Rating: 
Summary: A Spectacular Conclusion to The Knowledge Trilogy
Review: The Knowledge Trilogy is my own name for the three books - the DISCOVERERS, the THINKERS and now the SEEKERS. With each succeeding volume Boorstin delves deeper into the heart of what it means to be human. From Concrete to Theoretical to Conceptual I have avidly followed these books, reading them several times. The scholarship is stunning, the writing fluid, witty and always captivating, and his viewpoint (Western, Eurocentric) is refreshing in this day and age of presenting all cultures as morally equal. SEEKERS paints a broad stripe from the dawn of history to the modern age. The usual fine biographies (reminescent of Paul Johnson in his histories) are the icing on the cake. Also pleasing are the little plums of new historical facts presented here for - at least, for me - the first time. Read all three books!
Rating:
Summary: A Spectacular Conclusion to The Knowledge Trilogy
Review: The Knowledge Trilogy is my own name for the three books - the DISCOVERERS, the THINKERS and now the SEEKERS. With each succeeding volume Boorstin delves deeper into the heart of what it means to be human. From Concrete to Theoretical to Conceptual I have avidly followed these books, reading them several times. The scholarship is stunning, the writing fluid, witty and always captivating, and his viewpoint (Western, Eurocentric) is refreshing in this day and age of presenting all cultures as morally equal. SEEKERS paints a broad stripe from the dawn of history to the modern age. The usual fine biographies (reminescent of Paul Johnson in his histories) are the icing on the cake. Also pleasing are the little plums of new historical facts presented here for - at least, for me - the first time. Read all three books!
Rating: 
Summary: Mostly an Introduction
Review: This book by Daniel J. Boorstin is interesting because it tells about the men that have had lasting impressions on this society. The book reads in a chronological order and it was enjoyable to see the development of mankind throughout the years. It is disappointing to see that the author varies the length of the chapters. Often, the chapters are too short and it only served as an introduction to me. Man's goal in this book was to search for an understanding of humans and their purpose on earth. It was interesting to see how men worked to achieve this goal and how their beliefs were shaped along the way. It was helpful that Boorstin used actual quotes from the seekers that he was discussing. He was able to give me a feel of what was going on in the minds of the men during this time period. Overall, this book was enjoyable, but the author presents the ideas in a way that illustrates to me that he did not spend as much time writing it, as he should have. Although he uses primary sources, I believe that there is a strong possibility that he is leaving out details about the subject.
Rating: 
Summary: An Interesting Compilation
Review: This book prooves the theory of show and tell( the only game in life). Mankind has always relied on blame to excuse their own denial (Words that prey upon words). The stress that we all suffer from, causes mental illness, because of words that cause misunderstandings to develop. There is only one God, one direction, one motivation and one emotion. While there are hundreds of feelings formed from thousands of excusing-accusing words, there is only the one emotion(LOVE). There is a communication gap that is commonly known as (the generation gap). Words such as; because, if, want, need, but, etc. set up unnatural consequences!!! The natural consequences in life are not set by laws and religion!! Parents should never guide through unnataral consequence. This only compromises the innocent minds of the very young. Basically, if we don't show it we tell it, or both!!!!!!!!!! This only teaches ignorance through innocence. We ignore to much of life through blame-excuse-denial.
Rating: 
Summary: "The Seekers" without seeking.
Review: This is a very shallow book on the subject. It is even more disappointing to me, as I have not yet read any other books by Boorstin. I am not one of those readers who believe that an interpretation of the Western cultural thought is a thing of the past. Quite to the contrary, I think it important to realize great achievements of humanity through the centuries to see what is really great in contemporary times. Western cultural thought has shaped most of the history of Europe, United States and in many ways influenced development of today's Asia. Without understanding of that thought we can not fully grasp many of the event in our present life as well. While cultures of the East and American Indian deserve study and exploration on equal footing with the West, it is possible to write a book without addressing them. There are many good books that focus on one subject and not the other in order to explore it better. This is totally acceptable way of writing that does not deserve criticism. What does deserve criticism, however, in "The Seekers" is that the subject the book attempts to address is not addressed at all. The book is merely an outline of what might be interesting in Western thought. Each chapter reads as a preface only. Few big names of the past are used with explanations on the level of a good college term paper but not a book. Even readers who look for a mere paraphrasing of Western religious and philosophical works can find better materials on the subject. This is a book that uses cliches for explanations of great thoughts and, as a result, doesn't have much to say.
