The Ascent of Man

'A masterpiece of applied intelligence. Written with a luxuriant lucidity and poise, and superbly illustrated ... a thrilling demonstration that a popularization can also be profound." — Chicago Daily News The Ascent of Man has been lauded by critics and devoured by hundreds of thousands of readers as a companion to the acclaimed public television series. Jacob Bronowski traces the development of science as an expression of the special gifts that characterize man and make him preeminent among animals. His journey throughout Western intellectual history takes readers to such disparate places as Easter Island and the Alhambra, Newton's library and the caves of Altamira, where Bronowski considers the qualities of thought and imagination that have compelled man to analyze the physical world and the laws and structures inherent in it. His exciting, graceful, splendidly illustrated investigation offers a new perspective not just on science, but on civilization itself. Latter-day Renaissance man Jacob Bronowski was a mathematician, poet, inventor, playwright, humanist, and the author often previous books. At his death in 1974 he was a Fellow of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California. "Blending homespun moral philosophy with sheer joy at the marvel of man . . . Bronowski weaves a wondrously persuasive web." — Commentary