The Story of Civilization, Volume 7: The Age of Reason Begins pdf

William James Durant è stato un prolifico scrittore, storico e filosofo americano. È meglio conosciuto per gli 11 volumi The Story of Civilization, scritti in collaborazione con sua moglie Ariel e pubblicati tra il 1935 e il 1975. In precedenza era stato notato per il suo libro, The Story of Philosophy, scritto nel 1926, che era considerato "un lavoro pionieristico che ha contribuito a rendere popolare la filosofia". Hanno ricevuto il Premio Pulitzer per la letteratura nel 1967 e la Medaglia presidenziale della libertà nel 1977.

The Story of Civilization, Volume 7: The Age of Reason Begins pdf da Will Durant

If there is a linchpin to understanding modern European history, it lies in the period of religious strife & scientific progress between the 1550s & 1650s. In The Age of Reason Begins, Will & Ariel Durant bring together a fascinating network of stories in their discussion of the bumpy road toward the Enlightenment. This is the age of great monarchs & greater artists: on the one hand, Elizabeth the First of England, Philip II of Spain & Henry IV of France; on the other, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Montaigne & Rembrandt. It also encompasses the heyday of Bacon, Galileo, Giordano Bruno & Descartes--the fathers of modern science & philosophy. But it is equally an age of extreme violence, a moment in which all Europe was embroiled in the horrible Thirty Years' War--in some respects, the real First World War. Whatever the case, this is a chapter in cultural history one can't set aside.