Rating: 
Summary: Check the sell-by-date first
Review: A fascinating subject for a study, but one that could be treated in many different, less speculative and more informative ways. After reading Peter Ackroyd's 'The Plato Papers' I found the Bronowski's initial chapters difficult to swallow. From mere scraps of available evidence from thousands of years ago, Bronowski paints vivid pictures of the development of early thought. Sure, they can make for intersting reading - but are best taken with a pinch of salt.
All the old canonical bores are rehearsed here (e.g. the 'Copernican revolution', Galileo as martyr to science), which makes for an easy, predictable read.
This book really should offer nothing new to readers with a reasonable grounding in history - in fact quite the opposite, may even seem dated in the light of more recent findings and revisions (not to mention writers who think things through: Why is Galileo a martyr to science? Didn't he dogmatically defend Copernicus and ignore Kepler? And didn't Copernicus simply re-introduce ideas that were discovered 'scientifically' by the Pythagoreans and abandoned when Plato and Aristotle all but throttled empirical science?).
I don't agree with the subtext book at all. Do people still think that science is the culmination of human development? No - it's a view that's been seriously in question since the creation of the atom bomb. And today creationism is making a firm comeback, genetically modified foods are treated with suspicion, futurists are terrified of nanotechnology... It's a whole different world, and one that Bronowski's book does nothing to prepare us for - and this would be my main argument for looking on, beyond this doubtless classic but seriously tired book.
Rating: 
Summary: excellent
Review: a must read for any educated individual. it shows the cultural context of human evolution which gave Homo Sapiens its uniqueness emphasizing the remarkable achievments in science and technology. this book teaches a modern person to reflect on the meaning and values of the long history around mankind and extract useful lessons.
Rating:
Summary: intriguing and well arranged
Review: As a senior in high school, I was not looking forward to reading Ascent of Man. Yet (as a lover of the sciences) I was suprised and pleased to find it very interesting.Bronowski takes man from his beginnings as homo erectus and progresses through all the characteristics that make man great: his ingenuity, his pride in his skills, his reasoning ability.....Bronowski's subjects range from architecture to the atomic bomb, yet are presented in a semi-chronological and understandable format, each a detailed and thoughtful essay. Bronowski, weaving in a mixture of art and evolution, paints a poetic, thoughtful, and authoritative view of the ascent of man.
Rating:
Summary: This book touches your heart and your mind
Review: I was telling a friend about this book when I realized I had never reviewed it. I searched for it on this site specifically to write a review:
I had the good fortune to take a class in high school based almost entirely on this book. It started me on an intellectual and spiritual journey that will probably last my whole life. It's not a religious book, quite to the contrary. But when we get down to it, science and religion are both ways of understanding the world, so here goes:
After I realized that my beliefs about the world differed greatly from those of my family, I spent most of my teenage years being depressed and lost in the world. I had a hard time finding beauty in the world because I had been told all along that beauty came from a god I no longer believed in. But when I read this book, I began to understand that no matter what you believe, the world, math, art--they're all beautiful in and of themselves. Perhaps the most beautiful, and necessary, thing of all is our humanity.
The Ascent of Man is the reason I became an anthropologist. (My most favorite chapter is Knowledge and Certainty.) It's a collection of essays starting with the physical evolution of humans and continuing through the development of technology, science, math, art, etc. to the present. There's a companion TV series--I actually cried during Knowledge and Certainty because it was touching in so many ways. Somehow JB manages to relate everything back to (and remind us of) our essential, necessary humanity. Beautiful.
