The Minds Of The West

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The Minds of the West

Author : Jon Gjerde
Publisher : Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN 13 : 0807861677
Total Pages : 443 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (78 download)

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Book Synopsis The Minds of the West by : Jon Gjerde

Download or read book The Minds of the West written by Jon Gjerde and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2000-11-09 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the century preceding World War I, the American Middle West drew thousands of migrants both from Europe and from the northeastern United States. In the American mind, the region represented a place where social differences could be muted and a distinctly American culture created. Many of the European groups, however, viewed the Midwest as an area of opportunity because it allowed them to retain cultural and religious traditions from their homelands. Jon Gjerde examines the cultural patterns, or "minds," that those settling the Middle West carried with them. He argues that such cultural transplantation could occur because patterns of migration tended to reunite people of similar pasts and because the rural Midwest was a vast region where cultural groups could sequester themselves in tight-knit settlements built around familial and community institutions. Gjerde compares patterns of development and acculturation across immigrant groups, exploring the frictions and fissures experienced within and between communities. Finally, he examines the means by which individual ethnic groups built themselves a representative voice, joining the political and social debate on both a regional and national level.

Where Minds and Matters Meet

Author : Volker Janssen
Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520289102
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (22 download)

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Book Synopsis Where Minds and Matters Meet by : Volker Janssen

Download or read book Where Minds and Matters Meet written by Volker Janssen and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2012-12-12 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The American WestÑwhere such landmarks as the Golden Gate Bridge rival wild landscapes in popularity and iconic significanceÑhas been viewed as a frontier of technological innovation. Where Minds and Matters Meet calls attention to the convergence of Western history and the history of technology, showing that the regionÕs politics and culture have shaped seemingly placeless, global technological practices and institutions. Drawing on political and social history as well as art history, the bookÕs essays take the cultural measure of the regionÕs great technological milestones, including San DiegoÕs Panama-California Exposition, the building of the Hetch Hetchy Dam in the Sierras, and traffic planning in Los Angeles. Contributors: Amy Bix, Louise Nelson Dyble, Patrick McCray, Linda Nash, Peter Neushul, Matthew W. Roth, Bruce Sinclair, L. Chase Smith, Carlene Stephens, Aristotle Tympas, Jason Weems, Peter Westwick, Stephanie Young

Passion of the Western Mind

Author : Richard Tarnas
Publisher : Ballantine Books
ISBN 13 : 0307804526
Total Pages : 560 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (78 download)

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Book Synopsis Passion of the Western Mind by : Richard Tarnas

Download or read book Passion of the Western Mind written by Richard Tarnas and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2011-10-19 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "[This] magnificent critical survey, with its inherent respect for both the 'Westt's mainstream high culture' and the 'radically changing world' of the 1990s, offers a new breakthrough for lay and scholarly readers alike....Allows readers to grasp the big picture of Western culture for the first time." SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE Here are the great minds of Western civilization and their pivotal ideas, from Plato to Hegel, from Augustine to Nietzsche, from Copernicus to Freud. Richard Tarnas performs the near-miracle of describing profound philosophical concepts simply but without simplifying them. Ten years in the making and already hailed as a classic, THE PASSION OF THE WESERN MIND is truly a complete liberal education in a single volume.

Battle for Our Minds

Author : Michael Widlanski
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1451659059
Total Pages : 402 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (516 download)

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Book Synopsis Battle for Our Minds by : Michael Widlanski

Download or read book Battle for Our Minds written by Michael Widlanski and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-03-06 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From political communications expert Dr. Michael Widlanski comes a rich and detailed portrayal of how intellectual arrogance and complacency in our government has led to a failure to effectively use counter-terrorism intelligence. When 3,000 people were murdered in simultaneous terror attacks on September 11, 2001, The New York Times said the attacks came “out of the blue.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Arab-Islamic terrorists had been attacking the West for a decade—in Arabia and Africa, but the attacks began to focus on America itself with the World Trade Center strike in 1993. Dr. Michael Widlanski describes other attacks and plots that were largely forgiven, ignored, or botched by academia, media, and government in this provocative book. He paints a chilling portrait of how our top analytical institutions were unaware as terrorists bragged about their plans, in mosques in New York and New Jersey, while professors, the media, the FBI, the CIA, and CNN all dropped the ball. Terrorists want to get into our head, not into our house. Their goal is not seizing territory, but rather, controlling the mind—including manipulating communication and public opinion. Combating terror means fighting on the battlefield of the mind. Battle for Our Minds confronts this battle, and shows how the West has been defeating itself. Timely, informative, and thoroughly researched, this is an eye-opening portrayal of the top echelons of our country’s counter-terrorism system.

