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1001 Ideas That Changed the Way We Think
An elegant addition to the successful “1001” series—a comprehensive, chronological guide to the most important thoughts from the finest minds of the past 3,000 years.
1001 Ideas That Changed the Way We Think is a comprehensive guide to the most interesting and imaginative thoughts from the finest minds in history. Ranging from the ancient wisdom of Confucius and Plato to today’s cutting-edge thinkers, it offers a wealth of stimulation and amusement for everyone with a curious mind.
Within the pages of this book you will find a wide variety of answers to the great, eternal How was the universe created and what is the place of humans within it? How should a person live? And how can we build a just society? 1001 Ideas That Changed the Way We Think also includes a host of hypotheses that are remarkable for their sheer weirdness—from the concept of the transmigration of souls to parallel universes and the theoretical paradoxes of time travel (what happens if you travel back in time and kill your own grandfather?).
Discover how the Greek philosopher Zeno “proved” a flying arrow never moves; how modern science has shown that a butterfly’s wing can stir up an Atlantic storm; and the mathematical proof of the existence of life in other galaxies. The inspirational ideas explored here range from Gandhi’s theory of civil disobedience to Henry David Thoreau’s praise of the simple life and Mary Wollstonecraft’s groundbreaking advocacy of women’s rights. The book also covers a wide variety of lifestyle concepts, such as “rational dress” and naturism, and cultural movements including Neoclassicism, Surrealism, and Postmodernism.
Supported by a wealth of striking illustrations and illuminating quotations, 1001 Ideas That Changed the Way We Think is both an in-depth history of ideas and a delightfully browsable source of entertainment.
1001 Ideas That Changed the Way We Think is a comprehensive guide to the most interesting and imaginative thoughts from the finest minds in history. Ranging from the ancient wisdom of Confucius and Plato to today’s cutting-edge thinkers, it offers a wealth of stimulation and amusement for everyone with a curious mind.
Within the pages of this book you will find a wide variety of answers to the great, eternal How was the universe created and what is the place of humans within it? How should a person live? And how can we build a just society? 1001 Ideas That Changed the Way We Think also includes a host of hypotheses that are remarkable for their sheer weirdness—from the concept of the transmigration of souls to parallel universes and the theoretical paradoxes of time travel (what happens if you travel back in time and kill your own grandfather?).
Discover how the Greek philosopher Zeno “proved” a flying arrow never moves; how modern science has shown that a butterfly’s wing can stir up an Atlantic storm; and the mathematical proof of the existence of life in other galaxies. The inspirational ideas explored here range from Gandhi’s theory of civil disobedience to Henry David Thoreau’s praise of the simple life and Mary Wollstonecraft’s groundbreaking advocacy of women’s rights. The book also covers a wide variety of lifestyle concepts, such as “rational dress” and naturism, and cultural movements including Neoclassicism, Surrealism, and Postmodernism.
Supported by a wealth of striking illustrations and illuminating quotations, 1001 Ideas That Changed the Way We Think is both an in-depth history of ideas and a delightfully browsable source of entertainment.
960 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
231 people are currently reading
1315 people want to read
About the author
Robert Arp
61 books17 followersRobert Arp, Ph.D. (Saint Louis University, 2005), has taught Philosophy at Southwest Minnesota State University, Florida State University, and many schools in Missouri, before doing postdoctoral research in ontology through the National Center for Biomedical Ontology with Mark Musen and Barry Smith at the University at Buffalo.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
August 30, 2025
I read this book when I was in the 7th grade... and I loved it🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩💕
WONDERFUL BOOK!!!
THANKS TO MY UNCLE WHO LENT THIS BOOK TO ME!!!
WONDERFUL BOOK!!!
THANKS TO MY UNCLE WHO LENT THIS BOOK TO ME!!!
October 13, 2025
Today's Theme: Literature & Reading (Book published: 2013)
"DICTIONARY:
Mesopotamia (c. 2300 BCE)
A book that collects together in a standard form all the words of a language
The world's oldest dictionary dates back to about 2300 BCE. The bilingual cuneiform tablet was written during the reign of Sargon of Akkad (c. 2334-c. 2279 BCE), who unified the Sumerian city-states and created the Akkadian Empire of Mesopotamia, and contains Sumerian worlds and their Akkadian counterparts.
