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1st out of 15 books
—
6 voters
The Intellectual Devotional: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Roam Confidently with the Cultured Class
This daily digest of intellectual challenge and learning will arouse curiosity, refresh knowledge, expand horizons, and keep the mind sharp
Millions of Americans keep bedside books of prayer and meditative reflection--collections of daily passages to stimulate spiritual thought and advancement. The Intellectual Devotional is a secular version of the same--a collection of 36...more
Millions of Americans keep bedside books of prayer and meditative reflection--collections of daily passages to stimulate spiritual thought and advancement. The Intellectual Devotional is a secular version of the same--a collection of 36...more
Hardcover, 368 pages
Published
October 3rd 2006
by Rodale Books
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I gotta say, I really love this book. Small and easy to keep on the night stand it is a great way to end the day. I wrote my starting date on the first page and worked my way though a page a night. Some of the content was so interesting that it was hard to not peek ahead to the upcoming pages.
Occasionally I had to skip a night because of a late poker night, being sick, or some other odd reason but always made up for the lost night when I returned a day or two later. Very fun and highly recommen...more
Occasionally I had to skip a night because of a late poker night, being sick, or some other odd reason but always made up for the lost night when I returned a day or two later. Very fun and highly recommen...more
When I bought this book, I intended to set it by my nightstand and treat it like a devotional and read one page per day. However, I read it cover to cover, which really suited me at this time.
Kidder and Oppenheim delivered exactly what was promised. Little vignettes of information on seven subjects: science, literature, philosophy, music, history, religion, and the visual arts. I learned a little about some subjects and recalled some information I had deliberately forgotten (Categorical Imperati...more
Kidder and Oppenheim delivered exactly what was promised. Little vignettes of information on seven subjects: science, literature, philosophy, music, history, religion, and the visual arts. I learned a little about some subjects and recalled some information I had deliberately forgotten (Categorical Imperati...more
Jan 09, 2012
Eric
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
History buffs
Recommended to Eric by:
Daily Lit
I got daily snippets of this book emailed to me from DailyLit. It was a double-edged sword -- I loved that I was able to read them in the time it takes to read an email, but hated how they only scratched the surface of some really interesting topics. Of course, the topics were also hit and miss.
The Intellectual Devotional by David S. Kidder & Noah D. Oppenheim is a collection has a page for each day, loaded with information about influential authors, books, works of art, artists, religion, math, and science.
Even the educated can learn something in this handy tome, such as the true story of the strange circumstances leading to Mozart's death, what makes Ulysses such a special book, why religions treasure certain places and things, and what lead to now-common mathematical equations...more
Even the educated can learn something in this handy tome, such as the true story of the strange circumstances leading to Mozart's death, what makes Ulysses such a special book, why religions treasure certain places and things, and what lead to now-common mathematical equations...more
An interesting underlying concept. . . . The Introduction says that "Daily devotionals have long been a favored tool of those looking for a regular dose of spiritual growth." This volume? "'The Intellectual Devotional' is a secular compendium in the same tradition. It is one year's worth of daily readings that will refresh your spirit, stimulate your mind, and help complete your education." There is also a pattern: Monday's readings focus on history; Tuesday is literature day; Wednesday-visual a...more
I actually took a year to read this book one article at a time and in hindsight I believe that is probably the best way to do it. The individual articles are uneven - some are excellent, some are too short and of limited value - but overall it fulfilled its purpose. I enjoyed the variation between topics (each day of the week is a different topic, i.e. Monday = History, Tuesday = Literature, Wednesday = Visual Arts, Thursday = Science, Friday = Music, Saturday = Philosophy and Sunday = Religion)...more
Jul 14, 2007
Kristen
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
the would be intellectual and anyone striving to learn
I LOVE this book. Each page represents a day of the week and each day of the week is a different intellectual topic: History, Literature, Science, Music, Philosophy, Religion and Visual Arts. One page is dedicated to a subject under one of the aforementioned headings. So, It takes maybe, five minutes to learn something completely new. Or if you already know a little bit about the topic the book will often bear details that most would not have in the knowledge of the subject.
