by Russell Shorto
A very interesting romp through the intellectual history of Europe since the 17th century, with the remains of Descartes as the tour guide. The writing is good, but there is not much of a critical analysis as promised in the sub-title "a Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason". Hi...
Before reading this, I was only marginally familiar with Descartes and his contributions to philosophy and science. This book made catching up him and realizing his contributions to, and influence on, modern society very accessible and entertaining. The story of his bones traveling around was at tim...
The author uses the story of Descartes' bones as a metaphor for the divisive and rambling path toward human progress. The use of Descartes' bones in this way is doubly clever because not only is the physical path of the bones mysterious and controversial; Descartes' philosophy of questioning receive...
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