Rating:
Summary: This book touches your heart and your mind
Review: I was telling a friend about this book when I realized I had never reviewed it. I searched for it on this site specifically to write a review:
I had the good fortune to take a class in high school based almost entirely on this book. It started me on an intellectual and spiritual journey that will probably last my whole life. It's not a religious book, quite to the contrary. But when we get down to it, science and religion are both ways of understanding the world, so here goes:
After I realized that my beliefs about the world differed greatly from those of my family, I spent most of my teenage years being depressed and lost in the world. I had a hard time finding beauty in the world because I had been told all along that beauty came from a god I no longer believed in. But when I read this book, I began to understand that no matter what you believe, the world, math, art--they're all beautiful in and of themselves. Perhaps the most beautiful, and necessary, thing of all is our humanity.
The Ascent of Man is the reason I became an anthropologist. (My most favorite chapter is Knowledge and Certainty.) It's a collection of essays starting with the physical evolution of humans and continuing through the development of technology, science, math, art, etc. to the present. There's a companion TV series--I actually cried during Knowledge and Certainty because it was touching in so many ways. Somehow JB manages to relate everything back to (and remind us of) our essential, necessary humanity. Beautiful.
Rating:
Summary: A scholarly optimist's look at human achievements
Review: 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
Rating:
Summary: "There Is No Absolute Knowledge"
Review: Jacob Bronowski, a mathematician, worked in physics and then, in his last years, in biological research. He believed in "the democracy of the intellect" (435).[Page references are to the 1973 Little, Brown hardcover edition.] Basing his views on the tremendous influence of science on society, he argued and worked for the greater extension of scientific knowledge to the general public. This book is the companion volume of Bronowski's television series in the early seventies on the history of science. Having seen several episodes of this classic series, I can hear Bronowski talking. The writing retains a lively, personal quality. The book has wonderful illustrations and although some of the information could use updating, e.g., to reflect new discoveries in human origins, it still provides an enriching and useful account of the connections among science, art, history, philosophy, politics, etc. Science as a human activity has no better spokesperson than Bronowski. On the down-side, I found jarring his constant use of `man' for human. If he were writing today, I believe he would have been sensitive to such language use that some feel may exclude women. That was not his intent. Bronowski believed in the possibility of progress for human beings, what he called "the ascent of man," which was represented for him by the growth of scientific knowledge. One of the best chapters, "Knowledge Or Certainty," provides a useful meditation on the uncertainty principle in physics and the epistemology of modern science. The chapter should be required reading for everyone interested in the non-aristotelian, uncertaintist, world-view promoted by Alfred Korzybski and others. Bronowski writes: "There is no absolute knowledge. And those who claim it, whether they are scientists or dogmatists, open the door to tragedy. All information is imperfect. We have to treat it with humility. That is the human condition; and that is what quantum physics says. I mean that literally" (353).
Rating:
Summary: The Work of a Genius
Review: Nowadays many different books have been written to explain the unfolding of humans and civilization. This book covers many great products and inventors instead of all the great wars. In the 1970s this was unique to the public. And this book is the template for those to follow.
The contents include:
* Lower than the Angles (evolution of the head)
* The Harvest of the Seasons (the pace of cultural evolution)
* The Grain in the Stone (blood group evidence of migration)
* The Hidden Structure (fire)
* The Music of the Spheres (the language of numbers)
* The Starry Messenger (the cycle of seasons)
* The majestic Clockwork (Kepler's laws)
* The Drive for Power (Everyday technology)
* The ladder of Creation (are other formulas of life possible?)
* World Within World (the periodic table)
* Knowledge of Certainty (There is no absolute knowledge)
* Generation upon generation (cloning of identical forms)
* The Long Childhood (The commitment of man)
I have the original hardback book, reference book, and study guide. The local library still has the original videotapes. You have to be an institution to purchase them. This is a humanities course at the local collage. An added plus was getting to actually go through the Watts Towers as a kid. This work does rings around "Connections" by James Burke ISBN: 0316116726 because it is the story of the people behind the connections.
I am not saying that this book replaces others, but that it has more to say with out resorting to today's sound byte system of writing.
Rating:
Summary: Evolution of knowledge
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Is available on DVD
Review: This series has been available on DVD for about 2 years or so from Ambrose Video. The price is high.
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