The War for Muslim Minds

Author : Gilles Kepel
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 067401992X
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (74 download)

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Book Synopsis The War for Muslim Minds by : Gilles Kepel

Download or read book The War for Muslim Minds written by Gilles Kepel and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2006-04-30 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The events of September 11, 2001, forever changed the world as we knew it. In their wake, the quest for international order has prompted a reshuffling of global aims and priorities. In a fresh approach, Gilles Kepel focuses on the Middle East as a nexus of international disorder and decodes the complex language of war, propaganda, and terrorism that holds the region in its thrall. The breakdown of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in 2000 was the first turn in a downward spiral of violence and retribution. Meanwhile, a neo-conservative revolution in Washington unsettled U.S. Mideast policy, which traditionally rested on the twin pillars of Israeli security and access to Gulf oil. In Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, a transformation of the radical Islamist doctrine of Bin Laden and Zawahiri relocated the arena of terrorist action from Muslim lands to the West; Islamist radicals proclaimed jihad against their enemies worldwide. Kepel examines the impact of global terrorism and the ensuing military operations to stem its tide. He questions the United States' ability to address the Middle East challenge with Cold War rhetoric, while revealing the fault lines in terrorist ideology and tactics. Finally, he proposes the way out of the Middle East quagmire that triangulates the interests of Islamists, the West, and the Arab and Muslim ruling elites. Kepel delineates the conditions for the acceptance of Israel, for the democratization of Islamist and Arab societies, and for winning the minds and hearts of Muslims in the West.

The Book that Made Your World

Author : Vishal Mangalwadi
Publisher : Thomas Nelson
ISBN 13 : 1595554009
Total Pages : 466 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (955 download)

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Book Synopsis The Book that Made Your World by : Vishal Mangalwadi

Download or read book The Book that Made Your World written by Vishal Mangalwadi and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2012-10-24 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understand where we came from. Whether you're an avid student of the Bible or a skeptic of its relevance, The Book That Made Your World will transform your perception of its influence on virtually every facet of Western civilization. Indian philosopher Vishal Mangalwadi reveals the personal motivation that fueled his own study of the Bible and systematically illustrates how its precepts became the framework for societal structure throughout the last millennium. From politics and science, to academia and technology, the Bible's sacred copy became the key that unlocked the Western mind. Through Mangalwadi's wide-ranging and fascinating investigation, you'll discover: What triggered the West's passion for scientific, medical, and technological advancement How the biblical notion of human dignity informs the West's social structure and how it intersects with other worldviews How the Bible created a fertile ground for women to find social and economic empowerment How the Bible has uniquely equipped the West to cultivate compassion, human rights, prosperity, and strong families The role of the Bible in the transformation of education How the modern literary notion of a hero has been shaped by the Bible's archetypal protagonist Journey with Mangalwadi as he examines the origins of a civilization's greatness and the misguided beliefs that threaten to unravel its progress. Learn how the Bible transformed the social, political, and religious institutions that have sustained Western culture for the past millennium, and discover how secular corruption endangers the stability and longevity of Western civilization. Endorsements: “This is an extremely significant piece of work with huge global implications. Vishal brings a timely message.” (Ravi Zacharias, author, Walking from East to West and Beyond Opinion) “In polite society, the mere mention of the Bible often introduces a certain measure of anxiety. A serious discussion on the Bible can bring outright contempt. Therefore, it is most refreshing to encounter this engaging and informed assessment of the Bible’s profound impact on the modern world. Where Bloom laments the closing of the American mind, Mangalwadi brings a refreshing optimism.” (Stanley Mattson, founder and president, C. S. Lewis Foundation) “Vishal Mangalwadi recounts history in very broad strokes, always using his cross-cultural perspectives for highlighting the many benefits of biblical principles in shaping civilization.” (George Marsden, professor, University of Notre Dame; author, Fundamentalism and American Culture)

Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition

Author : Darren Staloff
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 60 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition by : Darren Staloff

Download or read book Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition written by Darren Staloff and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Part 1 includes an introduction to the entire series and to the enduring problems of philosophy. The critical tensions in Western thought are identified and the context is set for the great conversation that follows. This first part of the series is foundational, designed to teach basic facts about the philosophers and traditions covered. Classical Origins examines the origins of philosophy in the Greco-Roman world.

