1001 Ideas That Changed the Way We Think by Robert Arp

1001 Ideas That Changed the Way We Think Reviews

• 
  Kris

  Today's Theme: Sustainable Earth (Published: 2013)
  
  “GREENHOUSE EFFECT:
  1824 – Joseph Fourier
  The theory that the atmosphere traps infrared radiation from the Earth
  
  Recent warming coincides with rapid growth of human-made greenhouse gases. The observed rapid warming gives urgency to discussion about how to slow greenhouse gas emissions.
  - James Hansen, Earth and environmental sciences professor
  
  The discovery of the “greenhouse effect” is attributed to the French physicist Joseph Fourier (1768-1830), who published his first article on the subject in 1824. … Fourier concluded that atmospheric gases could trap heat [from the sun] in the same way as glass panes – a comparison that suggested the term greenhouse effect.
  Life on Earth depends on maintaining an average surface temperature comfortably between the boiling and freezing points of water. The planet is heated by absorbing solar radiation, but it also gives it off in the form of invisible infrared radiation. Every region of the planet would heat up during the day but rapidly cool to subzero temperatures at night were it not for gases in the atmosphere forming an insulating blanket that absorbs escaping heat and redirects it back to the planet’s surface. The so-called greenhouse effect is what keeps our temperature in a comfortable range.
  … Irish physicist John Tyndall (1820-93) in 1859 … found that carbon dioxide and water were strong absorbers of radiant energy (unlike the main atmospheric gases, nitrogen and oxygen) and that even in relatively small quantities they could account for the heat trapped by the atmosphere. He also believed that changes in the various components of the atmosphere could result in changes to the Earth’s climate.
  … Today … Many scientists believe that human activity since the Industrial Revolution (1760-1840) has created an increase in “greenhouse gases,” causing not only higher average temperatures but also climate changes that could have severe consequences for life on Earth.” (p. 465) [Book published in 2013]
  
  
  “SOLAR POWER:
  1767 – Horace-Bénédict de Saussure
  Harnessing the power of the sun to provide energy
  
  Horace-Bénédict de Saussure (1740-99) was a Swiss physicist, geologist, and early Alpine explorer. In 1767, after several false starts, he managed to create a solar oven – the first device in the Western world to use the energy of the sun to create heat. It consisted of an insulated box covered by three layers of glass that absorbed and therefore trapped thermal radiation from the sun. The highest temperature he obtained in the device was 230° F (110° C).
  … Today, extensive arrays of solar panels create free electrons attracted to positively charged electrodes to convert solar radiation into electricity, a process known as the photovoltaic effect. Other systems use polished lenses or mirrors to focus sunlight into concentrated beams that emit photoelectrons, which are then converted into electric current.” (p. 418)
  
  
  “WATERPOWER:
  c. 300 BCE – Ancient Greece
  Using the energy of water as a power source for machines of all kinds
  
  Gravitational pull forces water to seek the lowest available point it can find; gravity always causes water to flow. Waterpower, or hydropower, is the harnessing of water’s kinetic energy to perform tasks… As early as 7000 BCE, ancient Egyptians learned to fertilize their fields by creating dikes along the Nile river to trap the yearly floodwaters and cause nutritious sediments to settle on their land. However, it was not until the rise of Hellenistic Greece that people found a way to harness water as a source of mechanical power; sometime between the third and first centuries BCE, Hellenic people developed the first WATERWHEELS. These wheels captured the power of flowing water using it to turn a SHAFT that in turn caused a MILLSTONE to rotate against another stationary one to grind grain.
  
  HYDROPOWER became very important during the early days of the Industrial Revolution (1760-1840) in Britain. In the textile industry, for example, WATERMILLS were built to twist thread, drive looms, and finish textiles; in iron manufacturing, water drove trip hammers and powered forges. In the twentieth century, water was harnessed to create HYDRO-ELECTRICITY.” (p. 218)
  
  
  "WIND POWER:
  c. 3500 BCE – Ancient Egypt
  Converting the energy of the wind into a useful source of power
  
  The concept of harnessing the wind to provide power was first put into practice in ancient Egypt in c. 3500 BCE, with the introduction of SAILS to propel boats… The development of square sails fashioned from papyrus meant that boats could travel farther and faster, with a small crew. This had a significant impact on trade, as it not only sped up the process of transporting goods but also enabled boats to become bigger – by c. 1200 CE, the Phoenicians were using 80-feet-long (24m) wooden cargo vessels with large cloth sails.
  
  The first example of the wind being used to drive a mechanical device is generally considered to be the WINDWHEEL of the Greek mathematician and engineer Heron, or Hero, of Alexandrian (c. 10-70 CE)… Heron described his innovations to the hydraulis, a water organ originally designed by Ktesibios of Alexandria (fl. c. 270 BCE)… Heron improved the valve that released the air into the sounding pipe, and replaced the water with a WIND TURBINE that could be moved to catch the prevailing wind in order to maintain the necessary air pressure.
  
