Human Knowledge Bibliography

A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF INTRODUCTORY WORKS
ON HUMAN KNOWLEDGE

WORLD HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SCIENCE, AND THE ARTS

with an introductory essential readings list

Henry P. Mills, Compiler


This introductory bibliography has been compiled in the interest of offering the reader the chance for furthered, in-depth inquiry into human knowledge in all its many varieties and particulars by presenting books that adhere to two ideals: 1) that they provide basic, non-specialist book-length introductions to the fields they represent; and 2) that they prove accessible to the general, educated reader.

Many in turn will contain more specialized bibliographies that supplement the cogency of this one. I have attempted to stray away from textbooks unless they are particularly reader-friendly. When one is listed, however, it is described as such. Some duplication of material will be evident in that many of the following subjects can be approached simultaneously from different formats (for example, pictoral history versus narrative). The reader should follow his or her own inclinations. I have also included listings of useful dictionaries, reference items, and guide-books in places. These should be seen as supplemental.

Lastly, I have striven to provide recent titles published within the last ten years, with but a few exceptions where more current titles of the kind sought were not to be had. Overall, as far as I know, no other bibliography of this kind exists. The additional list "Relevant Books of Concern" offers selections that provide more focused treatments of human culture.

Essential Readings (drawn from the below)


Human Knowledge: The Major Divisions

World History

General Knowledge, see Charles Van Doren, A History of Knowledge: The Pivotal Events, People, and Achievements of World History (New York: Ballantine, 1991).

Historical Survey, see J.M. Roberts, The Pelican History of the World
(New York: Penguin Books, 1988).

General Social History, see John P. Mckay et al, A History of World Societies, 2nd ed. [textbook], (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988).

Illustrated History, see Jack Zevin and Charlotte Evans, eds., The Kingfisher Illustrated History of the World (New York: Kingfisher Books, 1992).

Atlas, see Pierre Vidal-Naquet, The Harper Atlas of World History, rev. ed.
(New York: HarperCollins, 1992).

Maps of World History, see R.I. Moore et al, Rand McNally Atlas of World History (New York: Rand McNally, 1992).

Dictionary of History, see Chris Cook, ed., Dictionary of Historical Terms, 2nd ed. (New York: Bedrick, 1990).

Chronology, see James Trager, ed., The People's Chronology: A Year-by-Year Record of Human Events from Prehistory to the Present (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1992).

Guide Book, see Jean Reeder Smith and Lacey Baldwin Smith, The Essentials of History, rev. ed. (New York: Barron's, 1980).


Philosophy

Western Philosophy, see James K. Feibleman, Understanding Philosophy: A Popular History of Ideas (New York: Horizon Press, 1973).

Eastern Philosophy, see John M. Koller, Oriental Philosophies
(New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1985).

History of Philosophy (East and West), see Vergilius Ferm, ed., A History of Philosophical Systems (Paterson: Littlefield, Adams, 1965).

World Masterworks, see Frank N. Magill, ed. Masterpieces of World Philosophy
(New York: HarperCollins, 1990).

General Issues, see Robert C. Solomon, The Big Questions: A Short Introduction to Philosophy, 3rd ed. [textbook]. (New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1990).

Modern Critical Theory, see Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory
(Minneapolis: University Press of Minnesota, 1983).

Modern World Philosophy (Lectures), see Abraham Kaplan, The New World of Philosophy
(New York: Random House, 1961).

Political Philosophy, see David Easton et al, The Development of Political Science: A Comparative Survey (London: Routledge, 1991).

Economics, see Robert L. Heilbroner, The Wordly Philosophers: The Lives, Times, and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers, 6th ed. (New York: Touchstone, 1986).

Dictionary of Philosophy, see Antony Flew, A Dictionary of Philosophy, 2nd ed. (New York: St. Martin's, 1984).

General Reference, see James Gutmann, ed., Philosophy A to Z
(New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1963).


Religion

Major Religions Survey, see Huston Smith, The World's Religions
(New York: HarperCollins, 1991).

General Introduction, see Archie J. Bahm, The World's Living Religions
(Berkeley: Asian Humanities, 1992).

General Guidebook, see R. Pierce Beaver et al, Eerdmans' Handbook to the World's Religions
(Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1987).

History of Religion, see John B. Noss, Man's Religions, [textbook].
(New York: Macmillan, 1984).

Modern Religious Thought (original essays), see Jaroslav Pelikan, ed., The World Treasury of Modern Religious Thought (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1990).

World Mythology, see Donna Rosenberg, World Mythology: An Anthology of the Great Myths and Epics (Chicago, NTC, 1993).

Western Mythology, see Edith Hamilton, Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes [Greek, Roman, Norse] (New York: Mentor Books, 1969).

Dictionary of Religion, see Keith Crim, ed., The Perennial Dictionary of World Religions
(San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1989).

Short Dictionary, see John R. Hinnells, ed., The Penguin Dictionary of Religions
(New York: Penguin, 1984).


Science

History of science, see William C. Dampier, A Shorter History of Science
(Cleveland: World Publishing, 1967).

Physics and Cosmology, see Alan Lightman, Ancient Light: Our Changing View of the Universe (Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1991).