Now, I'm not all the way through yet, but I cannot tell you how much this book is my cup of tea. I absolutely love it. It's all about the presentation. The way they group into seven fields of knowledge is brilliant and makes you interested in subjects you don't already know about. I look forward the most to the music days, just because I know the least amount about music. It's a wonderful way to wake myself up every morning reading the page of the day and then re-reading before I go to bed to ma...more
The book is a great concept and an ambitious endeavor, but perhaps the authors were a little over their heads when they began writing this book. For instance, many intellectual fields are left out of the book, and the fields that are presented are so light that it is unlikely to complete anyone's education. Also, a few topics are horribly written --much like a college students late night term paper. Moreover, I have found a few instances where the points made are incorrect. Granted these errors...more
My wife bought this and it's been on the back of the toilet for those short-reading needs.
It's in the appropriate place.
For example, the entry on Charles Darwin was three paragraphs about how he tried quack remedies for his headaches, then a sentence on how he came up with "survival of the fittest." But that quote was some other guy, not Darwin.
It claims to cover the "Seven fields of knowledge." Just in case you were wondering how many there were. Sorry, engineers, doctors and lawyers, you ain't...more
It's in the appropriate place.
For example, the entry on Charles Darwin was three paragraphs about how he tried quack remedies for his headaches, then a sentence on how he came up with "survival of the fittest." But that quote was some other guy, not Darwin.
It claims to cover the "Seven fields of knowledge." Just in case you were wondering how many there were. Sorry, engineers, doctors and lawyers, you ain't...more
Here's the deal: I made a pact with a friend that we would read one page of this book every day for a year. We would start and stop at the same time, and at the end of 365 days, we would be intellectually richer and obviously more fun at dinner parties. It was a noble prospect, and it started off well. I read every day, I made notes, I even marked passages I liked with little colored flags. But now... Well, now I've really fallen off the wagon. (Sorry, Lauren...)
It's just a lot of pressure to re...more
It's just a lot of pressure to re...more
Despite its painfully pretentious subtitle ("Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Roam Confidently with the Cultured Class"), The Intellectual Devotional is not so bad. At least, it's not as bad as the title makes it sound, which is pretty bad.
The idea of daily, one-page selections of information on various topics is neat, and would be neater if the publisher hadn't felt the need to put on airs. The back cover emphasis on impressing one's friends at cocktail parties is gag-worthy, and...more
The idea of daily, one-page selections of information on various topics is neat, and would be neater if the publisher hadn't felt the need to put on airs. The back cover emphasis on impressing one's friends at cocktail parties is gag-worthy, and...more
May 03, 2012
Stasy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone interested in history
Shelves:
history,
non-fiction
You're supposed to read a page a day throughout the course of a year; however, it was interesting enough that I read straight through. I did like that I could stop at the end of each page to attend to other things, though this did not keep me from continuing on.
I actually knew quite a bit of the historical facts, as well as about many of the world religions, but it was interesting to read about the history of art, music, philosophy and literature. I knew about some of these entries, but not near...more
I actually knew quite a bit of the historical facts, as well as about many of the world religions, but it was interesting to read about the history of art, music, philosophy and literature. I knew about some of these entries, but not near...more
Read during 2011, finished 2012. 365 daily lessons from the seven fields of knowledge: Monday - History; Tuesday - Literature; Wednesday - Visual Arts; Thursday - Science; Friday - Music; Saturday - Philosophy; and Sunday - Religion. A one page lesson in each of the above area. Sometimes it was more than I wanted to know, but, usually it helped me to understand something that I had heard of but had never studied. I'll probably read in it again.
Great Christmas gift to give or put in as a stocking stuffer. Have received lots of positive feedback on it. Each day you get a one-day summary from each of the following catagories: History, Literature, Visual Arts, Science, Music, Philosophy, and Religion. They are good refreshers from what you learned in school as well as educating you on things you may have missed. If you are a Costco member, make sure you look for it there.
I took a whole year to read this book as it is a daily "devotional." It is divided into 7 categories for the 7 days of the week: History, Literature, Visual Arts, science, Music, philosophy and religion. I learned so much in the course of reading this. I have given it as a gift to several of my friends who are curious individuals. I highly recommend it.
This book has 365 daily lessons on seven different subjects (history, literature, visual arts, science, music, philosophy, and religion). I always read more than one per day and definately liked the history and literature the best. Philosophy was pretty boring after I got the Socrates - Plate - Aristotle - Alexander the Great connections. In the back I made notes of things (mostly books) that I wanted to check out. I actually bought my first book of poetry (besides Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein...more
Each day you read a devotional in the seven different fields of knowledge: History, Literature, Visual Arts, Science, Music, Philosophy, and Religion. They are so much fun to read and I have already learned so much. Just the other day I read about a man named Eratosthenes who discovered a way to measure the earth's size in the 3rd century-how cool is that!
