Greatest Minds And Ideas Of All Time

Description: In this remarkable little book, Will Durant answers the questions that most people would have wanted to ask him - what are the conclusions he drew from the experience of a long lifetime; what eras, individuals, and achievements stand out as being the most significant? Who, for example, could be legitimately classified as the greatest thinkers in human history? Who were the truly great poets, the ones that plucked notes upon heartstrings that continue to resonate hundreds and thousands of years after their passing? And what are the absolute best books one should read in order to receive a meaningful - and useful - education? As Will Durant was repeatedly asked to "weigh in" on such matters, he, over the course of his career, responded to the increasing public demand for such qualified assessments by putting pen to paper and crafting a series of essays containing his personal rankings of human achievement. These essays have been brought together for the first time in this book. Contents: Contents Introduction Chapter One A Shameless Worship of Heroes Chapter Two The Ten "Greatest" Thinkers Chapter Three The Ten "Greatest" Poets Chapter Four The One Hundred "Best" Books for an Education Chapter Five The Ten "Peaks" of Human Progress Chapter Six Twelve Vital Dates in World History Index Copyright (c) 2002 by John Little, Monica Ariel Mihell, and William James Durant Easton Author Biography: Will Durant (1885-1981) was awarded the Pulitzer Prize (1968) and the Medal of Freedom (1977). He spent more than fifty years writing his critically acclaimed THE STORY OF CIVILIZATION (the later volumes written in conjunction with his wife, Ariel). His book THE STORY OF PHILOSOPHY is credited with introducing more people to the subject of philosophy than any other work.