Simon Eliot (1) (1947–)

Eliot och Rose har gjort ett bra jobb. Deras volym kan varmt rekommenderas som bästa inledning för alla som är historiskt intresserade och vill lära om bokens utveckling. De tar sig an begreppet boken i vid mening så att detta omfattar inte bara codex volymer och rullar, men också tidskrifter, småtryck, och till och med gamla babyloniska lertavlor. De fyrtio kapitlen de har sammansatts till en historia, natur, distribution och användning av dessa objekt, som sträcker sig från uppfinningen av skrivkulturen i nuvarande Irak i slutet av fjärde årtusendet f.Kr. till den nuvarande digitala revolutionen. Boken är up-to-date nog att inkludera utvecklingen så sent som 2006.… (meer)

Vol. 2

I failed all history examinations during my schooling (which occurred nearly as long ago as the enlightenment) so, I cannot pretend to be anything other than an interested amateur upon the subject of the enlightenment. These two books are ,however, to me,amazing: the cognoscenti seems to have exploded with thoughts that would have been impossible just a few brief years earlier.

Even my poor grasp upon matters historical had accepted that the Enlightenment had happened and, I was prepared for Voltaire's brilliant contribution. What I did not know, was the very existence of the delightfully named, Batty Langley, or the moves to structure architecture and house design. It makes sense, when you think about it, many stately homes appear around this time in Britain and, they have considerable similarity.

I was also surprised to find the writings of the Comte de Buffon who nonchalantly tells of the length of the Earth's existence and gets precious close to beating Darwin to the idea of natural selection.

These books have been a real eye opener for me, and add greatly to my understanding as to how we have reached our present state of understanding of this World of ours.… (meer)