… In about 300 BCE, the Chinese developed the first dictionary that organized words of the same language, grouping them as synonyms in nineteen different categories. Multilingual dictionaries and glossaries of specialized terms were common in Europe during the Middle Ages (c. 500-c. 1450), but it was not until Samuel Johnson (1709-84) created A Dictionary of the English Language in 1755 that the first modern dictionary made its appearance. Johnson's dictionary, completed after nine years, attempted to encompass all the words of the English language, not merely the obscure ones.
… Complete dictionaries were needed only after the invention of writing; only became practical after the invention of the printing press [c. 1440]; and only became truly necessary after literacy became commonplace."
“LITERATURE
c. 2600 BCE – Sumeria
Communicating ideas, beliefs, and experiences through the written word
What differentiates literature from other forms of writing is not always clear. … commonly encompasses only creative, expressive, and narrative works. … a writer uses words to convey ideas, feelings, experiences, and other commonly shared human phenomena, instead of simply relating facts.
… Writing had existed as early as 3000 BCE in the Bronze Age cultures of ancient Mesopotamia, yet literature did not appear until 400 years later in ancient Sumeria. Prior to the invention of writing, literature only existed in an oral form, passed down between generations as stories and myths. … Epic of Gilgamesh … was first recorded in writing in around 2000 BCE.
… Literature enables ideas to be transmitted across geographic and temporal boundaries, serving as a link not only between cultures, but also between the past and the present, between generations, civilizations, and peoples.”
“PICTOGRAMS AND ALPHABET:
c. 3200 BCE – Sumeria
The building blocks for the evolution of written communication
Pictograms - pictorial symbols designed to express meaning - represent the earliest known form of written communication. One of the first pictographic systems, known as cuneiform, emerged in around 3200 BCE among the Sumerian people of the ancient Near East. This intricate script, consisting originally of more than 1,000 symbols, endured for more than 3,000 years and influenced the development of many subsequent pictographic systems in the ancient world.
... The ancient Greek alphabet (c. 1000 BCE) is also the earliest ancestor of the Latin alphabet (c. 600 BCE), which is the most common alphabet in use today. … the Latin alphabet is based on the use of a distinct number of basic consonant and vowel sounds (known as phonemes). Significantly, this enables the translation of worlds from one language into another..."
"DICTIONARY:
Mesopotamia (c. 2300 BCE)
A book that collects together in a standard form all the words of a language
The world's oldest dictionary dates back to about 2300 BCE. The bilingual cuneiform tablet was written during the reign of Sargon of Akkad (c. 2334-c. 2279 BCE), who unified the Sumerian city-states and created the Akkadian Empire of Mesopotamia, and contains Sumerian worlds and their Akkadian counterparts.
… In about 300 BCE, the Chinese developed the first dictionary that organized words of the same language, grouping them as synonyms in nineteen different categories. Multilingual dictionaries and glossaries of specialized terms were common in Europe during the Middle Ages (c. 500-c. 1450), but it was not until Samuel Johnson (1709-84) created A Dictionary of the English Language in 1755 that the first modern dictionary made its appearance. Johnson's dictionary, completed after nine years, attempted to encompass all the words of the English language, not merely the obscure ones.
… Complete dictionaries were needed only after the invention of writing; only became practical after the invention of the printing press [c. 1440]; and only became truly necessary after literacy became commonplace."
“LITERATURE
c. 2600 BCE – Sumeria
Communicating ideas, beliefs, and experiences through the written word
What differentiates literature from other forms of writing is not always clear. … commonly encompasses only creative, expressive, and narrative works. … a writer uses words to convey ideas, feelings, experiences, and other commonly shared human phenomena, instead of simply relating facts.
… Writing had existed as early as 3000 BCE in the Bronze Age cultures of ancient Mesopotamia, yet literature did not appear until 400 years later in ancient Sumeria. Prior to the invention of writing, literature only existed in an oral form, passed down between generations as stories and myths. … Epic of Gilgamesh … was first recorded in writing in around 2000 BCE.
