Winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction Winner of the 2011 National Book Award for Non-Fiction One of the world's most celebrated scholars; Stephen Greenblatt has crafted both an innovative work of history and a thrilling story of discovery; in which one manuscript; plucked from a thousand years of neglect; changed the course of human thought and made possible the world as we know it. Nearly six hundred years ago; a short; genial; cannily alert man in his late thirties took a very old manuscript off a library shelf; saw with excitement what he had discovered; and ordered that it be copied. That book was the last surviving manuscript of an ancient Roman philosophical epic; On the Nature of Things; by Lucretius―a beautiful poem of the most dangerous ideas: that the universe functioned without the aid of gods; that religious fear was damaging to human life; and that matter was made up of very small particles in eternal motion; colliding and swerving in new directions. The copying and translation of this ancient book-the greatest discovery of the greatest book-hunter of his age-fueled the Renaissance; inspiring artists such as Botticelli and thinkers such as Giordano Bruno; shaped the thought of Galileo and Freud; Darwin and Einstein; and had a revolutionary influence on writers such as Montaigne and Shakespeare and even Thomas Jefferson. 16 pages of color illustrations
#226322 in Books Elisabeth Sifton 2005-01-17Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.20 x 1.00 x 5.50l; .81 #File Name: 0393326624368 pagesThe Serenity Prayer Faith and Politics in Times of Peace and War
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. I am happily making my way through what many people think is ...By Edward FilistowiczHaven't finished it yet; but it was as expected. I wanted to know more about the specific time when the prayer was written. I am happily making my way through what many people think is boring! And why? Because it seems as though being a child in Heath MA in the summer; was very similar to being a child in my own hometown...Some of the best parts are about all the different Protestant "sects" I always wondered what the differences were and why they came to be. The author also explains these things; so that she can describe all of the other visitors and preachers on Sundays.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Serenity Prayer.By willard machenMostly about her fathers politics and views on war and social justice; but enough on the Serenity Prayer to be worthwhile.A very interesting and comprehensive book abour Reinhold Neibuhr. Get it for your library!(Spoiler: His prayer is not the same as the AA prayer!!)0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. The Historyof the Prayer is interestingBy Rodney P. DempseyI never knew the background of the times surrounding when the Serenity Prayer was written; or anything about the author of the prayer or his colleagues.
