The Map of Knowledge

By Violet Moller,

Book cover of The Map of Knowledge: A Thousand-Year History of How Classical Ideas Were Lost and Found

Book description

'A lovely debut from a gifted young author. Violet Moller brings to life the ways in which knowledge reached us from antiquity to the present day in a book that is as delightful as it is readable.' Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads

In The Map of Knowledge Violet…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked The Map of Knowledge as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Lately, I've been worrying about the end of civilization, but this book made me think that maybe we'll make it through.

Last summer's wildfires, heat waves, and torrential rains can turn you pretty gloomy, and at first glance, Violet Moller's book wouldn't seem to allay those dark thoughts. But she details how the wisdom of the classical Greeks and Romans survived during Europe's Dark Ages because they were cherished by Arabic and Islamic scholars in a series of great centres of learning that stretched from Baghdad to Spain. 

Moller's book shows once again just how resilient people can be. 

A lively account of the ways in which the philosophical and medical ideas of the Greeks were transmitted to Rome, the Arab world, and medieval Italy. What Plato, Aristotle and Galen had said was often changed and even lost on the way, and only partially recovered in Renaissance Italy. A vivid reminder of the influence of the Greeks over many centuries.

From Vivian's list on Galen and Galenism.

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