`This is an exceedingly long short book, stretching at least fifty thousand years into the past and who knows how many into the future...' So begins Visions of the Future, the prophetic new book by Robert Heilbroner. Heilbroner's basic premise is stunning in its elegant simplicity. He contends that throughout all of human history there have really only been three distinct ways of looking at the future. In the Distant Past (Prehistory to the 17th century) there was no notion of a future measurably and materially different from the present or the past. In the period he calls Yesterday (1700-1950), science, capitalism, and democracy gave humanity an unwavering faith in the superiority of the future. While Today, we feel a palpable anxiety that is quite apart from both the resignation of the Distant past or the bright optimism of Yesterday.
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In this book based on lectures originally delivered at the New York Public Library, Robert Heilbroner puts forth a theory of history stunning in its simplicity and breadth.
1: Preview 2: The Distant Past 3: Yesterday 4: Today 5: Tomorrow Notes Index
`A worldly philosopher's provocative broad-brush perspective on what the morrow could bring.' Kirkus Reviews
"Mr. Heilbroner's thesis is positively charming in its oversimplification of complex history....Yet if Mr. Heilbroner's thesis seems simple...his substantiation of it is a wonder of elegant synthesis....[A] stimulating little book."--The New York Times "A worldly philosopher's provocative broad-brush perspectives on what the morrow could bring."--Kirkus Reviews "For those of us groping for ways to evaluate what's happening in our brave new world, [Heilbroner] makes a worthwhile contribution."--Business Week "Mr. Heilbroner's thesis is positively charming in its oversimplification of complex history....Yet if Mr. Heilbroner's thesis seems simple..., his substantiation of it is a wonder of elegant synthesis....It is not comfort that one takes away from this stimulating little book. It is instead a sense that one has watched a series of stop-action photographs of human history and that one has seen nothing less than the span of civilization from its dawning to whatever form of twilight awaits."--The New York Times "A thoughtful analysis, gracefully written."--Library Journal "Robert Heilbroner is...a writer who combines an essentially literary intellectual style with a broad knowledge of and respect for economics....A graceful and learned essay."--The Washington Post Book World "An elegant and slim volume that deals with nothing less than the expectations about the future held by pre-capitalist societies, by the world of the capitalist transformation (from 1700 to the recent past) and by the world today."--The New York Times Book Review "The visions that human societies have held about what the future will look like is the rich and complex subject that economist Robert Heilbroner has masterfully limned in his new book."--The Boston Globe "For those of us groping for ways to evaluate what's happening in our brave new world, [Heilbroner] makes a worthwhile contribution."--Business Week "A worldly philosopher's provocative broadbrush perspectives on what the morrow could bring."--Kirkus Reviews "A useful contrast between Yesterday and Today."--Future Survey "Mr. Heilbroner's thesis is positively charming in its oversimplification of complex history....Yet if Mr. Heilbroner's thesis seems simple..., his substantiation of it is a wonder of elegant synthesis....It is not comfort that one takes away from this stimulating little book. It is instead a sense that one has watched a series of stop-action photographs of human history and that one has seen nothing less than the span of civilization from its dawning to whatever form of twilight awaits."--The New York Times "A thoughtful analysis, gracefully written."--Library Journal "Robert Heilbroner is...a writer who combines an essentially literary intellectual style with a broad knowledge of and respect for economics....A graceful and learned essay."--The Washington Post Book World "An elegant and slim volume that deals with nothing less than the expectations about the future held by pre-capitalist societies, by the world of the capitalist transformation (from 1700 to the recent past) and by the world today."--The New York Times Book Review "The visions that human societies have held about what the future will look like is the rich and complex subject that economist Robert Heilbroner has masterfully limned in his new book."--The Boston Globe "For those of us groping for ways to evaluate what's happening in our brave new world, [Heilbroner] makes a worthwhile contribution."--Business Week "A worldly philosopher's provocative broadbrush perspectives on what the morrow could bring."--Kirkus Reviews "Heilbroner takes us through the history of humanity, as seen from the perspective of the West, at an exhilarating pace....Punchy and thought-provoking."--Nature
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Robert Heilbroner is Norman Thomas Professor (Emeritus) at the New School for Social Research. His many books include The Worldly Philosophers, An Inquiry into the Human Prospect, and Twenty-First Century Capitalism. He was recently selected the first Scholar of the Year by the New York Council of the Humanities.
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780195102864
Publisert
1996
Utgiver
Vendor
Oxford University Press Inc
Vekt
130 gr
Høyde
203 mm
Bredde
136 mm
Dybde
8 mm
Aldersnivå
G, 01
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
142

Forfatter

Biographical note

Robert Heilbroner's many books include The Worldly Philosophers, An Inquiry into the Human Prospect, and Twenty-First Century Capitalism. He was recently selected the first Scholar of the Year by the New York Council of the Humanities.