بعودته ويقول له فيما يقول:


ليوبدوس: هل عندكم أفاع غريبة؟

انطونيو: نعم يا ليوبدوس

ليوبدوس: الثعابين المصرية تتوّلد من الطمي بتأثير الشمس، وهذا هو شأن التماسيح أيضًا؟

انطونيو: نعم، هذه هي الحال

ليوبدوس: ما شكل هذا الحيوان الذي يسمونه التمساح؟

انطونيو: له شكل خاص به، فإنه عريض قدر عرضه، وطويل قدر طوله، ويسير بأعضاء جسمه، ويعيش مما يتغذى به، وعندما تنقطع أنفاسه يتحوّل إلى مخلوق آخر





يجب أن أحترس مما أتمناه!!

:D



ويجب كذلك عليّ أن أتخيل أن هذا الحوار كتبه شكسبير شعرًا وأنها مسرحية شعرية في الأساس، وإلا لهبطت المسرحية- بالترجمة - إلى الحضيض!

[Jee Koh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the BBC television series of the same name, The Ascent of Man charts the development of human civilization through the lens of scientific progress. Though clearly intended to be only an introduction to its subjects, the book is tremendously wide in scope, taking in paleontology, architecture, alchemy, industrialization, quantum physics and genetics; noticeably, it has little to say about psychology. It is organised in powerful thematic chapters that are also more or less chronological. So it begins by looking at human fossils in Chapter 1 Lower than the Angels, and ends by discussing John von Neumann and game theory in Chapter 13 The Long Childhood. Since the book was published in 1973, I expect its discussion of contemporary science (and perhaps historical events and figures) needs updating. But, as the chapter titles suggest, the book is not so much concerned with presenting up-to-date facts as with creating "a philosophy for the twentieth century which shall be all of one piece" (from the Foreword).

It is a philosophy that puts man at the center of things. He is, in this book, the seeker of knowledge, and seek using the tools of observation, reasoning, and conversation. I guess the philosophy can be called scientific rationalism. And one of the many achievements of this lucid and learned book is to restore the viability of this view. It does so by not ignoring the fall-out from technological progress, whether it be the harsh factories of the Industrial Revolution or the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagaski. It does so also by reminding us of the responsible actions taken by some industrialists and innovators in their respective situations, and so proves its point that science was not to blame, but man's uses of it were. Related to this, Bronowski deplores what he calls "the aristocracy of the intellect," scientists who move away from the needs of people, and into the arms of government, industry and corporations. Bronowski calls for, instead, "a democracy of the intellect." By that he means a society that not only allows the specialist to do specialist things, but also educates the non-specialists like us on how nature works.

Jacob Bronowski was a British mathematician, biologist, poet and playwright. In reflection of the different facets of his mind, his prose is clear, organizing, poetic, with a strong feel for the dramatic illustration or detail. I read all 438 pages of the book in the course of two leisurely days. The accompanying pictures are often revelatory as well. At his death in 1974, a year after the publication of the book, he was a Fellow of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California.

[Xavier Patiño · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski is a wonderful book about the beginnings of the human species and all of the fascinating and incredible leaps and bounds in knowledge and technology we have made.

There are 12 chapters and they touch upon so many different subjects. Our story begins in the savannas of Africa, where our ancestors were once tree dwellers and eventually began to walk upright. Humans transformed stones into tools and became hunter-gatherers, ultimately bringing forth the Neolithic Revolution.

As time moved on, we learned to tame the land by planting seeds and growing crops. Humans disciplined the ox, mules and horses for battle and farming. By building canals we controlled the flow of water. The discovery of metals thrust us into the Copper and Iron Ages.

Mathematics skyrocketed intellectual thinking and we began to apply that thinking to shapes and geometry. Galileo Galilie turned the telescope towards the Moon and left humanity in awe. Sir Isaac Newton gave motion to the planets by inventing calculus and Albert Einstein gave the speed light and the slowing of time a definition -- the Theory of Relativity.

The discovery of quantum physics and the subatomic world expanded our way of thinking. The Theory of Evolution by Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace lifted the veil of nature's mysterious ways.

It was a delightful trip learning about all the amazing things humans have achieved. To learn about how we moved up the intellectual ladder was inspiring. Bronowski points out the importance of the continual push for knowledge and how to maintain that goal for future generations. Who knows where the human race will end up if we do.

[María · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tomando en cuenta que es un libro cuya primera edición se tiró en 1973, es decir, a la fecha de esta opinión hace 47 años, es impresionantemente bueno. Me gustó bastante la forma en que el autor narra las experiencias del hombre, los cambios, los cuestionamientos y sobretodo, el enfoque final me pareció extraordinario: "El hombre es único no por su obra científica, es único no por su obra artística, sino porque tanto la ciencia como el arte son expresiones iguales de su prodigiosa plasticidad
mental".
Vamos avanzando, ascendiendo, caminando y necesitamos ser demasiado quisquillosos para estar conscientes de eso. "De no dar nosotros el paso siguiente en el ascenso del hombre, será dado por gente de cualquier otro lugar, en África, en China. ¿Debo considerar esto como algo triste? No, no por sí mismo. La humanidad tiene derecho a cambiar de color".

Me pareció extraordinario.

[Joan Colby · Rating 5 out of 5]

A marvelous study of man’s rise shown through the lens of scientific discoveries. Written for the intelligent layman, and the basis of the lauded TV series, this is an essential book for anyone interested in the evolution of science.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading so many books about the descent of the man, I finally decided enough was enough and I needed to read a book about a man going upward. From fire to fission there are so many steps on the latter to go from being a baby what crawls to a man what can destroy entire cities full of people without damaging their precious buildings. My only complaint about this story is that there was no reference to Boys II Men a group of minstrels what clearly understood the story of ascending men better than most.
Einstein- mentioned
Newton- mentioned
Copernicus- mentioned
Boys II Men - unmentioned.
The book needs an update. We must agree on that if we are to feel that we are truly evolved and rational creatures.

