Western Intellectual Tradition: From Leonardo to Hegel [Paperback]

Jacob Bronowski (Author), Bruce Mazlish (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0061330019 | ISBN-13: 978-0061330018 | Publication Date: August 1, 1962 | Edition: First Edition

Traces the development of thought through historical movements and periods from 1500 to 1830.

Product Details

• Paperback: 534 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; First Edition edition (August 1, 1962)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061330019
• ISBN-13: 978-0061330018
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #408,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Entertaining Tour of Western Thought, February 8, 2001

By 

sbayer (Pleasantville, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Western Intellectual Tradition: From Leonardo to Hegel (Paperback)

Despite its forbidding title, The Western Intellectual Tradition is a readable overview of Western thought from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Bronowski and Mazlish's book is an entertaining way to refresh your memory about that Western Civilization course you were forced to take in freshman year.

The authors make the ideas come alive by providing a thumbnail biography of each thinker, placing him (and I do mean 'him') squarely in the political and social context of his times. This can cast an entirely different light on a writer's work. For example, Rousseau, who created a philosophy based on a belief in the natural goodness of man, not only sired five children out of wedlock, but sent each of them off to a foundling hospital!

Bringing all these thinkers together in one volume highlights timelines that may have gone unnoticed. I had never thought about the fact that Shakespeare and Galileo were contemporaries. And how did England change within 50 years from a nation of baudy Elizabethans to one of strict Puritans?

One warning: The text is laden with footnotes. A few provide interesting background on the disputes over the ideas described, but most simply give references and can be skipped by the general reader.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Analysis of the Fusion of Science & The Humanities, October 24, 2000

By 

"kmrsteel" (Hobart, In USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Western Intellectual Tradition: From Leonardo to Hegel (Paperback)

I would highly recommend this book to people with an interest in the development of modern thought. The authors combine the impacts of science on the humanities and vice versa in a compelling book that leaves you waiting for the next page.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Readable and makes sense to a common person., May 26, 2008

By 

When I'm 64 "Rob" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Western Intellectual Tradition: From Leonardo to Hegel (Paperback)

I am a novice to philosophy and I cannot judge this work in relation to others in the great mystical relationship of mankind with the ..whatever... However I did enjoy reading this book. I liked it because it made sense to me. I could follow the logic of how European society progressed from having the church dominate a person's view of the universe, to one in which an individual's own thoughts are just as important and as powerful as any others. It was like reading about someone growing up and realizing they don't need a parent around to tell them what is right and what is wrong. I read this book as a story about the beginning of an individual's freedom to investigate and discuss the world from any perspective without the fear of being judged as right or wrong.