Civilization

Author : Niall Ferguson
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1101548029
Total Pages : 432 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (15 download)

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Book Synopsis Civilization by : Niall Ferguson

Download or read book Civilization written by Niall Ferguson and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-11-01 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the bestselling author of The Ascent of Money and The Square and the Tower “A dazzling history of Western ideas.” —The Economist “Mr. Ferguson tells his story with characteristic verve and an eye for the felicitous phrase.” —Wall Street Journal “[W]ritten with vitality and verve . . . a tour de force.” —Boston Globe Western civilization’s rise to global dominance is the single most important historical phenomenon of the past five centuries. How did the West overtake its Eastern rivals? And has the zenith of Western power now passed? Acclaimed historian Niall Ferguson argues that beginning in the fifteenth century, the West developed six powerful new concepts, or “killer applications”—competition, science, the rule of law, modern medicine, consumerism, and the work ethic—that the Rest lacked, allowing it to surge past all other competitors. Yet now, Ferguson shows how the Rest have downloaded the killer apps the West once monopolized, while the West has literally lost faith in itself. Chronicling the rise and fall of empires alongside clashes (and fusions) of civilizations, Civilization: The West and the Rest recasts world history with force and wit. Boldly argued and teeming with memorable characters, this is Ferguson at his very best.

Closing of the American Mind

Author : Allan Bloom
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1439126267
Total Pages : 403 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (391 download)

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Book Synopsis Closing of the American Mind by : Allan Bloom

Download or read book Closing of the American Mind written by Allan Bloom and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-06-30 with total page 403 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The brilliant, controversial, bestselling critique of American culture that “hits with the approximate force and effect of electroshock therapy” (The New York Times)—now featuring a new afterword by Andrew Ferguson in a twenty-fifth anniversary edition. In 1987, eminent political philosopher Allan Bloom published The Closing of the American Mind, an appraisal of contemporary America that “hits with the approximate force and effect of electroshock therapy” (The New York Times) and has not only been vindicated, but has also become more urgent today. In clear, spirited prose, Bloom argues that the social and political crises of contemporary America are part of a larger intellectual crisis: the result of a dangerous narrowing of curiosity and exploration by the university elites. Now, in this twenty-fifth anniversary edition, acclaimed author and journalist Andrew Ferguson contributes a new essay that describes why Bloom’s argument caused such a furor at publication and why our culture so deeply resists its truths today.

The WEIRDest People in the World

Author : Joseph Henrich
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN 13 : 0374710457
Total Pages : 420 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (747 download)

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Book Synopsis The WEIRDest People in the World by : Joseph Henrich

Download or read book The WEIRDest People in the World written by Joseph Henrich and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2020-09-08 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Notable Book of 2020 A Bloomberg Best Non-Fiction Book of 2020 A Behavioral Scientist Notable Book of 2020 A Human Behavior & Evolution Society Must-Read Popular Evolution Book of 2020 A bold, epic account of how the co-evolution of psychology and culture created the peculiar Western mind that has profoundly shaped the modern world. Perhaps you are WEIRD: raised in a society that is Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. If so, you’re rather psychologically peculiar. Unlike much of the world today, and most people who have ever lived, WEIRD people are highly individualistic, self-obsessed, control-oriented, nonconformist, and analytical. They focus on themselves—their attributes, accomplishments, and aspirations—over their relationships and social roles. How did WEIRD populations become so psychologically distinct? What role did these psychological differences play in the industrial revolution and the global expansion of Europe during the last few centuries? In The WEIRDest People in the World, Joseph Henrich draws on cutting-edge research in anthropology, psychology, economics, and evolutionary biology to explore these questions and more. He illuminates the origins and evolution of family structures, marriage, and religion, and the profound impact these cultural transformations had on human psychology. Mapping these shifts through ancient history and late antiquity, Henrich reveals that the most fundamental institutions of kinship and marriage changed dramatically under pressure from the Roman Catholic Church. It was these changes that gave rise to the WEIRD psychology that would coevolve with impersonal markets, occupational specialization, and free competition—laying the foundation for the modern world. Provocative and engaging in both its broad scope and its surprising details, The WEIRDest People in the World explores how culture, institutions, and psychology shape one another, and explains what this means for both our most personal sense of who we are as individuals and also the large-scale social, political, and economic forces that drive human history. Includes black-and-white illustrations.

