Knowing What We Know

Simon Winchester’s Knowing What We Know takes you through history of knowledge from ancient clay tablets through the adoption of GPS to inception of Wikipedia. It’s a thorough examination of how we acquire, pass, and retain knowledge and how has this changed through human history.

I expected deeper scientific examination of cognitive paths related to knowledge processing and retention but Knowing What We Know is rather a historic account and collection of stories and topics on knowledge. It’s a fun read and examination of some of the greatest minds of our history such as Aristotle or Srinivasa Ramanujan but unfortunately falls flat on tying all of its content together.

Info

Title: Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic
Author: Simon Winchester
ISBN10: 0008484406
ISBN13: 9780008484408