The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time (Hardcover)

by Will Durant (Author) "OF THE MANY IDEALS which in youth gave life a meaning and radiance missing from the chilly perspectives of middle age, one at least has..." (more)
Key Phrases: Everyman Library, All Time, Isaac Newton (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This engaging, accessible book of essays from Pulitzer Prize-winning philosopher and historian Durant, author of the authoritative 11-volume Story of Civilization, should be essential reading for anyone interested in the evolution of thought. Little, the founder and director of The Will Durant Foundation, includes in his slim compendium such works as "The One Hundred 'Best' Books For an Education" and "Twelve Vital Dates in World History." Durant's "The Ten 'Greatest' Thinkers" details minds as enlightening as Confucius and as influential as Darwin, whom Durant says "reduced man to an animal fighting for his transient mastery of the globe." "The Ten 'Greatest' Poets," charts a course from Homer's brilliance to Dante's haunted heart to Whitman's "frank and lusty" originality, in prose peppered with biographical bon mots and excerpts of the world's loveliest poems. Lay folks especially will find this a delightful introduction to Durant's irrepressible style. What else would one expect from Durant, an intellect who, when asked, "Whom in all of history would you most like to have known?" drolly replied, "Madame de Pompadour."
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
By the time of his death in 1981, it was fashionable for many scholars to deride the works of Will Durant; his faith in human progress and emphasis upon the great achievements of individuals seemed outmoded in circles that stressed pessimism about the fate of humanity and lauded the power of mass movements. So it is refreshing to again encounter historical writing that brims with optimism and pays just tribute to individual minds and ideas that have shaped history and advanced both moral and material progress. Editor Little is a lecturer on philosophy, a documentary filmmaker, and director of the Will Durant Foundation. His compilation of Durant's essays is divided into sections on the greatest thinkers, poets, books, and landmarks of human progress. Even Durant acknowledges that his efforts to rate "top tens" borders on the frivolous, but there is nothing frivolous about Durant's elegant prose and cogent insight into the lives and minds of men as diverse as Confucius, Voltaire, and Darwin. This compact work is a gem that elevates historical writing to the level of superb literature. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 127 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (October 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743235533
• ISBN-13: 978-0743235532
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #232,332 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Little gems of Durantian wisdom, November 24, 2002

By	RJH (USA) - See all my reviews

At present, I am happily plowing through the 11-volume "Story of Civilization" by Will and Ariel Durant. It was nice to take a break and read this newest book, packed with lots of little gems of Durantian wisdom.

Who did Will Durant think were the 10 greatest thinkers of all time? Or the 10 greatest poets? Or the most significant dates and developments in world history? It's all here. Also included is a list of the 100 books a person should read to become educated and free. While the list is somewhat dated, it is still full of valuable suggestions. Because of it, I am soon reading Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" and some of the plays of Euripides, for example.

If you're a Durant fan, definitely buy this book and set it on the shelf alongside that other great work of concise wisdom, "The Lessons of History." And kudos to editor John Little for bringing us this fine volume. I'm already looking forward to the next one!

55 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very Good, with One Very Large Problem, November 3, 2005

By	Joseph Biskup (Sunnyvale, ca United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just read this book and it is a quick, easy, read. I think this book is an excellent way to develop perspective, either as a high school or college student, or for someone older who wants to more rigorously develop his or her world-view. The model of this book is a "classical education", along the lines of the recently re-released Harvard 5-foot bookshelf. Most of the people critical of this publication completely missed the point. Many times in the essays Will Durant specifically says that these are merely his opinions, and there are many other educated people out there with different opinions. These essays are intended as a STARTING place to educate yourself and he specifically suggests that you should read further and along your specific lines of interest. (The author also suggests on page 65 that as a college graduate, you might be ready to BEGIN your education with his suggested reading.) Anyone who complains that such-and-such was "rated" ahead of someone else [that they like], or that someone they revere was left off the "top 10" (because most likely they were not left out of the book completely, the author drops a lot of names of people who should be highly considered) just completely didn't understand this book.

However, there is one huge problem with this book. I didn't realize it when I started the book (I am not really aware of who Will Durant was) but even though the publication date is 2002, nothing in this book is recent. Actually, Mr. Durant died 25 years ago and I suspect that most or all these essays were written long before then. Unfortunately Mr. Little, the compiler, does not tell us when these essays were written. This becomes painfully obvious when you get to the list of suggested reading. To start off there are a lot of general overview books on history, science (physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology, etc.), art, music, psychology and health. I looked most of these books up on Amazon and all the ones I saw were close to 75 years old (some had been re-released). I find it completely shocking that a publisher would print such an out-of-date book under the guise of a new publication. I mean, A LOT HAS CHANGED IN 75 YEARS, especially in the sciences.

I know that in the last few years specifically there have been some very highly regarded books on the history of Art and on World War I (a glowing but out-of-date suggestion was specifically mentioned on page 80) and Karen Armstrong published several good books on the western religions. One of his suggested readings, "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" by Gibbon; might still be relevant even though it is quite old, but I am very suspicious of the rest of the suggested overview readings. There are quite a number of translated works, and for most of them I am sure there are more recent translations. Sometimes he suggests a specific translation, it would be up to you to decide if a more recent translation would be better. That said, presented is an excellent system for "Since we wish to have orderly minds, and avoid the chaos of desultory reading, we shall want to begin at the beginning...we want it in such an order that the knowledge we win may fall into logical sequence in our memories, and give us at last that full perspective which is the source and summit of understanding."

Additionally, almost exclusively this books focuses on pre-20th century. I think this is completely understandable and acceptable, but if you are only interested in the 20th century then this book is not for you. I took two stars off for these out-of-date suggestions, no reference to the acutal dates the essays were written and no revised (alternative) suggested reading list. Now it is up to you, the reader, to substitute the suggested readings for modern, up-to-date, versions and start reading.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pocketbook education, December 8, 2002

By A Customer

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to more fully develop themselves through self-education. The book is not too heavy-handed with the various subject matter, nor is it written in the stale, esoteric language of an academic. It is a series of papers written by a man of the people for the people, and the passion that Durant has for the material (and the love of knowledge) shines through.

This book is a wonderful and concise lesson in history, arts, and sciences, and will help start any one's pursuit of knowledge and wisdom.