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Human Accomplishment: The Pursuit of Excellence in the Arts and Sciences, 800 B.C. to 1950 (origineel 2003; editie 2004)

door Charles Murray

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A sweeping cultural survey reminiscent of Barzun's From Dawn to Decadence. "At irregular times and in scattered settings, human beings have achieved great things. Human Accomplishment is about those great things, falling in the domains known as the arts and sciences, and the people who did them.' So begins Charles Murray's unique account of human excellence, from the age of Homer to our own time. Employing techniques that historians have developed over the last century but that have rarely been applied to books written for the general public, Murray compiles inventories of the people who have been essential to the stories of literature, music, art, philosophy, and the sciences--a total of 4,002 men and women from around the world, ranked according to their eminence. The heart of Human Accomplishment is a series of enthralling descriptive chapters: on the giants in the arts and what sets them apart from the merely great; on the differences between great achievement in the arts and in the sciences; on the meta-inventions, 14 crucial leaps in human capacity to create great art and science; and on the patterns and trajectories of accomplishment across time and geography. Straightforwardly and undogmatically, Charles Murray takes on some controversial questions. Why has accomplishment been so concentrated in Europe? Among men? Since 1400? He presents evidence that the rate of great accomplishment has been declining in the last century, asks what it means, and offers a rich framework for thinking about the conditions under which the human spirit has expressed itself most gloriously. Eye-opening and humbling, Human Accomplishment is a fascinating work that describes what humans at their best can achieve, provides tools for exploring its wellsprings, and celebrates the continuing common quest of humans everywhere to discover truths, create beauty, and apprehend the good.… (meer)

▾Boekgegevens

Lid:	SHAVOGROUP
Titel:	Human Accomplishment: The Pursuit of Excellence in the Arts and Sciences, 800 B.C. to 1950
Auteurs:	Charles Murray
Info:	AEI Press (2004), Paperback, 688 pages
Verzamelingen:	PUNE OFFICE 2 (FRM HKS RES)
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Trefwoorden:	Geen

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Human Accomplishment - The Pursuit of Excellence in the Arts and Sciences, 800 B.C. to 1950 door Charles Murray (2003)

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The sheer effort calls for a high rating but combined with the fact that this book was dense but at the same time incredibly well written and taught me not just some interesting facts about random-effects negative binomial regression models but also about the history of mankind and why it played out the way it did makes this a clear 5 star-candidate. Absolutely recommended to everyone. (

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aeqk | Dec 13, 2020 |

Murray is an excellent writer, and was clearly enthralled by his subject. He covers in great detail the different ways in which humans have accomplished great things in art, literature, music, philosophy, and the sciences.
Much of his data comes from the West, but Japan, China, and India are also included, as well as Arabic notables of various countries.
His methodology is carefully explained and accessible to the lay reader; the data themselves are fascinating. (

)

librisissimo | Feb 3, 2019 |

Charles Murray surveys a very large topic and provides both direction and structure for it. The immensity of his work is difficult to appreciate for he ranks the leading 4,000 innovators in several fields of human accomplishment from 800 BC to 1950. The categories of human accomplishment where significant figures are ranked in the book are as follows: Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Physics, Mathematics, Medicine, Technology, Combined Sciences, Chinese Philosophy, Indian Philosophy, Western Philosophy, Western Music, Chinese Painting, Japanese Art, Western Art, Arabic Literature, Chinese Literature, Indian Literature, Japanese Literature, and Western Literature.
In reviewing the accomplishments in these categories he argued, based on Aristotle in the Nicomachean Ethics, that innovation is increased by beliefs that life has a purpose and that the function of life is to fulfill that purpose; by beliefs about transcendental goods and a sense of goodness, truth and beauty; and by beliefs that individuals can act efficaciously as individuals, and a culture that enables them to do so. I found that he answered my questions as they arose during my reading and he dealt effectively with issues like the prominence of the West, the predominance of men, and others. The most satisfying sections for me were his discussion of the importance of Aristotle and his summation. The result of Murray's efforts is a worthy assay of human excellence throughout history. (

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jwhenderson | Nov 19, 2011 |

Charles Murray’s Human Accomplishment is an unusual, provocative and wholly worthwhile read.