… Literature enables ideas to be transmitted across geographic and temporal boundaries, serving as a link not only between cultures, but also between the past and the present, between generations, civilizations, and peoples.”
“PICTOGRAMS AND ALPHABET:
c. 3200 BCE – Sumeria
The building blocks for the evolution of written communication
Pictograms - pictorial symbols designed to express meaning - represent the earliest known form of written communication. One of the first pictographic systems, known as cuneiform, emerged in around 3200 BCE among the Sumerian people of the ancient Near East. This intricate script, consisting originally of more than 1,000 symbols, endured for more than 3,000 years and influenced the development of many subsequent pictographic systems in the ancient world.
... The ancient Greek alphabet (c. 1000 BCE) is also the earliest ancestor of the Latin alphabet (c. 600 BCE), which is the most common alphabet in use today. … the Latin alphabet is based on the use of a distinct number of basic consonant and vowel sounds (known as phonemes). Significantly, this enables the translation of worlds from one language into another..."
June 17, 2014
This is the ultimate bathroom book. The ideas are incredibly diverse and the chronological order creates provocative juxtapositions.
December 9, 2013
If you consider yourself to be an intellectual or love to play in the world of ideas or are just plain curious about everything, this is the book for you. At 960 pages, this book can be classified as a tome. The book is organized sequentially by time period beginning with 1,600,000 BCE (human control of fire) and ends in 2012 (commercial space flight and non-junk DNA). Each page explores one or two separate ideas. In addition to its time sequencing, there is a category index at the beginning of the book and an alphabetical index at the end of the book. Most of the entries are fascinating. Some of my favorites - infinite monkey theorem, maxwell's demon, the tipping point, meme, the problem of evil, what does not kill you makes you stronger, Manichaeism, doublethink, absolute power corrupts absolutely, multiverse, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, the Fermi paradox, prisoner's dilemma, the Urey-Miller experiment - and many more. This book is not a quick read, but any given entry is. Read this book and learn something new each day…for close to three years.
June 30, 2024
Who doesn’t love intellectual history? It’s all terribly fascinating: women thinking of themselves as “frigid” because they couldn’t achieve vaginal (as opposed to clitoral) orgasms; the various parameters through which white people apprehended their superiority; the multiple ways humans have pathologized ourselves over the course of history. Kamala Harris notes we did not all just fall out of coconut trees. Foucault notes that “men govern themselves… through the production of knowledge.” It’s enough to make someone want to stop thinking, or at least rethink their every thought.
I am equally obsessed with lists, with anthologies. What gets left out? What is seen as important? So it was almost predetermined that I was bound to pick up a book called ‘1001 Ideas That Changed the Way We Think,’ seemingly a digestible list of notable contributions to intellectual history. In this capacity, the only one in which it needs to succeed, the book utterly fails.
There could be an interesting debate in itself over what constitutes an idea. The introduction by Jonathan Arp contains an extended discussion on the matter which ultimately reads as an apology for the content of the book:
This would be fine if there were not another book in the same series titled ‘1001 Inventions That Changed the World.’ I understand the slippage between idea and invention but why not just stick to intellectual contributions? There are certainly enough of them to fill a book. Instead, inventions get an outsized inclusion in this volume as well.
There are many inconsistencies in terms of attribution of ideas. Occasionally an idea is attributed to the person who popularised it, sometimes to the person who named it and other times to the person who thought of it as such. This is understandable given the nature of the slipperiness around what an idea is in the first place, as well as the understandable difficulty to attributing some ideas to one person, but it leads to some indefensible entries. ‘Sexism,’ for example, becomes attributed to Betty Friedan, “artistic symbolism” attributed to Paul Gauguin, “American civil rights” attributed to Rosa Parks. These are some of the attributions I could immediately point out as strange, but it didn’t make me hopeful for those that were in areas I was less researched in.
As far as explanations for the entries go, a lot of them are just alright and some are pretty lacklustre, especially the denser philosophical topics. Granted, I wouldn’t want the job of explaining hylomorphism or phenomenology in a page, but the compilers don’t even try to get into some of the defining features or schools of some of these ideas which is what I primarily read the book for. Moreover, little, if anything, is often written about how the ideas “changed the way we think” which would seem to be an important part of the project. I would have liked more connections with modern day thought, movements etc.
