Book cover of On the Shoulders of Giants

Book description

A posthumous collection of essays by one of our greatest contemporary thinkers that provides a towering vision of Western culture.

In Umberto Eco's first novel, The Name of the Rose, Nicholas of Morimondo laments, "We no longer have the learning of the ancients, the age of giants is past!" To…

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Why read it?

1 author picked On the Shoulders of Giants as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Umberto Eco’s novels and non-fiction have shaped my life as a writer, and brought me a lot of joy.

His essays unfailingly make me see the world differently; his style is so simple, so intimate, and friendly, that the revelations feel like gentle little gifts along the way.

This collection of essays is based on lectures Eco delivered in Milan in the last 15 years of his life, and they cover several topics touching on art, literature, and philosophy. I listened to this in the car, and after every drive I found myself wanting to talk the latest essay over…

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Book cover of Aristotle's Children: How Christians, Muslims, and Jews Rediscovered Ancient Wisdom and Illuminated the Middle Ages

Aristotle's Children by Richard E. Rubenstein,

The rediscovery of Aristotle's works by Christians in the libraries of Muslim Spain set off an intellectual and moral revolution in the Roman Catholic Church that, in many ways, launched the modern era. Rubenstein's book tells how a remarkable series of characters, including Peter Abelard, Thomas Aquinas, and William of…

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