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In The Knowledge Web, James Burke,
the bestselling author and host of television's Connections
series, takes us on a fascinating tour through the interlocking
threads of knowledge running through Western history. Displaying
mesmerizing flights of fancy, he shows how seemingly unrelated
ideas and innovations bounce off one another, spinning a
vast, interactive web on which everything is connected to
everything else: Carmen leads to the theory of relativity,
champagne bottling links to wallpaper design, Joan of Arc
connects through vaudeville to Buffalo Bill.
Illustrating his open, connective theme
in the form of a journey across the web, Burke breaks down
complex concepts, offering information in a manner accessible
to anybody -- high school graduates and Ph.D. holders alike.
The journey touches more than one hundred interlinked points
in the history of knowledge, ultimately ending where it
began. Gateways, set at various points in the narrative,
allow readers to jump through literary hyperspace to other
different but related concepts throughout the book.
At once amusing and instructing, The
Knowledge Web heightens our awareness of our interdependence
-- with one another and with the past. Taking Burke's webbed
approach to knowledge is one way that we can manage our
information overload as we approach the ever-more-complex
world that awaits us in the twenty-first century. Only by
understanding the interrelated nature of the modern world
can we hope to identify complex patterns of change and direct
the process of innovation to the common good.
James Burke's books include the bestselling
Connections and The Day the Universe Changed.
He contributes a monthly column to Scientific American
and serves as director, writer and host of the television
series Connections 3, which airs on the Learning
Channel. He lives in England, France and airplanes.
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