A Cook's tour of humankind's great innovations and the glories and
tribulations that came in their wake. Burke (The Day the Universe
Changed, 1986, etc.) is a master storyteller of the big picture:
the origin of Western attitudes and institutions, and how
technology shapes destiny, are a couple of his earlier efforts.
Here he and psychologist Ornstein (The Roots of the Self, 1993,
etc.) chronicle those achievements that allowed humans to make
great leaps forward. And they do go back, all the way to the first
stone tools of ancient hominids. Some of the axemakers' (people
whose inventions shaped our world and our minds) big "gifts": the
protohorticultural societies, the hydraulic civilizations, the
first laws and alphabets, printmaking, the discovery of the New
World, medical advances, the Industrial Revolution, the computer
age. Each of these gifts causes major ripples in the prevailing
institutions, opens new vistas, makes life a little easier (at
least for some folks), and the authors do an excellent job
outlining the dynamics and tensions they arouse. But each gift also
exacts a price, be it rigid hierarchies, slavery, or grotesque
environmental degradation; furthermore, in every instance, these
gifts have increasingly distanced the axemakers and their
governmental masters from the general population. We now find
ourselves at a precarious historical juncture, say the authors,
with a vulnerable agricultural base, population numbers run amok, a
trashed environment, and a citizenry out of touch with how the
world works and relying on the axemaker's quick fixes. Their Rx, in
miniature: Concentrate on small-scale communities, indigenous
knowledge, and participatory democracy; use the computer to gain
access to the web of knowledge already available. Hardly original,
but Burke and Ornstein are quick to admit it. The beauty of this
book lies in the conjuring of those innovative moments, beautifully
woven, entertaining vignettes that explain where the changes came
from, the trouble they caused, and where they led. (Kirkus Reviews)
"A detailed, original and persuasive reading of cultural and intellectual history."—Los Angeles Times. "A genuine tour de force."—San Francisco Chronicle.
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