The Ascent of Man (Paperback)

by Jacob Bronowski (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Another of those beautifully produced BBC lecture courses that have been bringing Western culture - a dazzling and welcome shock - to tribalized TV audiences, translated into a handsome and substantial text. The topic, as in the earlier series (Cooke's America, Clark's Civilisation), is bogglingly big: taking off from Darwin's title The Descent of Man, Bronowski goes ahead to chronicle the development of the sciences and allied, imaginative and uniquely human activities by which man managed to obscure and transcend his bestial ancestry. The accomplishment tends to be undervalued in the present atmosphere of ecological guilt, and particularly in books pitched at this educated lay level; but Bronowski goes a long way toward redeeming the traditional Crown-of-Creation attitude, with a stunning and varied range of information, and in a style so suavely entertaining and well ordered that one doesn't immediately appreciate how many recent, even in some cases radical, assumptions about the nature of man and science it incorporates. For example, the broadened consideration of cultural and psychological factors, such as the analytic implications of architecture, and the importance of techniques as analogues; and a conception of historical process that readmits such shady figures as Paracelsus and mundane pursuits as farming. Beginning with the bare hands and ready, three-pound brain of the earliest hominids, he traces the gradual, self-accelerating profusion of means - tools, techniques, theories - which have extended our intellectual grasp now to the point of encompassing intellect itself. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
Lauded by critics and devoured by countless readers as a companion to the acclaimed PBS series, this work traces the development of science as an expression of the special gifts that characterize man and make him preeminent among animals. Bronowski's exciting, splendidly illustrated investigation offers a new perspective not just on science, but on civilization itself. Photographs.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Little Brown & Co (P) (August 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316109339
• ISBN-13: 978-0316109338
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #67,657 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Evolution of knowledge, October 24, 2002

By	Enrique Torres "Rico" (San Diegotitlan, Califas) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

One of my all time favorite books from college that is definitely a keeper and still relevent after all these years. If you read each chapter and view the corresponding video text it produce sa truly amazing insight into the development of mankinds knowledge. Similiar in style to "Connections" it is quite possibly more engrossing. The book is a fascinating journey , written in a style that illuminates the darkest and distant passages of time with lucidity and foresight. My personal favorite chapter(6) was The Starry Messenger which was eventually about(like knowledge Bronowski builds on the past) Galileo and his relationship with the Catholic Church as a result of his theories.I love this book and the understanding it gave me to subjects I felt less than interested in. This book has the power to make even the most abstract and esoteric theories interesting. A beautiful book that puts all the knowledge of the past into perspective in an entertaining manner that can lead a young mind into areas of interest they may never have persued. The book is also full of richly detailed photographs, full color prints and other visual aids that further explain the topic duscussed.I would recommened this book for any young student in high school or approaching college who is even remotely interested in the connections between science and the evolution of mankind. A great gift idea for that budding scientist or historian on your list.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A scholarly optimist's look at human achievements, June 1, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

If there is a message in this book, it is a very optimistic one: Human beings matter. At some point during the late quaternary period, roughly 2 million years ago, a new creature appeared which had the ability to understand its own existence. The hand of man has literally changed everything, mostly for the better, Bronowski contends.

The scope of this book is vast; from the primitive hend-tool makers of the stone age, to the complex organization builders of the modern age, humans have evolved, and their ability to create has advanced.

There is also an important warning to people not to forget their biological and evolutionary roots. An atheist, Bronowski understood the value of life on earth, and the need for each successive generation of people to transmit the knowledge of culture, science, and technology to future generations. The last chapter states that, if we humans are to continue the Ascent, we must be prepared to invest more in our children.

Like all secularists, Bronowski understood that no god was going to 'save' humanity nor mourn humanity's destruction (should that ever come to pass), just as no god had created humanity. There never were, and are not now, future lives, there is only this life. Whatever the pretensions of humanity are, we are forever tied to the physical universe in which our DNA, and other matter exists.

If we want a better world, we need to make it ourselves. And to do that, we need to understand the theory and application of science. The book makes a strong, but subtle case for scientific thinking, learning, and the value of technology in making a better world.

''The Ascent of Man'' neatly complements ''The Western intellectual Tradition''. While the latter book looked at the role of great ideas in shaping civilizations and driving revolutions, the former looks at roles played by the technologies and science which developed in many civilizations, that often interacted with great ideas.

Because of America's phobia when it comes to secular, atheistic i! deas, Bronowski was forced to state that his PBS TV series was "a personal view". While that was not untrue, Bronowski's personal views are also those of many others, most of whom probably share his love of learning and find joy in the acts of invention and discovery.

-Brian Lynch

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Outstanding and Important Book, April 11, 1998

By A Customer

Jacob Bronowski was a genuine Renaissance man. This, his most famous book, looks at the history of science from the perspective of Bronowski's deep, humanist philosophy. Bronowski--along with C.P. Snow--saw art and science as two aspects of the same human enterprise: that of understanding the world and expressing that world in human terms. Here Bronowski shows those connections: why Mendeleev's periodic table was part of "the greatest collective work of art" in history--that is, physics; why the Watts Towers of Los Angeles are like the molecules in a copper wire. THE ASCENT OF MAN is a symphony for which SCIENCE AND HUMAN VALUES was merely a prelude. An outstanding, and vitally important book. "I am infinitely saddened," Bronowski writes, "to find myself suddenly surrounded in the West by a terrible loss of nerve." We must not turn our backs on science--we must finally discover it. One of those writers whose every page contains a brilliant idea, Bronowksi is well worth reading. See also SCIENCE AND HUMAN VALUES, THE IDENTITY OF MAN, THE VISIONARY EYE, and my favorite, A SENSE OF THE FUTURE.