Book Description
The Muqaddimah, often translated as "Introduction" or "Prolegomenon," is the most important Islamic history of the premodern world. Written by the great fourteenth-century Arab scholar Ibn Khaldûn (d. 1406), this monumental work laid down the foundations of several fields of knowledge, including philosophy of history, sociology, ethnography, and economics. The first complete English translation, by the eminent Islamicist and interpreter of Arabic literature Franz Rosenthal, was published in three volumes in 1958 as part of the Bollingen Series and received immediate acclaim in America and abroad. A one-volume abridged version of Rosenthal's masterful translation was first published in 1969.
This new edition of the abridged version, with the addition of a key section of Rosenthal's own introduction to the three-volume edition, and with a new introduction by Bruce B. Lawrence, will reintroduce this seminal work to twenty-first-century students and scholars of Islam and of medieval and ancient history.
Customer Reviews:
great book, good price.......2007-03-25
it arrived fast, in mint condition, and it is a great book that I plan to keep. thanks
A Must Read.......2006-09-10
This book is of true worth to anyone interested in sociology, history , art and religion. It offers a unique medeival perspective on many fields of knowledge. It is well-written and highly organized which makes it highly accessible and apprehendible. Ibn Khaldoun was a great Islamic scholar in the Middle Ages. He uses al Muqqadimah to offer a variety of explanations to social phenomena and historical events. The conclusions he draws are of a high philoshpical value, well-reasoned, and most of which could be efficaciously applied to the modern world. At many instances you will be amazed how this man, who lived centuries ago, knew so much about the modern world we live in. The chapters discussing poetry and magic are especially interesting. This is by no means one of the greates books ever written.
The first work of historiography ever written........2005-07-08
The first work of historiography ever written. ibn Khaldûn is the sanest kind of Aristotelian, a Sufi, and a very unique rationalist in that for him, men and djinn coexist. His theory of history is fascinating, and greatly informs my view of the 21st century. For him, the human world is divided into wild people, and civilized people; for him, the Bedouin and the medieval urban Muslim are the two polar extremes. The city people generate wealth, culture, technology, and reason. They lose their moral fiber through decadent living, and become fat, weak, lazy, and sinful. Meanwhile, the wild people are hungry, wiry and pious. They are closer to God because they do not have the distractions the city people do. Eventually, the wild people sack the cities. Their genetic stock fortifies the indolent urban gene pool, their piety reinvigorates the religious life of the city, and their austerity reforms the city. On the other hand, the town people teach reason, science, technology and culture to the wild people, and get them to be less savage and cruel. After a few generations, the invaders and the urbans are indistinguishable from each other, and a new crop of wild people come and sack the cities. This is the cycle of history. Very compelling.
Dated in ways, but nonetheless carries some core truths.......2004-07-08
You can chisel out the sections on temperature and race, temperature and behavior, for these are silly and offensive. He compares Sub-Saharan Africans as just a hair above dumb animals, and he slams Arabs and Bedouin in other ways. However, his sections on economics and social politics are still valid, and he was a pioneer in areas that other Westerners tend to get credit for.
Before Adam Smith outlined the need for "Specialized labor" in a commercial society, there was Ibn Khaldun. Khaldun wrote of the pivotal role of "crafts" and specialization of crafts in a functioning human society. He even suggests that skills in crafts are limited, that is, if you're a master shoe-maker you in all likelihood won't be a master farmer. Therefore, master shoe-makers should make as many shoes as they can and farmers should farm as they can, so as to produce as many goods between the two of them than if they shared their time doing both. Before there was Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig Von Mises, Ibn Khaldun implied the need for Rule of Law. Khaldun chastized the Bedouin who disrupted the social order through their raids, and sent the craftsmen packing. Some sort of consistent legal standard and social order is needed to ensure that specialized labor has the ability to perform its "crafts". Before there was Reaganomics and Arthur Laffer, there was Ibn Khaldun. You want more tax revenue? Cut taxes, which provides incentive for people to work harder and expand their enterprises. More business, more economic growth, more tax revenue. High taxes deter enterprise and shrinks tax revenue. Arthur Laffer? Yes, but Ibn Khaldun 300+ years earlier.
The issue Khaldun is most known for is "squadness", Group Feeling, Group Narcissism, Tribalism, whatever you wish to call it. Governments and regimes come and go based on the strength of the leaders to appeal to group cohesion. This could be religious, blood, nationalist, whatever, but regimes need ideological cohesion in order to survive. Once that group feeling is lost, the regime becomes weak and conquerable if not self destructive. Multiculturalism and Postmodernism would be signs of cultural disorder and eventual social crumbling to Ibn Khaldun. Crane Brinton, Erich Fromm, Erik Hoffer all touched on the "Group Feeling" themes in their own works, in different ways and emphases, and in many ways did it better (they had more historical examples to pull from, since history has dramatically accelerated since Khaldun's time), nonetheless, Khaldun was the one who first articulated this concept of political and social (dis)order.