The Coddling of the American Mind

Author : Greg Lukianoff
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0735224919
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (352 download)

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Book Synopsis The Coddling of the American Mind by : Greg Lukianoff

Download or read book The Coddling of the American Mind written by Greg Lukianoff and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2019-08-20 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times Bestseller • Finalist for the 2018 National Book Critics Circle Award in Nonfiction • A New York Times Notable Book • Bloomberg Best Book of 2018 “Their distinctive contribution to the higher-education debate is to meet safetyism on its own, psychological turf . . . Lukianoff and Haidt tell us that safetyism undermines the freedom of inquiry and speech that are indispensable to universities.” —Jonathan Marks, Commentary “The remedies the book outlines should be considered on college campuses, among parents of current and future students, and by anyone longing for a more sane society.” —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Something has been going wrong on many college campuses in the last few years. Speakers are shouted down. Students and professors say they are walking on eggshells and are afraid to speak honestly. Rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide are rising—on campus as well as nationally. How did this happen? First Amendment expert Greg Lukianoff and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt show how the new problems on campus have their origins in three terrible ideas that have become increasingly woven into American childhood and education: What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker; always trust your feelings; and life is a battle between good people and evil people. These three Great Untruths contradict basic psychological principles about well-being and ancient wisdom from many cultures. Embracing these untruths—and the resulting culture of safetyism—interferes with young people’s social, emotional, and intellectual development. It makes it harder for them to become autonomous adults who are able to navigate the bumpy road of life. Lukianoff and Haidt investigate the many social trends that have intersected to promote the spread of these untruths. They explore changes in childhood such as the rise of fearful parenting, the decline of unsupervised, child-directed play, and the new world of social media that has engulfed teenagers in the last decade. They examine changes on campus, including the corporatization of universities and the emergence of new ideas about identity and justice. They situate the conflicts on campus within the context of America’s rapidly rising political polarization and dysfunction. This is a book for anyone who is confused by what is happening on college campuses today, or has children, or is concerned about the growing inability of Americans to live, work, and cooperate across party lines.

Eastern Body, Western Mind

Author : Anodea Judith
Publisher : Celestial Arts
ISBN 13 : 0307777936
Total Pages : 506 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (77 download)

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Book Synopsis Eastern Body, Western Mind by : Anodea Judith

Download or read book Eastern Body, Western Mind written by Anodea Judith and published by Celestial Arts. This book was released on 2011-03-16 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Revised edition of the groundbreaking New Age book that seamlessly merges Western psychology and science with spirituality, creating a compelling interpretation of the Eastern chakra system and its relevance for Westerners today. In Eastern Body, Western Mind, chakra authority Anodea Judith brought a fresh approach to the yoga-based Eastern chakra system, adapting it to the Western framework of Jungian psychology, somatic therapy, childhood developmental theory, and metaphysics and applying the chakra system to important modern social realities and issues such as addiction, codependence, family dynamics, sexuality, and personal empowerment. Arranged schematically, the book uses the inherent structure of the chakra system as a map upon which to chart our Western understanding of individual development. Each chapter focuses on a single chakra, starting with a description of its characteristics and then exploring its particular childhood developmental patterns, traumas and abuses, and how to heal and maintain balance.

Two Minds of a Western Poet

Author : David Mason
Publisher : University of Michigan Press
ISBN 13 : 0472051423
Total Pages : 180 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (72 download)

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Book Synopsis Two Minds of a Western Poet by : David Mason

Download or read book Two Minds of a Western Poet written by David Mason and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meditations on the life of poetry by an award-winning poet

The Chan's Great Continent: China in Western Minds

Author : Jonathan D. Spence
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 0393247708
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (932 download)

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Book Synopsis The Chan's Great Continent: China in Western Minds by : Jonathan D. Spence

Download or read book The Chan's Great Continent: China in Western Minds written by Jonathan D. Spence and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 1999-10-17 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Like everything else written by Jonathan Spence, The Chan's Great Continent is an absolute must-read for anyone interested in China. Spence is one of the greatest Sinologists of our time, and his work is both authoritative and highly readable." —Los Angeles Times Book Review China has transfixed the West since the earliest contacts between these civilizations. With his characteristic elegance and insight, Jonathan Spence explores how the West has understood China over seven centuries. Ranging from Marco Polo's own depiction of China and the mighty Khan, Kublai, in the 1270s to the China sightings of three twentieth-century writers of acknowledged genius-Kafka, Borges, and Calvino-Spence conveys Western thought on China through a remarkable array of expression. Peopling Spence's account are Iberian adventurers, Enlightenment thinkers, spinners of the dreamy cult of Chinoiserie, and American observers such as Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Ezra Pound, and Eugene O'Neill. Taken together, these China sightings tell us as much about the self-image of the West as about China. "Wonderful. . . . Spence brilliantly demonstrates [how] generation after generation of Westerners [have] asked themselves, 'What is it . . . that held this astonishing, diverse, and immensely populous land together?' "--New York Times Book Review