Rating:
Summary: The whole is not the sum of the parts
Review: This is the final book in the "trilogy" of Boorstin's that started with The Discoverers and continued with The Creators. It is easily the shortest of the three, which is perhaps good, because it also easily the weakest.Like the other two books, this volume is essentially a collection of short biographies. This time, the people being written about are primarily philosophers. The problem is that the common theme that ties all these people together is elusive; at the end of the book, I was still unclear what the whole book was about; in parts, it is okay, but as a whole, it is not. It is like connecting the dots when the dots are misnumbered or some are missing: either way, you aren't going to get the right picture. The other problem is that some portions of the book are tedious to read. I think this ties into my first problem; since I had only vague hints at Boorstin's intention with this book, I found it harder to get through. This isn't a mystery novel; the meaning should not be something that is guessed at. For those who have read the other books in this trilogy, this book will come as a disappointment. I do give it a weak three stars, however, as there are some chapters that are at least interesting and informative. Overall, however, this book is below average.
Rating:
Summary: The whole is not the sum of the parts
Review: This is the final book in the "trilogy" of Boorstin's that started with The Discoverers and continued with The Creators. It is easily the shortest of the three, which is perhaps good, because it also easily the weakest. Like the other two books, this volume is essentially a collection of short biographies. This time, the people being written about are primarily philosophers. The problem is that the common theme that ties all these people together is elusive; at the end of the book, I was still unclear what the whole book was about; in parts, it is okay, but as a whole, it is not. It is like connecting the dots when the dots are misnumbered or some are missing: either way, you aren't going to get the right picture. The other problem is that some portions of the book are tedious to read. I think this ties into my first problem; since I had only vague hints at Boorstin's intention with this book, I found it harder to get through. This isn't a mystery novel; the meaning should not be something that is guessed at. For those who have read the other books in this trilogy, this book will come as a disappointment. I do give it a weak three stars, however, as there are some chapters that are at least interesting and informative. Overall, however, this book is below average.
Rating: 
Summary: Fuel for an already burning desire to know
Review: This unabridged audio tape took about 12 hours to listen to. Which no one would actually take the time to do if they weren't already "seekers" themselves. So if you not only seek to know, but also to know what other philosophical giants of Western civilization have sought to know and have therefore probably influenced your thought processes without the slightest awareness of their influence on your part, you would do well to listen to these tapes. It's a dryer read on paper than it is to listen, but the book would be a nice reference source once you've gotten through it. Other than a few early references to Biblical prophets, belief systems of India, and an extremely glossed over take on Chinese contributions, the work is entirely Western focused, from Greece to Rome to Medieval Europe to the Rennaissance to the (mostly French and a little English) Enlightenment, up through the German and Northern Europeans, Americans, and finally, 20th century figures. If nothing else (but there is much else), you get useful as well as entertaining background on what we have come to think of as cliche or innate knowledge and sayings. Amazing that so many hours of listening, interlaced with many additional hours of contemplation, can leave one feeling like he/she knows so little compared to what they thought they knew before devouring Boorstin's fine work.
Rating:
Summary: Fuel for an already burning desire to know
Review: This unabridged audio tape took about 12 hours to listen to. Which no one would actually take the time to do if they weren't already "seekers" themselves. So if you not only seek to know, but also to know what other philosophical giants of Western civilization have sought to know and have therefore probably influenced your thought processes without the slightest awareness of their influence on your part, you would do well to listen to these tapes. It's a dryer read on paper than it is to listen, but the book would be a nice reference source once you've gotten through it. Other than a few early references to Biblical prophets, belief systems of India, and an extremely glossed over take on Chinese contributions, the work is entirely Western focused, from Greece to Rome to Medieval Europe to the Rennaissance to the (mostly French and a little English) Enlightenment, up through the German and Northern Europeans, Americans, and finally, 20th century figures. If nothing else (but there is much else), you get useful as well as entertaining background on what we have come to think of as cliche or innate knowledge and sayings. Amazing that so many hours of listening, interlaced with many additional hours of contemplation, can leave one feeling like he/she knows so little compared to what they thought they knew before devouring Boorstin's fine work.
Rating:
Summary: Another man is creating it
Review: While Boorstin is writing about intellectual history, another man is creating it like nobody else. Read "Get Real: A Philosophical Adventure in Virtual Reality", and you'll know the author, Philip Zhai, is actually leading us to create a brand new universe! He convinced me that the combination of virtual reality and teleoperation will enable us to re-create the whole physical world and start a new form of human civilization. After a series of thught experiments and strict logical/philosophical analyses, he demonstrates why artificial intelligence can never replace the human mind but virtual reaity is ontologically equivalent to actual reality. A must-read!
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