Not for Everyone.......2004-03-08
Arnold Toynbee described this book as " Undoutedly the greatest work of its kind that has ever been created by any mind in any time or place ..." That is what convinced me to read the book, but I don't think it is for everyone.
In addition to being the "earliest critical study of history", the book is truely encyclopedic, coverying sociology, culture, theology, and economics , in addition to history. It covers the rise and fall of dynasties and civilizations ( you can see why Toynbee liked it), the necessary conditions for civilization to arise and what determines the level of civilization that will be achieved by a given population.
To pick one topic on which I have some backgroud, economics , the author sucessfully analyzes the effect of demand and supply on prices, the effect of population growth on the economy, the effect of low stable prices on commerce, and the different ways merchants make profits. All, long before these were understood in Western Europe. He also presents the case for Supply Side Economics ( the proposition that raising taxes will result in lower revenue) 600 years before Art Laffer and Ronald Reagan.
Although he refers frquently to God, Muhammad, and the Qur'an (Koran), and has an entire section devoted to theology , his approach is consistently analytical rather than religious. In many was he is influenced by Aristotle, whom he quotes favorably several times.
Unfortunately I found this a difficult book to read. Although I realize that the book has tremendous historical importance, and was highly original at the time it was written , reading it in the 21st Century I found much of the theory of history to be obvious. Not being familiar with Muslim history , I found many of his examples to be incomprehensible. Lacking a knowledge of Medeival Muslim society and culture, I found much of the institutional discussion to lack content and therefore interest.
I'm sure that for someone better read on early Muslim history and society, this is a great book.But if you are not, I do not reccomend it.
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The Epistemology of Ibn Khaldun (Culture and Civilization in the Middle East)
Zaid Ahmad
Manufacturer: RoutledgeCurzon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Early Civilization
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ASIN: 0415302854 |
Book Description
This is an analytical examination of Ibn Khaldun's epistemology, centred on Chapter Six of the Muqaddima. In this chapter, entitled 'The Book of Knowledge' (Kitab al'Ilm), Ibn Khaldun sketched his general ideas about knowledge and science and its relationship with human social organisation and the establishment of a civilisation.
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Muqaddimah
Manufacturer: Princeton Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0691099464 |
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Social Institutions
Fuad Baali
Manufacturer: University Press of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Cultural
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Culture
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ASIN: 0819187267 |
Book Description
This book deals with Ibn Khaldun's social perspective of the major institutions: the family, education, religion, politics, and economics. The family is seen in its association with city life. The role of the family and education in the development of human personality is emphasized. Ibn Khaldun dealt with the social dimension of knowledge in its many ramifications. Religion is discussed by stressing the social perspective rather than the theological, especially the reciprocal relationship between group solidarity and religion. Moreover, social solidarity plays a dynamic role in the formation and decline of political groups. Even economic activities are culturally defined. Such activities have a great impact upon social interaction, especially in dealing with the value of human labor and socioeconomic stratification. In spite of its highly innovative appearance, the Khaldunian theory was a product of a long series of the Islamic-Arabic movements of thought.
Customer Reviews:
kashford.......2003-11-20
hey really cool book i would recomend to all that are in the social services to truly understand social services from a islamic perspective. i have been long under the impression of teh culture gap between the misundersatndings between the institutional services provided by the goverment are largely based on a euro centric perspective this boook allows the reader to bridge the gap of understanding.
Book Description
The lives of American Indians and the vital role they played in American history has been riddled with stereotypes and falsehoods. Everyday Life Among the American Indians corrects decades of misinformation with insightful, accurate scholarship that belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in reading--or writing--the real story.
Covering more than 500 tribes and utilizing maps, illustrations, chronologies, and detailed overviews of day-to-day life, this invaluable reference for writers, researchers and students is at once comprehensive yet strikingly accessible. From the Louisiana Purchase to the Trail of Tears to Wounded Knee and beyond, author Candy Moulton vividly portrays the disappearing cultures of 19th century American Indians with dignity and dynamic detail, including information on:
* Tribal leadership and religion
* Weaponry and warfare
* Food and shelter
* Tools and medicine
* Languages and customs
* Crime and punishment
Customer Reviews:
huge range of information.......2001-12-13
I am a fan of the "Everyday Life" series, and this is the most detailed of them that I have seen. I was impressed. It has more information over a wider variety of topics than I expected, especially considering that this is such a broad subject.
This, however, is also the book's weakness. The author was asked to cover such a massive range of information (the 'everyday life' of every American Indian tribe within a hundred-year period) that she would have needed three times the page count to do each tribe justice.