Earth History, see William K. Hartmann and Ron Miller, The History of the Earth: An Illustrated Chronicle of an Evolving Planet (New York: Workman, 1991).

Life History, see Edward O. Wilson, The Diversity of Life
(Cambridge: Belknap, 1992).

Mathematics, see John Barrow, Pi in the Sky: Counting, Thinking, and Being
(Oxford: Oxford UP, 1992).

Guidebook, see Richard P. Brennan, Dictionary of Scientific Literacy
(New York: John Wiley, 1992).

Science Dictionary, Robin Kerrod, Concise Dictionary of Science
(New York: Arco, 1985).

Almanac, see Richard Golob and Eric Brus, eds., The Almanac of Science and Technology: What's New and What's Known (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Jovanovich, 1990).

Timetables, see Alexander Hellemans and Bryan Bunch, The Timetables of Science: A Chronology of the Most Important People and Events in the History of Science (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988).

Western scientific and philosophical figures, see Ian P. McGreal, ed., Great Thinkers of the Western World (New York: HarperCollins, 1992).


The Arts

Art Survey, see Carol Strickland and John Boswell, The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History From Prehistoric to Post-Modern (Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1992).

General Art History, see H. W. Janson et al, A Basic History of Art
(Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1982).

Art and Civilization (East and West), see Bernard S. Myers, Art and Civilization
(New York: McGraw Hill, 1967).

Architectural History, see Talbot Hamlin, Architecture Through the Ages
(New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1953).

Literature Overview, see Peter Quennell and Tore Zetterholm, An Illustrated Companion to World Literature (New York: Excalibur Books, 1986).

Literature (reference), see Charles Van Doren, The Joy of Reading: 210 Favorite Books, Plays, Poems, Essays, etc.-What's in Them, Why Read Them (New York: Harmony Books, 1985).

Historical Literature Survey (Western), see Maynard Mack et al, The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces (New York: W.W. Norton, 1992).

Historical Literature Survey (Eastern), G.L. Anderson, Masterpieces of the Orient
(New York: W.W. Norton, 1977).

Music History, see Gerald Abraham, The Concise Oxford History of Music
(New York: Oxford UP, 1990).

Classical Music (Western), see Jan Swafford, The Vintage Guide to Classical Music
(New York: Vintage, 1992).

Illustrated History of Music, see Paul Henry Lang and Otto Bettmann, A Pictoral History of Music (New York: W.W. Norton, 1960).

General Historical Development of the Arts, see Daniel J. Boorstin, The Creators: A History of Heroes of the Imagination (New York: Random House, 1992).

Dictionary of Culture, see E.D. Hirsch, Dictionary of Cultural Literature
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988).


Of Additional Interest

Origins Reconsidered: In Search of What Makes Us Human, Richard Leakey and
Roger Lewin (New York: Doubleday, 1992).

Everyday Life Through the Ages: How Ordinary People Lived-From the Stone Age to the Twentieth Century, Michael Worth Davison, ed. (London: Reader's Digest, 1992).

Virtual Reality: The Revolutionary Technology of Computer-Generated Artificial Worlds-and How it Promises and Threatens to Transform Business and Society, Howard Rheingold (New York: Summit Books, 1991).

Preparing for the Twenty-first Century, Paul Kennedy
(New York: Random House, 1993).

Cambridge Paperback Encyclopedia
(Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1993).


Relevant Books of Concern

General Human Developments

Origins Reconsidered: In Search of What Makes Us Human, Richard Leakey and
Roger Lewin (New York: Doubleday, 1992).

The Neolithic Revolution, D.M. Knox
(London: George G. Harrap, 1980).

Wilderness at Dawn: The Settling of the North American Continent, Ted Morgan
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993).

A History of the Ancient World, 4th edition, Chester G. Starr
(New York: Oxford UP, 1991).

The Oxford History of the Classical World, John Boardman, editor in chief
(Oxford: Oxford UP, 1992).

The Civilization of the Middle Ages, Norman F. Cantor
(New York: HarperCollins, 1993).

The Renaissance (Studies in European History Series), Peter Burke
(Atlantic Highlands: Humanities Press International, 1987).

1492:The Decline of Medievalism and the Rise of the Modern Age, Barnet Litvinoff
(New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1991).

The Enlightenment (Studies in European History Series), Roy Porter
(Atlantic Highlands: Humanities Press International, 1990).


Culture Specific History

China: A New History, John King Fairbank
(Cambridge: Belknap, 1992).

A History of India, Herman Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund
(London: Croom Helm, 1986).

Africa In History: Themes and Outlines, rev. ed., Basil Davidson
(New York: Macmillan, 1991).

A History of the Middle East, Peter Mansfield
(New York: Penguin, 1991).

A History of the Arab Peoples, Albert Hourani
(Cambridge: Belknap, 1991).

The Jews: Story of A People, Howard Fast
(New York: Dell, 1992).

Penguin History of Latin America, Edwin Williamson
(New York: Penguin, 1992).

Incidents of Travel: In Central America, Chiapas, Yucatan [Mayan Culture],
John Lloyd Stephens, edited by Karl Ackerman
(Washington: Smithsonian Institute Press, 1993).

The Facts on File History of the American People, John Anthony Scott
(New York: Facts on File, 1990).