4 ms·
Perhaps Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond would be a good book to pick up. Although it doesn't directly apply to any of the subjects you listed, I think
by kes 17y ago
Perhaps Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond would be a good book to pick up.
Although it doesn't directly apply to any of the subjects you listed, I think that knowing a bit about world history is a good way to make connections in the philosophies of different areas.
- barry-cotter 17y agoDon't. Read the 10,000 Year Explosion instead[1]. Criticism of Diamond [2]. [1]http://the10000yearexplosion.com/ http://the10000yearexplosion.com/ [2]http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/08/03/ggs http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/08/03/ggs
- silentbicycle 17y agoActually, read both. The contradiction shows how history isn't some dead thing set in stone, but a field created by people with ever-changing (often clashing and very ideological) interpretations of the past, alternating with attempts to tie those elaborate interpretations to the evidence available. (And sometimes, new evidence shakes it up...) _The Past is a Foreign Country_ by David Lowenthal is a decent book about how historians interpret and rediscover the past. Really, though - read quite a bit, read primary documents, read attempts to synthesize them, and try to draw your own conclusions. I'm not sure I'd recommend any book in particular. (Also, history is often the most interesting when you get really specific. I'm particularly geeked about the history of medicine, but that's me.)