  The origins of perhaps the best-known wind-powered mechanical device, the WINDMILL, are much debated, but there is reliable evidence that it was in widespread use in Persia by the seventh century. Windmills became a common tool for pumping water and grinding corn and grain across Europe and Asia, and remained so until the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century wind power became widespread as a means of generating electricity, and today WIND TURBINES are one of several renewable energy sources that offer an alternative to fossil fuels.” (p. 61)
  
  
  “SIX GREEN PRINCIPLES:
  2001 – Global Green movement
  Creation of a clear manifesto for ecologist political parties and environmentalists
  
  ”The ‘control of nature’ is a phrase conceived in arrogance…”
  ~ Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962)
  
  At its inaugural convention in Canberra, Australia, in April 2001, the Global Green movement unveiled a charter that identified its aims and enabled environmentalists to focus their social and political ambitions more clearly than ever before. The document is known as the Six Green Principles and contains the following aspirations:
  
  1) ECOLOGICAL WISDOM: based on the ecological philosophy formulated primarily by Norwegian Arne Naess (1912-2009), which emphasizes the need to protect “deep ecology��� – the most fundamental things that sustain Earth – rather than waste effort combating minor abuses;
  
  2) SOCIAL JUSTICE: the notion that everyone is equal and that people should all act in solidarity;
  
  3) PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY: every adult man and woman should have a vote, and their choices at the ballot box should be real and more diverse than is often reflected in many two-party systems;
  
  4) NONVIOLENCE: ending all forms of physical conflict;
  
  5) SUSTAINABILITY: ensuring that humans replace and replenish everything that they destroy in order to live;
  
  6) RESPECT FOR DIVERSITY: the fair and equal treatment of minorities.
  
  These desiderata are based on earlier manifestos produced by the Green movement, including their statement at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and the 2001 Accord between the Green Parties of the Americas and the Ecologist Parties of Africa. The Six Green Principles, however, are more codified than anything that preceded them.” (p. 927)
  
  
  (...)
  
  "PUBLIC LIBRARY:
  1452 – Malatesta Novello
  A collection of books that can be accessed freely by the general public
  
  "I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library." ~ Jorge Luis Borges, writer
  
  The world's first libraries, containing archives of clay tablets, were founded in Sumerian temples in around 2600 BCE. The Egyptians built a major reference library at Alexandria in around 300 BCE, while rich Romans established their own private libraries in the first century BCE. Christian and Buddhist monks kept rooms of manuscripts, while reference libraries first appeared in Islamic cities during the ninth century.
  ... It was not until 1452 that the world’s first publicly owned library opened in Cesena in central Italy. Commissioned by Malatesta Novello (1418-56), lord of Cesena, and known as the Biblioteca Malatestiana, the library belonged to the city of Cesena." (p. 316)
• 
  Kent Beck

  This is the ultimate bathroom book. The ideas are incredibly diverse and the chronological order creates provocative juxtapositions.
• 
  Brad VanAuken

  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.
• 
  Mehtap exotiquetv

  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.
• 
  David Haggett

  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. :-)
• 
  Pam Asberry

  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.
• 
  Betty

  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.
  
• 
  Brian

  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.
• 
  Mandi

  1001 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...
• 
  Gabriel

  Novamente, é um livro muito agradável e fácil. Sua leitura é suave e despreocupada, agradável de seguir em frente, como acontece com os demais da série.
  
  É uma boa compilação de idéias, com a ressalva de o leitor entender que este não é um livro profundo. É uma exibição inicial e superficial de idéias variadas que permearam a história da humanidade. Nada além disso.
  
  Eu tenho o que acredito ser uma analogia muito boa. Há um videogame chamado Civilização de Sid Meier e a partir da quinta versão, existem duas árvores de pesquisa dentro do jogo: uma científica e uma cultural. Este livro seria para mim um compêndio da árvore cultural existente na Civilização 5. Aqueles que tiveram a oportunidade de jogar este jogo maravilhoso certamente saberão o que estou tentando escrever.
  
  --/--
  
  Again, it's a very nice and easy book. Alongside the others in the series, its reading is smooth and unconcerned, pleasant to keep going, as it is with the others in the series.
  
  It is a nice compilation of ideas, with the proviso of the reader's understanding that this isn't a deep book. It's a headstart, an initial and superficial showing of varied ideas that permeated the history of humanity. Neither more nor less.
  
  I have what I believe a very good analogy. There's a videogame called Sid Meier's Civilization, and from the fifth installment forward, there are two research trees: One scientific and one cultural. This book would be for me a compendium of the cultural tree existent in Civilization 5. Those who had the opportunity of playing this wonderful game certainly will know what I'm trying to write.
• 
  Donald Firesmith

  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.
• 
  Catherine 💕

  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.
• 
  Paul Mamani

  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.
• 
  Alvar Laigna

  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.
• 
  Victor Henrique

  Great ideas "dictionary". May provide some nice headstarts even though in a very narrow perspective.
• 
  Mohammed Aymen ALI TALEB

  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.
• 
  Matthieu Wegh

  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 ben echt verbaasd welke ontdekkingen al zoveel jaren voor Christus gedaan zijn....
• 
  Book Him Danno

  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.
• 
  Eman

  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!
• 
  Alexandru

  A great journey into the history of science, art, philosophy, culture. Reserve some time for it, because almost 1000 pages of reading require a bit of time. I liked the historical arrangement of concepts so it can be seen how different concepts influenced each other and the book stops at 2012 and it is fun to see how many things changed even from 2012 to 2019 - another 100 pages could be added.
• 
  Constable Reggie

  I checked this one out from the library, so of course it's tagged didn't finish. Three weeks is not enough to take everything in. What I did read was informative, clearly explained, and accompanied by excellent pictures.
• 
  William Schram

  I enjoyed this book. Containing 1001 ideas, it would take a while to list all of them, but a lot of ideas were introduced way earlier than I thought.
  
  I found it entertaining. Not really much to say that isn't inane.
• 
  Prachiti Talathi Gandhi

  I read this book for my radio show. Interesting read. Kind of encyclopedia of human history. These ideas definitely changed the world. Around 1000 pages book is a good gift for anyone. You can read the book from any page and you will still enjoy it.
• 
  Chet Makoski

  A world of ideas. Ideas over centuries. Ideas that got us were we are and that will take us into the future we want and need. Everyone, keep them coming!