One can only reason that some of the entries were included for the amusement of the compilers, especially as the list nears modern history. So there are curious entries, curious absences: most glaringly, no postcolonialism (besides an entry of Fanon’s liberating violence), disappointingly no ‘daddy issues,’ not enough of Foucault’s ideas (only Madness and Civilization gets an entry), almost every poetic movement is absent, Citizens United, Anti-Intellectualism – I could go on.
So I was thoroughly disappointed, but other reviewers have fittingly described it as a good bathroom/coffee table book which is what I think it was intended to be in the first place, so writing this lengthy negative review somewhat makes me feel like a Karen. I can say on the side of the positives, there were some things that were amusing about it. I was interested to read the history behind the idea of passive-aggressiveness, transubstantiation, Baudelaire’s ‘In Praise of Cosmetics,’ ‘double think,’ among others. Overall though, it didn’t leave me which much knowledge of the traces of common ideas I have seen in every day life. I shall go back to reading Freud and making those connections for myself.
I am equally obsessed with lists, with anthologies. What gets left out? What is seen as important? So it was almost predetermined that I was bound to pick up a book called ‘1001 Ideas That Changed the Way We Think,’ seemingly a digestible list of notable contributions to intellectual history. In this capacity, the only one in which it needs to succeed, the book utterly fails.
There could be an interesting debate in itself over what constitutes an idea. The introduction by Jonathan Arp contains an extended discussion on the matter which ultimately reads as an apology for the content of the book:
You will notice that a good many of the titles of the ideas in this book appear more like an invention, mechanism, device, contraption, or even a process, activity , or system – such as the Kinetoscope (an 1890s machine that magnified looped film for a viewer), the telephone, the map, the magazine, the encyclopaedia, or even waterpower, groupthink, nuclear fusion, and breakdancing. It can be hard to divorce these ideas from their aforementioned uses, but the authors have tried to present the idea behind the invention, or the idea that gave birth to a process, or the idea that acted as a catalyst for a system, rather than simply describe what that invention, process or system does.
This would be fine if there were not another book in the same series titled ‘1001 Inventions That Changed the World.’ I understand the slippage between idea and invention but why not just stick to intellectual contributions? There are certainly enough of them to fill a book. Instead, inventions get an outsized inclusion in this volume as well.
There are many inconsistencies in terms of attribution of ideas. Occasionally an idea is attributed to the person who popularised it, sometimes to the person who named it and other times to the person who thought of it as such. This is understandable given the nature of the slipperiness around what an idea is in the first place, as well as the understandable difficulty to attributing some ideas to one person, but it leads to some indefensible entries. ‘Sexism,’ for example, becomes attributed to Betty Friedan, “artistic symbolism” attributed to Paul Gauguin, “American civil rights” attributed to Rosa Parks. These are some of the attributions I could immediately point out as strange, but it didn’t make me hopeful for those that were in areas I was less researched in.
As far as explanations for the entries go, a lot of them are just alright and some are pretty lacklustre, especially the denser philosophical topics. Granted, I wouldn’t want the job of explaining hylomorphism or phenomenology in a page, but the compilers don’t even try to get into some of the defining features or schools of some of these ideas which is what I primarily read the book for. Moreover, little, if anything, is often written about how the ideas “changed the way we think” which would seem to be an important part of the project. I would have liked more connections with modern day thought, movements etc.
One can only reason that some of the entries were included for the amusement of the compilers, especially as the list nears modern history. So there are curious entries, curious absences: most glaringly, no postcolonialism (besides an entry of Fanon’s liberating violence), disappointingly no ‘daddy issues,’ not enough of Foucault’s ideas (only Madness and Civilization gets an entry), almost every poetic movement is absent, Citizens United, Anti-Intellectualism – I could go on.
So I was thoroughly disappointed, but other reviewers have fittingly described it as a good bathroom/coffee table book which is what I think it was intended to be in the first place, so writing this lengthy negative review somewhat makes me feel like a Karen. I can say on the side of the positives, there were some things that were amusing about it. I was interested to read the history behind the idea of passive-aggressiveness, transubstantiation, Baudelaire’s ‘In Praise of Cosmetics,’ ‘double think,’ among others. Overall though, it didn’t leave me which much knowledge of the traces of common ideas I have seen in every day life. I shall go back to reading Freud and making those connections for myself.
