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The Ascent Of Man Jacob Bronowski Books

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The Ascent Of Man Jacob Bronowski Books

I am writing this review a bit differently from most I have written. I'm doing to start with the down sides. This is more that a bit dated. The book was published in 1973, and quite a few things in science have happened since then. Second, the book was written to accompany the original BBC television series, and at times it is very obvious that this is actually a transcript of what Dr. Bronowski is saying on the television. Although there are illustrations in the book, at times the reader just has to imagine what one might see on the screen. Now, that said, I still found this a fascinating and enjoyable book. Dr. Bronowski traces the human passion for controlling and predicting the world through the various epochs of science, literally beginning at the beginning and going as far as he could in 1973. He makes interesting connections, and I must say, as much as I have read in the philosophy of science, there were still times when I thought, "Hum, I had never thought of it that way." I may go back now and watch the DVDs of the original broadcasts. Even if you don't chose to do that, if you have any interest at all in how we humans came to be the creative creatures we are, you will enjoy this book.

Product details Hardcover Publisher Book Club Associates (2011) ASIN B007WJNYLO

Tags : The Ascent Of Man [Jacob Bronowski] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers.,Jacob Bronowski,The Ascent Of Man,Book Club Associates,B007WJNYLO,2877271
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The Ascent Of Man Jacob Bronowski Books Reviews

If you like James Burke and history from a technology point of view, you will like this book!

Here is an example of one of the things I found interesting in this book. The wheel is always rated as humans greatest invention; largely because every other invention (almost) uses the wheel. But People used logs to move heavy stones and, to me, the wheel always seemed fairly obvious. But Bronowski points out that the great part of the invention of the wheel is not really the wheel, it is the axle. The axle is what allows the wheel to work. This significantly changed my perspective!
Written and presented in the early 1970's in my opinion is one of the "must read books" for all persons. Its clarity, purpose and clear definition of mans progress over the millenia makes this book one of the best overviews of man and civilization's development. Bronowski presents with authority, humor and most importantly clarity. Concepts and impacts of major social and technical changes are dealt with in relevant chapters. For example Chapter 2, Harvest of the Seasons presents the importance of the evolution of emmer wheat and its consequences on the ability of man to move from hunter gatherer to stable agrarian society and from there evolve into a variety of technical innovations. This was written as the script to the TV series( and is best viewed as a TV documentary) but its direct presentation style keep the reader involved. My top "bucket list book.
As impossible as it might seem to condense the historical/scientific/cultural development of human beings in only 13 hours of TV (or 13 chapters in a book), Mr. Bronowski does so in a sensitive and provocative manner. This overview was created almost 50 years ago for the BBC, so the very most recent elements in this "ascent" are not included. Nevertheless, one cannot fail to be stimulated by his insights and perspectives, even if they provoke occasional disagreement. In our age of myopic over-specialization, we often miss the opportunity to step back from our individual specialties to absorb the diversity of knowledge and thought that a liberal arts education once provided. Mr. Bronowski provides an excellent opportunity to rectify that trend.
Jacob Bronowski's The Ascent of Man was one of several documentary style miniseries that created a market for and set the standard for thoughtful television programs of the type we should expect from the History Channel or Arts and Entertainment. The Ascent of Man along with the Civilization Series, Connections, and Cosmos proved that there was a large market for intellectually challenging and enlightening discussion extending over many weeks and many topics. These were not the first efforts in this direction, I can remember Leonard Bernstein doing televised lectures about music some time before the above mentioned programs but these took hold and proved that there was in fact a market for quality programming.

This however is a review of a text only version. This book reprodes Prof. Bronowski's lectures with very few of the visuals. In these lectures, rather 13 chapters the reader is taken from the beginning of man as a social, culturally artistic and technologically inventive being up into at least the 1970s, when this book was first published, and what was then emerging as the DNA driven understanding of human biology.

I am deeply impressed with the depth and breath of the authors intellect plus his immense skill with English. He was Polish born and did not come to English until he was much older. His original background shifted from a specialty in the mathematics of physics into a later career in biology while gaining recognition as a poet, historian, philosopher and (this is new to me) a "theater author". All of these skills were powerfully displayed in the television series and this is the source of my reservation over a fifth star for the book. My memories of this program from almost 30 years ago are tied to what were then some very high-tech graphics. The absence of the visuals affected my ability to appreciate the text. The power of Bronowski's language is here; unfortunately the text has not been scrubbed of all references to the images not carried over into the text.

Others have mentioned that science is moved forward, indeed leaped forward since this text was put in print. It is remarkable how much of what is here remains valid in itself or at least as a document of where our understanding was before it got to where it is. The very name of the book suggests that human progress his ongoing. A major theme of this book is that a failure to press ahead represents an ending for that culture but not an ending for human progress.

Accepting that some of the science is dated, my recommendation is based on the powerful use of language and the opportunity to spend time with a deeply thoughtful and passionate thinker
I am writing this review a bit differently from most I have written. I'm doing to start with the down sides. This is more that a bit dated. The book was published in 1973, and quite a few things in science have happened since then. Second, the book was written to accompany the original BBC television series, and at times it is very obvious that this is actually a transcript of what Dr. Bronowski is saying on the television. Although there are illustrations in the book, at times the reader just has to imagine what one might see on the screen. Now, that said, I still found this a fascinating and enjoyable book. Dr. Bronowski traces the human passion for controlling and predicting the world through the various epochs of science, literally beginning at the beginning and going as far as he could in 1973. He makes interesting connections, and I must say, as much as I have read in the philosophy of science, there were still times when I thought, "Hum, I had never thought of it that way." I may go back now and watch the DVDs of the original broadcasts. Even if you don't chose to do that, if you have any interest at all in how we humans came to be the creative creatures we are, you will enjoy this book.