Murray tackles – and admirably executes – a daunting task: combing through dozens and hundreds of histories and encyclopedias of famous figures and events in the historical development of the sciences, medicine, technology, fine arts, literature and philosophy in search of answers to foundational questions such as ‘What is human accomplishment?’ ‘Who has accomplished the most, and why?’ and ‘What enables/drives such accomplishment?’

Given Murray’s notoriety, some might attempt brush off this study with a few puerile criticisms of Murray’s methods or results, but if you actually read the book you will see that Murray has anticipated and parried just about every possible objection. He is thorough, dispassionate, and clear.

The most interesting part of the book, I think, comes towards the end, as Murray concludes that it’s Christianity’s fostering of individualism, plus a sense of transcendence and purpose, that has undergirded the very heights of human accomplishment.

Highly recommended. (

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mrtall | Apr 29, 2009 |

Charles Murray is consistently insightful and always adept at simplifying complicated arguments. In this book, he evaluates empirically relative progress of human achievement over time and in different modern cultures. He develops an objective approach, then shows how progress was driven by a combination of improved economy, the centralization of advanced creativity in specific locations, and the additive effect of having previous successful models. He also proves that the often maligned "dead white men" really is a myth. (

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jpsnow | May 25, 2008 |

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Gangbare titel

Human Accomplishment - The Pursuit of Excellence in the Arts and Sciences, 800 B.C. to 1950

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2003

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At irregular times and in scattered settings, human beings have achieved great things.

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▾Boekbeschrijvingen

A sweeping cultural survey reminiscent of Barzun's From Dawn to Decadence. "At irregular times and in scattered settings, human beings have achieved great things. Human Accomplishment is about those great things, falling in the domains known as the arts and sciences, and the people who did them.' So begins Charles Murray's unique account of human excellence, from the age of Homer to our own time. Employing techniques that historians have developed over the last century but that have rarely been applied to books written for the general public, Murray compiles inventories of the people who have been essential to the stories of literature, music, art, philosophy, and the sciences--a total of 4,002 men and women from around the world, ranked according to their eminence. The heart of Human Accomplishment is a series of enthralling descriptive chapters: on the giants in the arts and what sets them apart from the merely great; on the differences between great achievement in the arts and in the sciences; on the meta-inventions, 14 crucial leaps in human capacity to create great art and science; and on the patterns and trajectories of accomplishment across time and geography. Straightforwardly and undogmatically, Charles Murray takes on some controversial questions. Why has accomplishment been so concentrated in Europe? Among men? Since 1400? He presents evidence that the rate of great accomplishment has been declining in the last century, asks what it means, and offers a rich framework for thinking about the conditions under which the human spirit has expressed itself most gloriously. Eye-opening and humbling, Human Accomplishment is a fascinating work that describes what humans at their best can achieve, provides tools for exploring its wellsprings, and celebrates the continuing common quest of humans everywhere to discover truths, create beauty, and apprehend the good.

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Dit boek gaat over uitblinkers: de ruim 4000 mannen en vrouwen die in de loop van de geschiedenis van eminent belang zijn geweest voor letterkunde, muziek, beeldende kunst, wijsbegeerte en wetenschap. Met behulp van de methoden van de historiometrische analyse ontwikkelt Murray criteria voor uitmuntendheid, identificeert hij de significante kopstukken op allerlei gebied, en legt hij verbanden met perioden, plaatsen en andere sociaal-culturele en historische variabelen. Een overvloed aan materiaal, bronnen, tabellen en grafieken, een grondige verantwoording van elke stap in het proces, en als beloning voor al dit werk een aantal verrassende inzichten in het raadsel van het menselijk genie. Met uitvoerig notenapparaat, literatuuroverzicht en index.

(Biblion recensie, Dr. D.G. van der Steen)

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