February 2, 2025
A good starting point for looking into our understanding of some famous historical themes. Some, I had previously researched -like when did language start in a specific place?- and it's good to have a general timeline for given areas. This is limited to areas where we have physical evidence, and the dates presented are when the evidence is from, even when an idea may have developed for a long period up to when the evidence was created.
May 21, 2025
?🤔Ik was nieuwsgierig naar de inhoud. Het gaat over filosofie, over wijsbegeerte, maar ook over de andere onderwerpen die in het hoofd op de cover staan. Niet een boek om in een keer uit te lezen, maar voor mij een boek waar ik soms even een half uur of een uur in lees. Ik was vooral verbaasd welke ontdekkingen al zoveel jaren voor Christus gedaan zijn....
MW 23/7/21
MW 23/7/21
December 5, 2013
Beginning with the ancient world and ending in the contemporary period, this book deserves to be read from cover to cover, but at 960 pages, that might not be practical. To facilitate exploring, there is a detailed index of ideas by category. I chose to spend a pleasant hour just flipping through the pages, feasting on the luscious illustrations, thought-provoking quotations, and wealth of information contained in this book. For starters, I learned about the origins of biological warfare, the man who first posed the question about the chicken and the egg, and the earliest coffeehouses. If you have ever wondered about a subject, you can probably find out more about it within the pages of this book. It would make a great Christmas gift for any of those hard-to-please people on your list, but be sure to get a copy for yourself, too. Five enthusiastic stars! Very highly recommended!
NOTE: I received a copy of this book for FREE in exchange for a written review. There was no expectation that this review be either positive or negative, and I was not given any financial compensation to read the book or write the review. This information is disclosed in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 [...] Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
NOTE: I received a copy of this book for FREE in exchange for a written review. There was no expectation that this review be either positive or negative, and I was not given any financial compensation to read the book or write the review. This information is disclosed in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 [...] Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
July 30, 2021
Ein chronologischer Rückblick über die Art und Weise wie bestimmte Ideen nicht nur die damalige Zeit geprägt hat, sondern uns teilweise weiterhin prägt.
Das fast 1000 seitige Buch fasst Ideen von Religion (hauptsächlich christlicher Natur), Naturwissenschaft, Technologie, Physik, Politik, Finanzen und Gesellschaft zusammen. Es fehlen tatsächlich auch wichtige Ideen und Happenings aber sonst beinhaltet es sehr viele westliche geprägte Ideen. Schade fand ich, dass die christliche Themen schon fast zu über präsent waren und andere Religionen mit maximal 1-2 Kolumnen abgefrühstückt wurden. Schade fand ich auch, dass im Bezug auf den Islam "Dschihad" erwähnt wurde. (Muss hier nicht weiter ausführen warum das Unpassend ist). Wenn man sowas erwähnt, fehlt das Pendant die Kreuzzüge. Und ich fand die Darstellung vom Kolonialismus übertrieben positiv. An diesen Stellen hätten die Autoren auch die Kritik, wie sie es in vielen anderen Kolumnen gemacht haben, ruhig auch mit auffassen können.
Abgesehen von diesen Faux-Pas ist es eine fast schon enzyklopädische Zusammenfassung und sollte jeder daheim haben weil es viel Anschauungsmaterial bietet.
Das fast 1000 seitige Buch fasst Ideen von Religion (hauptsächlich christlicher Natur), Naturwissenschaft, Technologie, Physik, Politik, Finanzen und Gesellschaft zusammen. Es fehlen tatsächlich auch wichtige Ideen und Happenings aber sonst beinhaltet es sehr viele westliche geprägte Ideen. Schade fand ich, dass die christliche Themen schon fast zu über präsent waren und andere Religionen mit maximal 1-2 Kolumnen abgefrühstückt wurden. Schade fand ich auch, dass im Bezug auf den Islam "Dschihad" erwähnt wurde. (Muss hier nicht weiter ausführen warum das Unpassend ist). Wenn man sowas erwähnt, fehlt das Pendant die Kreuzzüge. Und ich fand die Darstellung vom Kolonialismus übertrieben positiv. An diesen Stellen hätten die Autoren auch die Kritik, wie sie es in vielen anderen Kolumnen gemacht haben, ruhig auch mit auffassen können.