How Minds Change

Author : David McRaney
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0593190297
Total Pages : 353 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (931 download)

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Book Synopsis How Minds Change by : David McRaney

Download or read book How Minds Change written by David McRaney and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-06-21 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 2022 Porchlight Marketing and Sales Book of the Year A brain-bending investigation of why some people never change their minds—and others do in an instant—by the bestselling author of You Are Not So Smart What made a prominent conspiracy-theorist YouTuber finally see that 9/11 was not a hoax? How do voter opinions shift from neutral to resolute? Can widespread social change only take place when a generation dies out? From one of our greatest thinkers on reasoning, HOW MINDS CHANGE is a book about the science, and the experience, of transformation. When self-delusion expert and psychology nerd David McRaney began a book about how to change someone’s mind in one conversation, he never expected to change his own. But then a diehard 9/11 Truther’s conversion blew up his theories—inspiring him to ask not just how to persuade, but why we believe, from the eye of the beholder. Delving into the latest research of psychologists and neuroscientists, HOW MINDS CHANGE explores the limits of reasoning, the power of groupthink, and the effects of deep canvassing. Told with McRaney’s trademark sense of humor, compassion, and scientific curiosity, it’s an eye-opening journey among cult members, conspiracy theorists, and political activists, from Westboro Baptist Church picketers to LGBTQ campaigners in California—that ultimately challenges us to question our own motives and beliefs. In an age of dangerous conspiratorial thinking, can we rise to the occasion with empathy? An expansive, big-hearted journalistic narrative, HOW MINDS CHANGE reaches surprising and thought-provoking conclusions, to demonstrate the rare but transformative circumstances under which minds can change.

Temperament

Author : Stuart Isacoff
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0375703306
Total Pages : 290 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (757 download)

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Book Synopsis Temperament by : Stuart Isacoff

Download or read book Temperament written by Stuart Isacoff and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2003-02-04 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few music lovers realize that the arrangement of notes on today’s pianos was once regarded as a crime against God and nature, or that such legendary thinkers as Pythagoras, Plato, da Vinci, Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, Newton and Rousseau played a role in the controversy. Indeed, from the time of the Ancient Greeks through the eras of Renaissance scientists and Enlightenment philosophers, the relationship between the notes of the musical scale was seen as a key to the very nature of the universe. In this engaging and accessible account, Stuart Isacoff leads us through the battles over that scale, placing them in the context of quarrels in the worlds of art, philosophy, religion, politics and science. The contentious adoption of the modern tuning system known as equal temperament called into question beliefs that had lasted nearly two millenia–and also made possible the music of Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Debussy, and all who followed. Filled with original insights, fascinating anecdotes, and portraits of some of the greatest geniuses of all time, Temperament is that rare book that will delight the novice and expert alike.

Why the West Rules - For Now

Author : Ian Morris
Publisher : McClelland & Stewart
ISBN 13 : 1551995816
Total Pages : 767 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (519 download)

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Book Synopsis Why the West Rules - For Now by : Ian Morris

Download or read book Why the West Rules - For Now written by Ian Morris and published by McClelland & Stewart. This book was released on 2011-01-14 with total page 767 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why does the West rule? In this magnum opus, eminent Stanford polymath Ian Morris answers this provocative question, drawing on 50,000 years of history, archeology, and the methods of social science, to make sense of when, how, and why the paths of development differed in the East and West — and what this portends for the 21st century. There are two broad schools of thought on why the West rules. Proponents of "Long-Term Lock-In" theories such as Jared Diamond suggest that from time immemorial, some critical factor — geography, climate, or culture perhaps — made East and West unalterably different, and determined that the industrial revolution would happen in the West and push it further ahead of the East. But the East led the West between 500 and 1600, so this development can't have been inevitable; and so proponents of "Short-Term Accident" theories argue that Western rule was a temporary aberration that is now coming to an end, with Japan, China, and India resuming their rightful places on the world stage. However, as the West led for 9,000 of the previous 10,000 years, it wasn't just a temporary aberration. So, if we want to know why the West rules, we need a whole new theory. Ian Morris, boldly entering the turf of Jared Diamond and Niall Ferguson, provides the broader approach that is necessary, combining the textual historian's focus on context, the anthropological archaeologist's awareness of the deep past, and the social scientist's comparative methods to make sense of the past, present, and future — in a way no one has ever done before.