An original history of man's greatest adventure: his search to discover the world around him.  In the compendious history, Boorstin not only traces man's insatiable need to know, but also the obstacles to discovery and the illusion that knowledge can also put in our way. Covering time, the earth and the seas, nature and society, he gathers and analyzes stories of the man's profound quest to understand his world and the cosmos.
Book One: Time
The Heavenly Empire
From Sun Time to Clock Time
The Missionary Clock

Book Two: The Earth and the Seas
The Geography of the Imagination
Paths to the East
Doubling the World
The American Surprise
Sea Paths to Everywhere

Book Three: Nature
Seeing the Invisible
Inside Ourselves
Science Goes Public
Cataloguing the Whole Creation

Book Four: Society
Widening the Communities of Knowledge
Opening the Past
Surveying the Present
Daniel J. Boorstin was the author of The Americans, a trilogy (The Colonial Experience, The National Experience, and The Democratic Experience) that won the Francis Parkman Prize, the Bancroft Prize, and the Pulitzer Prize. In 1989, he received the National Book Award for lifetime contribution to literature. He was the director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, and for twelve years served as the Librarian of Congress. He died in 2004. View titles by Daniel J. Boorstin

About

An original history of man's greatest adventure: his search to discover the world around him.  In the compendious history, Boorstin not only traces man's insatiable need to know, but also the obstacles to discovery and the illusion that knowledge can also put in our way. Covering time, the earth and the seas, nature and society, he gathers and analyzes stories of the man's profound quest to understand his world and the cosmos.

Table of Contents

Book One: Time
The Heavenly Empire
From Sun Time to Clock Time
The Missionary Clock

Book Two: The Earth and the Seas
The Geography of the Imagination
Paths to the East
Doubling the World
The American Surprise
Sea Paths to Everywhere

Book Three: Nature
Seeing the Invisible
Inside Ourselves
Science Goes Public
Cataloguing the Whole Creation

Book Four: Society
Widening the Communities of Knowledge
Opening the Past
Surveying the Present

Author

Daniel J. Boorstin was the author of The Americans, a trilogy (The Colonial Experience, The National Experience, and The Democratic Experience) that won the Francis Parkman Prize, the Bancroft Prize, and the Pulitzer Prize. In 1989, he received the National Book Award for lifetime contribution to literature. He was the director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, and for twelve years served as the Librarian of Congress. He died in 2004. View titles by Daniel J. Boorstin

Books for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Every May we celebrate the rich history and culture of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. Browse a curated selection of fiction and nonfiction books by AANHPI creators that we think your students will love. Find our full collection of titles for Higher Education here.

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