[Nikos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ένα εξαιρετικό βιβλίο στο οποίο βασίστηκε και η ομώνυμη σειρά του BBC. Ασχολείται με την εξέλιξη του ανθρώπινου γένους κυρίως με την επιστημονική έννοια και αναλύει ανά κεφάλαιο και διαφορετικούς τομείς της επιστήμης. Τα βασικότερα επιτεύγματα του ανθρώπου σε Γεωργία, Χημεία, Γεωμετρία, Αστρονομία, Φυσική, Βιολογία εξετάζονται διεξοδικά και με μία στοιχειώδη χρονική αλληλουχία.
Είναι τουλάχιστον περίεργο που έχει κυκλοφορήσει μόνο το 1987 από τις εκδόσεις Ωρόρα ως βιβλίο τσέπης (μπορεί κάποιος να το βρει μόνο στα μεταχειρισμένα) και δεν έχει επανεκδοθεί από τότε.


'Το ζώο είναι είτε κοινωνικό, είτε μοναχικό. Ο άνθρωπος πάντα φιλοδοξεί να τα συνδυάσει και τα δύο και να γίνει ένα πλάσμα κοινωνικά μοναχικό. Κατά τη γνώμη μου, αυτό αποτελεί ένα μοναδικό βιολογικό γνώρισμα.'

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good passages here and there and definitely worth reading. Still, most of the time a strange mix of philosophy and science in which neither gets to bloom the way that it could have. Probably better to watch it as the TV show (of which this book is the almost 1:1 transcript).

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic but dated look at the rise and development of human science and technology. Other than decrying the creation of nuclear weapons as the result of advances in physics, this is an optimistic narrative. If Bronowski had lived long enough to update it after the damage we’ve experienced from pollution, habitat loss, extinction, and global warming, perhaps his conclusions would be much different.

[Todd Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is based on a television documentary series produced in 1973 by the BBC in association with Time-Life Films. The title alludes to The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin. The book traces the development of human society through its understanding of science.

The book is written in a rather odd and stilted style which I found completely bizarre at times. Here's an example:
"The role of women in nomad tribes is narrowly defined. Above all, the function of women is to produce men-children; too many she-children are an immediate misfortune, because in the long run they threaten disaster. Apart from that, their duties lie in preparing food and clothes. For example, the women among the Bakhtiari bake bread .... "

In the middle of the paragraph Bronowski makes a stunning statement - having lots of girls is both an immediate and long term disaster to these tribes. Setting aside, for the moment, the convoluted logic that something creates an immediate misfortune, because of the fact that it is a long term misfortune (what?!?). As a reader, the statement itself raises a lot of questions and begs follow up: why, how, what type of disaster?? You'd expect this sentence to be backed up and evidence discussed. Instead, he just tosses it out there, then moves on to women baking bread.

Perhaps this style of writing is a result of the book being modeled on the spoken transcript of the televison show. But it's really quite strange and makes the text hard to read initially. Once you get used to it, the book is pretty good.

[Jim Razinha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last year, for the 50th anniversary of the publication of Rachel Carlson's Silent Spring, New Scientist magazine came up with a list of the top 25 most influential popular science books for readers to vote on for the top 10. This made the cut at #10, and for my money, should have been a lot higher. At least higher than Gaia.

Despite being published in 1976, it stands the test of time. A few things are negated by recent discoveries, but in general, Bronowski's book tells a great story.

"We are nature's unique experiment to make the rational intelligence prove itself sounder than the reflex. Knowledge is our destiny"

I'd say the "unique" is "so far", but concur with the destiny.

Good stuff. Recommended

[Dick Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. It is a broad-brush survey of man’s cultural evolution, although his biological evolution is covered in the first chapter. It is just JB’s opinion as to what is important in man’s journey to where we are today, and his background as a physicist shows in what he describes. Since the book was written in 1973, there obviously has been much learned on the subject since then, especially in biological evolution. What is most impressive about this book is the demonstration of JB’s wide-ranging overview of his subject matter. I can remember seeing the series on TV and being impressed with JB’s breadth of knowledge. I would give this book a 9 out of 10 on my personal rating system.

[Czarny Pies · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was fun to watch "The Ascent of Man" which was a great television series. This product which is now entering my GR database is not so much a book but a printed souvenir. It is beautiful in places and often charming but lacks a coherent plan. The incidents in what alleges to be a history of science are selected on the basis of the ability of the BBC to present them in visual form. Reading it serves no useful purpose.

[Lobstergirl]

I was assigned to read this in an 8th grade science class and it seemed way above my head, which made me feel stupid, confused, and helpless. The teacher was a young hippie woman, bony and skinny, with long stringy blond hair and the quiet enthusiasm unique to science hippies. I can still picture the bony way she looked in her jeans though I've long forgotten her name.

[Hosam Diab · Rating 4 out of 5]

قرأته في طبعة سلسلة "عالم المعرفة" الكويتية، تحت عنوان ارتقاء الإنسان، ترجمة موفق شخاشيرو وترجمة زهير الكرمي. الكتاب غاية في الجمال والبساطة. رحلة في تاريخ العلوم متعرضاً لفلسفتها، مقترباً من الخط الفاصل الذي يميزنا كبشر عن سائر مخلوقات هذا الكون.

[Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was awesome tbh. Very reminiscent of a more philosophical Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. Definitely recommend if you can find it.