The Discoverers

A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself

Author: Daniel J. Boorstin Series: Knowledge Series

Examines the human quest for knowledge and discoveries as it discusses such men as Galileo, Adam Smith, Columbus, Marx, Napoleon, Magellan, Faraday, Freud, Marco Polo, and St. Augustine.

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PRODUCT INFORMATION

Summary

Examines the human quest for knowledge and discoveries as it discusses such men as Galileo, Adam Smith, Columbus, Marx, Napoleon, Magellan, Faraday, Freud, Marco Polo, and St. Augustine.

Description

An original history of man's greatest adventure: his search to discover the world around him. In the compendious history, Boorstin not only traces man's insatiable need to know, but also the obstacles to discovery and the illusion that knowledge can also put in our way. Covering time, the earth and the seas, nature and society, he gathers and analyzes stories of the man's profound quest to understand his world and the cosmos.

Critic Reviews

“" A remarkable narrative of the grand intellectual venture of humankind, rich in fascinating, often dramatic details"-- (The Wall Street Journal) " A sumptuous, totally engaging panorama. No one who reads it will look at the chronicle of human ingenuity in the same way again." --David McCullough”

"Compelling readable. . . . A remarkable narrative of the grand intellectual venture of humankind, rich in fascinating, often dramatic details."—The Wall Street Journal

"A sumptuous, totally engaging panorama. No one who reads it will look at the chronicle of human ingenuity in the same way again." —David McCullough

"Written with great verve . . . [Boorstin's] learning, wit, and lucidity should ensure that he will bring pleasure to a large group of reader." —The New York Review of Books

"History with a human touch." —Newsday

"A grand and exhilirating voyage, a bold attempt to circumnavigate the intellectual globe." —The Philadlephia Inquirer

About the Author

Daniel J. Boorstin was the author of The Americans, a trilogy (The Colonial Experience; The National Experience, and The Democratic Experience) that won the Francis Parkman Prize, the Bancroft Prize, and the Pulitzer Prize. In 1989, he received the National Book Award for lifetime contribution to literature. He was the director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, and for twelve years served as the Librarian of Congress. He died in 2004.