Abgesehen von diesen Faux-Pas ist es eine fast schon enzyklopädische Zusammenfassung und sollte jeder daheim haben weil es viel Anschauungsmaterial bietet.
December 2, 2021
Thus far, this is the best volume in the 1,001 series published by Atria Books; the book covers ideas from a global perspective, with half page entries about the ideas that have shaped the way humans have thought since prehistoric times until the early 21st century.
This is the first in the 1,001 series that I am considering buying so that I will have my own copy. :-)
This is the first in the 1,001 series that I am considering buying so that I will have my own copy. :-)
Read
June 25, 2020Really good :)
August 5, 2016
When I received this 941-page (not including the index) volume, I began reading at my birthyear, on up to today. Some ideas surprised me: "hey, this didn't happen until I finished college!" Then I went back to the very beginning at pre-500 CE and skimmed through. I read pages connected with my ancestors' birthyears more closely.
This volume has over 900 striking illustrations, charts and photography, which add much to the enjoyment of this volume.
I recognized several terms from watching The Big Bang Theory (every episode guarantees a laugh), such as Higgs Boson (1964) and String Theory (1969).
This book rates only 4 stars because the type-face is very small with faded print. Eye-strain was a result. If we could make it 1002 Ideas, I'd recommend a darker print for this book.
This volume has over 900 striking illustrations, charts and photography, which add much to the enjoyment of this volume.
I recognized several terms from watching The Big Bang Theory (every episode guarantees a laugh), such as Higgs Boson (1964) and String Theory (1969).
This book rates only 4 stars because the type-face is very small with faded print. Eye-strain was a result. If we could make it 1002 Ideas, I'd recommend a darker print for this book.
October 15, 2014
This was a lovely book. It starts at the beginning of mankind and different ideas that came into play, starting with fire, and brings in different religious, cultural, scientific and philosophical ideas. My issue was that I attempted to read this book cover to cover and some of the entrees were less interesting than others. I eventually became overwhelmed and skipped around. This IS a solid book, but not one meant to read in one sitting for sure.
Read
December 3, 20131001 Ideas That Changed the Way We Think by Robert Arp (Allen and Unwin) is a fantastic reference, tracking 1001 ideas across the ages from Pre 500 CE to today including soap (2800BCE), the Chicken and Egg Conundrum (350 BCE), traffic lights (1868) and Rap music (1979) plus 997 others. Read the full review: http://blog.thatbookyoulike.com.au/ha...
June 3, 2020
A brilliant collection of the most curated ideas tagged and labeled chronologically.
Each idea is furthered by concerning quotes and images.
Each idea is furthered by concerning quotes and images.
October 19, 2020
If you have any good feelings towards reality or humanity, this book is a MUST read, an amazing modern day almanac. All serious scholars MUST read this book, it is MANDATORY haha! Loved it!!!
May 15, 2022
This super thick book devotes one-half page to each of 1001 significant ideas. The breadth of its scope is amazing, covering ideas that every well-read person should be familiar with. Because you only get a very high level summary of each idea, it makes for great bathroom reading. ;-)
I did spot several mistakes and misunderstandings in a few of the science and engineering topics, but generally, I thought the book provided a fairly good introduction to the ideas, which are listed chronologically from prehistory to 2017. I was frustrated that the book wasn't more up to date.
I didn't agree with the inclusion of a few of the ideas and felt that a few ideas were missing, but with a book this size and scope, that's to be expected. Generally, i thought that the writers and editor did a good job selecting the topics.
I did spot several mistakes and misunderstandings in a few of the science and engineering topics, but generally, I thought the book provided a fairly good introduction to the ideas, which are listed chronologically from prehistory to 2017. I was frustrated that the book wasn't more up to date.
I didn't agree with the inclusion of a few of the ideas and felt that a few ideas were missing, but with a book this size and scope, that's to be expected. Generally, i thought that the writers and editor did a good job selecting the topics.
