Rating: 
Summary: Breezy, Informative, Quirky, Entertaining
Review: WARNING!!! This book has a Western bias!!! I have wondered why it is considered immoral or abnormal for an author who lives in the West, was educated in the West and posseses a Western philosophical, religious and scientific background to have a Western bias. If all cultures were morally equivalent they would have similar outcomes and that is certainly not the case. That aside, this is a wonderful primer on both the theory and history of knowledge. The sheer scope of the work is what makes it enticing. And the range of what he covers is astounding. It may not be as deep as one likes, nor as far-ranging, but it does accomplish its stated goal - to inform us of the long, sometimes difficult search for knowledge. I do not agree with all the author's conclusions but he backs them up; nothing is spoken or claimed in a vaccuum. Some will most assuredly disagree with the importance he places on Christianity in the scheme of things but as Daniel Boorstien has pointed out over and over, the Judeo-Christian environment encouraged thinkers and generally maintained a receptivity for original thinking not found in other cultures that remained wedded to the past. And it is undeniable that Christian Europe created a revolution of ideas that revolutionized and conquered the world in a short span. As many have stated, the last third of the book suffers from an unavoidable problem - the passage of time. It reminds one of the oxymoron "instant analysis" which usually fulfills the former and rarely the latter. Still, despite the myopia, some of the ideas he suggests are provocative and even witty. Get a copy and enjoy.
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