Aug 12, 2011
Kimboo
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Shelves:
science,
history,
art,
religion,
music,
devotionals,
literature,
philosophy,
character,
building
This charming daily devotional is a fantastic resource for curious minds. Every day of the year you will read about interesting facts, people, and events that may or may not be new to you, but will still be enlightening. A fabulous alternative to religious or woo-woo devotionals, and a great gift for students of any age.
This is a fun book!! A great light read before bed or before you start the day. (I liked doing that and sharing the fact of the day with everyone.) It's hard to treat it like a devotional, however...I found myself reading pages at a time. It's an easy read that's informative, fun, and addictive.
A book to read and re-read, to flip through to find an interesting topic, to brush up on History, Literature, Music, Science, Religion, Philosophy and Visual Arts. It's set up with 365 entries, so you can limit yourself to one bit of knowledge each day if you so choose. Great Book!
Update 9/20/09: I just realized Rob and I have been "reading" this book for over a year and are barely half-way through it. We try to read one entry each night, but sometimes we take some time off from it. We can definitely tell a difference between the quality of some of the entries, like some of them were written by a great writer, and others by high school students. It's just not very enlightening, yet we keep plugging through it.
update 5/22/10: We finally finished it! Many of the topics (mus...more
update 5/22/10: We finally finished it! Many of the topics (mus...more
My sophomore honors English teacher believed that we should be "culturally literate" people, and the older I get I couldn't agree more. For each day of the week a different topic is addressed in the categories of history, literature, visual arts, science, music, philosophy, and religion.
It definitely expanded my knowledge on numerous subjects, but I felt there was something missing. I think they should have taken advantage of the internet and provided links for further exploration. A Youtube channel with links to all the music described in the book. I understand that this was an introductory book to the subjects, but it should have encouraged further exploration. Unfortunately, it didn't dawn on me until close to the end of the book that I should actually seek this stuff out, s...more
I usually review every book I read on my on book blog, but I didn't get around to it with this book.
I read this book over the course of a year. It's designed to be a daily reading in the sense that Biblical devotionals are, hence the title.
I learned a great deal I didn't know, remembered some things I had forgotten, and really enjoyed this book. I took off a star because I did find some grammar/usage errors. The most common was using "lead" as the past tense form of the verb "to lead," which sh...more
I read this book over the course of a year. It's designed to be a daily reading in the sense that Biblical devotionals are, hence the title.
I learned a great deal I didn't know, remembered some things I had forgotten, and really enjoyed this book. I took off a star because I did find some grammar/usage errors. The most common was using "lead" as the past tense form of the verb "to lead," which sh...more
Great daily read- good way to start or end your day! Variety of topics, from ancient history to science... people and places. Perfect for the intellectual (and wannabe) who'd rather put something more useful than TV smut into their brains before bed
Although this was designed to be listened to once a day for 365 days, I am listening to multiple entries at one time. I like it so far as it suggests various books for my to-read list and impels me to do further research on various topics.
Update week four, still plugging away. Some of the entries are better than others, but it still gives you food for thought.
Finished. Liked it, and will look for more by the same authors.
If I had been reading the print version I don't think I would have stuck wi...more
Update week four, still plugging away. Some of the entries are better than others, but it still gives you food for thought.
Finished. Liked it, and will look for more by the same authors.
If I had been reading the print version I don't think I would have stuck wi...more
This is a great way to get a little reading in each day. Of course with the Internet we have get distractions like Stumble Upon that can expose you to new subjects or expand your curiosity, but this is a fun way to read something new each day.
Dec 26, 2012
Gabriel
marked it as to-read
100 selections from the book are available at DailyLit.com.
The Intellectual Devotional also has a website.
The Intellectual Devotional also has a website.
For those enjoying a quick read about important topics.
"A collection of 365 short lessons ... from one of seven fields of knowledge: history, literature, philosophy, mathematics and science, religion, fine arts, and music."
"A collection of 365 short lessons ... from one of seven fields of knowledge: history, literature, philosophy, mathematics and science, religion, fine arts, and music."
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Born in Upstate New York, David S. Kidder is a serial entrepreneur with a wide range of operational, technology, and marketing expertise focused on online product development and Internet advertising and marketing. He is currently co-Founder and serves as CEO of Clickable, an online advertising web service. Prior to Clickable, Kidder co-founded SmartRay Network, a mobile advertising delivery pione...more
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hmmmmmmmm.
Jul 16, 2007 05:34am