January 5, 2018
If you're a fan of finding tiny snippets of new information and then going off to find more yourself, you'll enjoy this book (and many more of the 1001 books)
It's great at planting seeds of knowledge but also allowing you to skip from one idea to another quickly, fab for the easily distracted amongst us.
It's great at planting seeds of knowledge but also allowing you to skip from one idea to another quickly, fab for the easily distracted amongst us.
December 11, 2019
01 Ideas That Changed the Way We Think is a comprehensive guide to the most interesting and imaginative thoughts from the finest minds in history. Ranging from the ancient wisdom of Confucius and Plato to today's cutting-edge thinkers, it offers a wealth of stimulation and amusement for everyone with a curious mind.
July 10, 2022
An ideal encyclopedia-like book that you take and study multiple times from time to time. Like one said before, after you have gone through it, it's an excellent bathroom book where you eat those snippets and remind them periodically.
February 17, 2024
Wel aardig om af en toe hap snap doorheen te gaan. Maar wel heel erg veel wetenschap en soms lijkt het of alle goede ideeën in de moderne tijd uit de VS komen. Misschien tijd voor een Europese editie?
May 7, 2025
Fun informative interesting, as other reviewers mentioned, could be a great bathroom read. I chose rainy days in the living room.
I learned a lot until the post sixteenth century ideas. It because more political and long winded.
I learned a lot until the post sixteenth century ideas. It because more political and long winded.
January 9, 2018
Great ideas "dictionary". May provide some nice headstarts even though in a very narrow perspective.
November 12, 2020
I have really enjoyed reading this book. It is well organized and easy to understand.
I recommend this book fo every person who is interseted in human history and how our life has changed.
I recommend this book fo every person who is interseted in human history and how our life has changed.
September 26, 2021
Absolutely though provoking!
August 18, 2024
LONG
August 4, 2025
Něco zajímavé, něco o ničem, celkově ale určitě přínosné.
August 6, 2017
This book is a tremendous insight. The editor (Robert Arp) did an exceptional job in compiling the content.
December 7, 2013
1001 ideas - are there really that many- you betcha. Ideas that have been around forever and things that have been around for a short time, but all have changed things for all of us. Here is one item from each section of the book.
· Ancient World pre – 500 CE – Clothing.
· The Middle Ages 500-1449 – All is Water – All matter is composed of water as its basic substance.
· Early Modern 1450-1779-Seperation of Powers – The division of a government’s powers into branches, each with its own responsibilities.
· Late Modern 1780-1899-Ring Theory – The study of “rings” or structures in abstract algebra, that relates integrally )in terms of whole numbers) if they are commutative, but not if noncommutative.
· Early 20th Century 1900-1949 – Antibiotics – The discovery of medication that destroys bacteria and prevents infection.
· Contemporary 1950- present – Rap Music – A style in which rhythmic and/or rhyming speech is chanted to musical backing.
I love to read and look through books like these. This is quite thick and needs two hands to handle, my only issue with this book.
A great idea for Christmas gifts for the reader in your life.
· Ancient World pre – 500 CE – Clothing.
· The Middle Ages 500-1449 – All is Water – All matter is composed of water as its basic substance.
· Early Modern 1450-1779-Seperation of Powers – The division of a government’s powers into branches, each with its own responsibilities.
· Late Modern 1780-1899-Ring Theory – The study of “rings” or structures in abstract algebra, that relates integrally )in terms of whole numbers) if they are commutative, but not if noncommutative.
· Early 20th Century 1900-1949 – Antibiotics – The discovery of medication that destroys bacteria and prevents infection.
· Contemporary 1950- present – Rap Music – A style in which rhythmic and/or rhyming speech is chanted to musical backing.
I love to read and look through books like these. This is quite thick and needs two hands to handle, my only issue with this book.
A great idea for Christmas gifts for the reader in your life.
March 11, 2016
That's not a book to finish! At first i was just fascinated to go through the pages, feasting on the luscious illustrations, thought-provoking quotations. I jumped from idea to another to learn about the origins of biological warfare, the man who first posed the question about the chicken and the egg (if you ever wondered about the subject) and the earliest coffeehouses. Still did not finish reading it! Cause you can always turn-to looking for an answer!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews