Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0191311960, Paperback)

Here is an exciting intellectual adventure conducted by Alfred North Whitehead, the philosopher who has been called one of the greatest minds of the 20th century. Beautifully written and lucidly expressed, this book interprets the history of civilization from the point of view of the great ideas which have advanced humanity. Professor Whitehead points out how vital and revolutionary changes in ideas alter the actual basic conditions of society. He cites, as an example, human slavery which the ancients considered an inescapable premise of civilization and which has now been rejected by modern man. In the four main sections of this book, he explains how the leaven of ideas work on society, in religion and philosophy, and finally with the human spirit desiring perfection. Unusual in scope and bold in its presentation, "Adventures of Ideas" is a book of tremendous importance to everyone interested in man's future.