Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"A glittering cabinet of intellectual curiosities, a systematic study of the collecting, analysing, disseminating, storing, accessing, using and losing of knowledge in the western world from the mid-18th century to the 'information overload' of today ... Within this treasure chest there beats an endearingly human heart; one warms to an exemplary scholar who expresses the earnest hope that readers 'will not feel that I have contributed to information overload as well as discussing it'."
History Today"In this remarkable tour de force Peter Burke paints a big picture of the history of knowledge in the West since 1750. His expert synthesis, which includes many kinds of general facts and figures, delves with nuance into counter-trends as well as trends and highlights a wealth of telling examples from a vast range of places and fields of academic and government inquiry. An invaluable guide for expert and novice alike."
Ann Blair, Harvard University "Written with the ease of erudition, A Social History of Knowledge II is at once a thought-provoking essay on the character of our information age and a new cartography of its many territories. From agrochemistry to zoology, fingerprints to filing cabinets, it is encyclopedic, curious, and exhilarating to read."
Daniel Rosenberg, University of Oregon
Table of ContentsList of Figures vi
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction 1
Part I Knowledge Practices 9
1 Gathering Knowledges 11
2 Analysing Knowledges 50
3 Disseminating Knowledges 85
4 Employing Knowledges 109
Part II The Price of Progress 137
5 Losing Knowledges 139
6 Dividing Knowledges 160
Part III A Social History in Three Dimensions 185
7 Geographies of Knowledge 187
8 Sociologies of Knowledge 218
9 Chronologies of Knowledge 247
Notes 276
References 300
Index 335
