A World of Ideas: A Dictionary of Important Theories, Concepts, Beliefs, and Thinkers [Hardcover]

Chris Rohmann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2, 1999

How do you keep up in the age of information when there's so much to know and so little time? Here's the ideal solution: a practical book of knowledge offering in-depth analysis, detailed interpretation, and penetrating insight into the key concepts, the most influential minds, and the major intellectual movements in history. A World of Ideas is an essential tool for anyone who wants to be fully informed and stay ahead of the curve in today's world.

Now you can get to the bottom of the big bang theory; find out where Freud's ideas were coming from, and where Einstein's may ultimately take us; demystify surrealism and survivalism, nature and nurture, communism and capitalism. With hundreds of in-depth entries, drawn from a wide range of fields--including religion, philosophy, psychology, economics, politics, history, art, literature, and science--A World of Ideas enables you to turn immediately to the term in question for a comprehensive description of its history, meaning, and context.

- Hundreds of entries, alphabetically arranged, with key words and concepts highlighted and cross-referenced
- Reviewed and approved by an academic board of leading scholars
- A unique emphasis on multicultural influences and the long-neglected impact of women on the history of ideas
- An extensive bibliography of further readings and resources

Here are the concepts that shaped civilization . . . the minds that made history . . . the thinkers, the thoughts, and the theories--everything you need to know to fully understand the world we live in. Concise and authoritative, meticulously researched and lucidly written, this invaluable resource is sure to become a standard reference for years to come.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Sure, you can throw around words like deconstruction and solipsism in conversation, and pick up what you need to know about them from context, but wouldn't it be great if there were a dictionary of concepts important to thinkers? That's what writer Chris Rohmann thought, so he researched and put together A World of Ideas, with 444 entries covering 333 ideas and 111 individuals who influenced the history of thought. You'll find everything from the ancients to the present day, with a deliberate widening of the scope to include women and non-Western thinkers, though, as Rohmann says, "the ideas that are our cultural currency are still predominantly those of 'western civilization'." Covering science, politics, and philosophy, A World of Ideas has "relativism" next to "relativity," with concise definitions and explorations of their histories and effects on modern thought. It's great to find a volume that acknowledges and even embraces the cross-currents between science and the humanities, and while there's no room for exhaustive detail--only 111 thinkers from all of history!--the superior quality of the entries and the extensive cross-indexing still make this both useful and unique. Whether you're pursuing graduate studies or just want to get the skinny on the "mind/body problem," you'll find your answer somewhere in A World of Ideas. --Rob Lightner

From Library Journal

This handy guide covers more than 400 theories, philosophies, ideologies, beliefs, and thinkers in the sciences, arts, and social sciences. In his preface, Rohmann, the former editor of The Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts, defines an idea as "a theoretical construct, a belief or guiding tenet, an essential concept in a field of study, an ideological proposition, an influential thought or opinion." Rohmann developed this resource after finding inadequate dictionary and encyclopedia definitions for dialectical materialism. Alphabetically arranged by idea or thinker, it is cross-referenced within the text and the index. Typical entries include the history, meaning, and context of ideas as varied as aesthetics, chaos theory, federalism, and Rastafarianism. More than 100 intellectual figures such as Aquinas, Sartre, Piaget, and Machiavelli are described insightfully and succinctly. Unfortunately, the scant three-page bibliography does not adequately reference the breadth and scope of the material presented here. For smaller collections without major philosophical or religious reference works.AElizabeth Connor, Medical Univ. of South Carolina, Charleston
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1 edition (November 2, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345390598
• ISBN-13: 978-0345390592
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,359,694 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thinkers and Thoughts of All Times, March 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A World of Ideas: A Dictionary of Important Theories, Concepts, Beliefs, and Thinkers (Hardcover)

Chris Rohmann wanted a definition of dislectic materialism. His response - a book discussing terms and people from religion, philosophy, psychology, economics, politics, history, art, literature, and science in a dictionary format. But it is much more! Some entries are up to two pages in length - far beyond a traditional terse dictionary definition. Unlike a dictionary it has a "Key Terms and Proper Names" index that guides you to related articles. Also, typographical techniques within the context of the articles alert you to related entries. Accompanying some entries are feature articles that are set off in boxes contributing to this book's visual appeal. The articles I read impressed me by being comprehensive, concise, yet intelligible. If I already knew something about a topic, the discussion reaffirmed my understanding. Articles about terms/people unknown to me were informative and understandable. Rohmann recommends the book for the non-academic, like himself, but I would contend that the potential user have a certain level of sophistication. First, a need or a want for the information within the covers of the book, and secondly, a basic understanding of the vocabulary in the numerous fields covered would be necessary. So, I recommend this book for everyone who is curious, and for everyone who needs to know about the world of important theories, concepts, beliefs, and thinkers!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Reference For Armchair Philosophers, August 17, 2001

By 

ajw (Central New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A World of Ideas: A Dictionary of Important Theories, Concepts, Beliefs, and Thinkers (Hardcover)

If you're an avid reader of philosophy, history, psychology, science, or even just the New York Times, you're likely to find "A World of Ideas" to be quite helpful. Often I find that I come across a word that I feel I should know, but can't quite remember the gist of it (e.g., "What does 'hermeneutics' mean again?"). This book provides very clear, concise, and helpful summaries (generally ranging from 1/2 to 2 pages long) for all the various "isms" (and other general topics) as well as the people who helped define them. It's organized like a compact encyclopedia, alphabetized by entry name, with copious cross-references to topics by using LARGE TYPE to refer to alternate encyclopedia entries. Entries on people focus on their ideas more than on biographical details. I've found the book to be an invaluable resource in my own informal studies of philosophy, where you come across familiar names but may not be familiar with the details of those thinkers' ideas. The author has done a fine job of distilling the entries down to their essential points, so that you really feel that you've learned the key ideas. The book is useful both as a reference as well as for casual reading (often I find myself looking up one entry and then going off on tangents to follow fascinating threads of cross-references that catch my eye).

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything I Always Wanted to Know, But Was Afraid to Ask, January 30, 2001

By 

Katherine Mayfield - See all my reviews

This review is from: A World of Ideas: A Dictionary of Important Theories, Concepts, Beliefs, and Thinkers (Hardcover)

"A World of Ideas" is an excellent reference book for anyone who wants to know more about philosophies, ideas, beliefs, and perspectives from numerous cultures through centuries of thought. Many of the ideas the author chose are subjects that I've wanted to understand for years. Several times I've found myself reading with my fingers stuck in different parts of the book because there are so many aspects to the entries that I want to find out more about. The entries are clear and very layperson-intelligible.

This "dictionary of ideas" is handily presented in alphabetical order, and the cross-referencing is extremely well done. And I love the fact that all of the different and sometimes opposing viewpoints are presented with equal weight -- nothing is put forward as being better or worse or right or wrong. It is truly clear information with no editorializing, no slant to prejudice a reader. It lets us make our own choices, and that is a great gift when it comes to presenting information.

The best part about it for me is that when I went to school, I always knew that they didn't offer information about the most interesting stuff, and I never knew where to find it. I've finally found it: "A World of Ideas" satisfies my intense curiosity about the infinitely diverse viewpoints through the centuries and around the world.