Customer Reviews

New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought

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I have many dictionaries on my shelves -- among them dictionaries of theology, philosophy, and sociology. I bought this dictionary at an airport, not really being sure how useful it would be. In fact it is a relatively new concept, having originated in the 1970s with Alan Bullock and Oliver Stallybrass. They felt that an ordinary dictionary contains "thousands of words familiar to us all", while an encyclopaedia contains (with regard to modern thought) "a vast amount of irrelevant material". They sensed the need for a dictionary of a new kind.

This book contains nearly 4,000 entries, typically half a column's length, as well as copious cross-referencing, and mini-bibliographies on many subjects. It covers (inter alia) the fields of anthropology, sociology, economics, philosophy, history, politics, physics, and biology. The entries are well written, and by and large would seem to distil the essential meaning and significance of every term. It is also written "in language as simple as can be used without over-simplification or distortion".

In short, if anything has been a major topic of conversation during the past generation, it is likely to be found in this dictionary. I myself have been engaged in postgraduate studies, and have found it to be remarkably comprehensive and dependable, as well as giving me many useful leads in contemporary debate. No one could expect such a book to hold everything -- yet the amount of information that it does hold is surprising. It is not just a faddish idea. It has become one of my most valuable reference tools.

This is a very good dictionary which takes a very wide range of concepts from all fields of human endeavor and provides short and most often clear and good definitions.On one page I see definitions for ' democratic centralism' 'demography' ' demonstration'(logical) demythologize , dendrochronology, denotation density. There are also on the page names of individuals who are identified and related to the articles on concepts. On this page for instance Charles Demuth(British painter 1935) is referred to the entry on PRECISIONISM. This is a very useful intellectual tool.

A very useful book. In fact, I use it much more regularly than my Britannica. Where, in a single volume, would you find entries on 'Lolita Syndrome', 'transitional object', 'hydraulic civilisations', 'Equal Rights Amendment' and 'serial music'? In the Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought, of course. And there is much more to learn in this gem of a book. Really a browser's delight! Hurry up: it's still readily available via amazon.co.uk.