Including topics such as Wikipedia's importance as a global phenomenon, this is a timely consideration of the roles of the guardians and editors of information throughout history Encyclopedias have traditionally claimed to provide absolute knowledge, yet with information now among the world's most valuable commodities, this Brief History is a sensible deliberation on how accurate that claim can ever be. While the omissions and distortions of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia may seem easy enough to spot, those of—for example—the Britannica, the Universalis, or the Brockhaus may not be so widely known. Since the Middle Ages, rapid advancements in science have made all encyclopedias effectively obsolete virtually immediately as they are published, which begs the question: Is the encyclopedic project fundamentally flawed? Also discussing the impact online encyclopedias have had on the conundrum, this is a fascinating account of an unjustly neglected area of cultural history.
Here, at last, is the massively updated and augmented second edition of this landmark encyclopedia. It contains approximately 1000 entries dealing in depth with the history of the scientific, technological and medical accomplishments of cultures outside of the United States and Europe. The entries consist of fully updated articles together with hundreds of entirely new topics. This unique reference work includes intercultural articles on broad topics such as mathematics and astronomy as well as thoughtful philosophical articles on concepts and ideas related to the study of non-Western Science, such as rationality, objectivity, and method. You’ll also find material on religion and science, East and West, and magic and science.
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia is the perfect resource for information on the people, places, and events of yesterday and today. Students, teachers, and librarians can find fast facts combined with the quality and accuracy that have made Britannica the brand to trust. A tool for both the classroom and the library, no other desk reference can compare.
Journey back in time and marvel at the history of our world like never before with this children's encyclopedia perfect for curious kids. Forming part of a fantastic series of kid's educational books, this bold and brilliant kid's encyclopedia uses ground-breaking CGI imagery to reveal the world as you've never seen it before. Informative, diverse in subject matter, easy-to-read and brimming with beautiful graphics, young learners can explore the incredibly detailed cross-sections and cutaways that reveal the inner workings of just about everything! This charming children’s encyclopedia opens the world in new ways, with: - Packed with facts, charts, timelines, and infographics that cover a vast range of topics. - Encompassing a visual approach with illustrations, photographs and extremely detailed 3D CGI images. - Crystal clear text distills the key information. - DK's encyclopedias are fact-checked by subject experts to offer accuracy beyond online sources of information. This fully-updated edition of Knowledge Encyclopedia History! is the perfect encyclopedia for children aged 9-12, ideal for inquisitive minds, bringing key moments in history to life, from exploring the lives of early humans to visiting the Vikings, learning about The Industrial Revolution, and looking towards a greener future! Jam-packed with fun facts about the world, including fascinating statistics, maps, timelines, graphics, and superb photorealistic cross-sections, young history lovers can peer inside ancient buildings, marvel at elaborate outfits, and get close to the battles of history! Explore, Discover And Learn! DK's Knowledge Encyclopedia History! uncovers the marvels of our world in unprecedented detail and with stunning realism. Encompassing engaging historical facts about our world, you can spend quality time diving into the past with your children, accompanied by impressive visuals to engage their senses. A must-have volume for curious kids with a thirst for knowledge, this enthralling children’s encyclopedia is structured in such a way that your child can read a bit at a time, and feel comfortable to pause and ask questions. Doubling up as the perfect gift for young readers, who are always asking questions about our planet! At DK, we believe in the power of discovery. This thrilling kid’s encyclopedia is part of the Knowledge Encyclopedia educational series. Celebrate your child’s curiosity as they complete the collection and discover diverse facts about the world around them. Dive into the deep blue with Knowledge Encyclopedia Ocean! Travel back in time to when dinosaurs roamed the earth with Knowledge Encyclopedia Dinosaur! And hone your knowledge on how the human body works with Knowledge Encyclopedia Human Body! Whatever topic takes their fancy, there’s an encyclopedia for everyone!
In this book Peter Burke adopts a socio-cultural approach toexamine the changes in the organization of knowledge in Europe fromthe invention of printing to the publication of the FrenchEncyclopédie. The book opens with an assessment of different sociologies ofknowledge from Mannheim to Foucault and beyond, and goes on todiscuss intellectuals as a social group and the social institutions(especially universities and academies) which encouraged ordiscouraged intellectual innovation. Then, in a series of separatechapters, Burke explores the geography, anthropology, politics andeconomics of knowledge, focusing on the role of cities, academies,states and markets in the process of gathering, classifying,spreading and sometimes concealing information. The final chaptersdeal with knowledge from the point of view of the individualreader, listener, viewer or consumer, including the problem of thereliability of knowledge discussed so vigorously in the seventeenthcentury. One of the most original features of this book is its discussionof knowledges in the plural. It centres on printed knowledge,especially academic knowledge, but it treats the history of theknowledge 'explosion' which followed the invention of printing andthe discovery of the world beyond Europe as a process of exchangeor negotiation between different knowledges, such as male andfemale, theoretical and practical, high-status and low-status, andEuropean and non-European. Although written primarily as a contribution to social orsocio-cultural history, this book will also be of interest tohistorians of science, sociologists, anthropologists, geographersand others in another age of information explosion.
This eleventh edition was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time and it is considered to be a landmark encyclopaedia for scholarship and literary style.
Here are more than two centuries of facts, curiosities, and discoveries from the most distinguished reference work of them all. First appearing in 1768, EB has presented the last word on the knowledge of its time. Now, for the first time, its most compelling articles have been collected in a single volume of unsurpassed eloquence. Drawings and engravings throughout.
Everything Explained That Is Explainable is the audacious, utterly improbable story of the publication of the Eleventh Edition of the legendary Encyclopædia Britannica. It is the tale of a young American entrepreneur who rescued a dying publication with the help of a floundering newspaper, and in so doing produced a series of books that forever changed the face of publishing. Thanks to the efforts of 1,500 contributors, among them a young staff of university graduates as well as some of the most distinguished names of the day, the Eleventh Edition combined scholarship and readability in a way no previous encyclopedia had (or ever has again). Denis Boyles’s work of cultural history pulls back the curtain on the 44-million-word testament to the age of reason that has profoundly shaped the way we see the world.