Most chapters (Family Life, Wars, Weapons and Treaties, Clothing and Accessories, etc.) are divided into geographical area, with information about the tribes in that area mixed within the section. For example, under Family Life, Great Basin, we find paragraphs on the birthing traditions of the Shoshane, puberty rituals of the Paiute, marriage among the Ute, and death rituals of the Shoshane. All detailed and engaging, making this an excellent overview, but you may be frustrated if you're hoping to learn in-depth about any specific tribe.
Amazon.com
Clifford Pickover is IBM's Renaissance-guy-in-residence. His job is to play with cool ideas--time travel (Time: A Traveler's Guide), extraterrestrials (The Science of Aliens), and the line between genius and crackpot (Strange Brains and Genius). His latest game is an oldie but goodie: trying to imagine the fourth dimension.
Like a number of his other books, Surfing is structured as a fiction, in this case an X-Files romance--Pickover clearly has a deep and personal appreciation for Scully (whom he calls "Sally," presumably on advice of counsel). You, dear reader, are the FBI's chief investigator of four-dimensional phenomena. As you and your cohorts chase bizarre manifestations from "upsilon" (4-D up) and "delta" (4-D down), Pickover provides explanations, paradoxes, and problems, with many helpful drawings and computer-generated illustrations.
Pickover's book, like every work on higher dimensions, is something of a sequel to Edwin Abbott's classic story, Flatland. Like Abbott, Pickover doesn't just look at the mathematics: "I want to know if humankind's Gods could exist in the fourth dimension." Not for the theologically squeamish, this book is lively, provocative, outrageous, and fascinating. --Mary Ellen Curtin
Book Description
Do a little armchair time-travel, rub elbows with a four-dimensional intelligent life form, or stretch your mind to the furthest corner of an uncharted universe. With this astonishing guidebook, Surfing Through Hyperspace, you need not be a mathematician or an astrophysicist to explore the all-but-unfathomable concepts of hyperspace and higher-dimensional geometry. No subject in mathematics has intrigued both children and adults as much as the idea of a fourth dimension. Philosophers and parapsychologists have meditated on this mysterious space that no one can point to but may be all around us. Yet this extra dimension has a very real, practical value to mathematicians and physicists who use it every day in their calculations. In the tradition of Flatland, and with an infectious enthusiasm, Clifford Pickover tackles the problems inherent in our 3-D brains trying to visualize a 4-D world, muses on the religious implications of the existence of higher-dimensional consciousness, and urges all curious readers to venture into "the unexplored territory lying beyond the prison of the obvious." Pickover alternates sections that explain the science of hyperspace with sections that dramatize mind-expanding concepts through a fictional dialogue between two futuristic FBI agents who dabble in the fourth dimension as a matter of national security. This highly accessible and entertaining approach turns an intimidating subject into a scientific game open to all dreamers. Surfing Through Hyperspace concludes with a number of puzzles, computer experiments and formulas for further exploration, inviting readers to extend their minds across this inexhaustibly intriguing scientific terrain.
Customer Reviews:
What would four dimensional beings look like?.......2007-04-10
Great science is about answering interesting questions and great science writing is about making those selfsame answers accessible to the public.
It is in this latter regard that Charles Pickover succeeds admirably in answering the question posed at the beginning this review.
Having the reader assume the role of David Duchovny like X files FBI agent, he leads the reader on an interesting and accessible investigation of the four dimension and its various properties.
Liberally illustrated with pictures and artistic renderings his book does a great job of explaining.
Oh, and what would four dimensional beings look like?
According to Pickover, amorphous hairy blobs floating in the air, changing shapes and locations but always disgusting as we no doubt would be to them because they could our insides.
For the rest of the story, read his book. It's easy to read and a lot of fun.
"If Satan Were To Fall From Upsilon To Delta Through Our 3-D Space, What Might We See?".......2006-05-26
'Surfing Through Hyperspace' by Clifford Pickover is an engaging presentation of highly theoretical concepts within the field of physics presented in the form of a cosmic dectective story. The premise: "Hyperbeings have kidnapped the president!"
Question: Just how do 3-dimensional humans go about tracking down 4-dimensional hyperbeings and would we even be able to recognize them if we found them?
Who could resist a book with such chapter titles as; The Divinity of Higher Dimensions, Satan and Perpendicular Worlds and The Gods of Hyperspace. Wonderfully inventive, theologically challenging and just plain enjoyable!
This is a valuable tool!.......2006-04-27
This is the third of Clifford pickover's books that I've read. Sex Drugs Einstein and Elves is a good introduction to who Pickover is and to some of the subjects he writes about. The Paradox of God has some interesting things to say about the unprovable idea of the existence of an omniscient being. Surfing Through Hyperspace however, is an extremely valuable book in other ways. While the existence of higher dimensions has not yet been conclusively proven, it is among the current theories in the field of physics and seems very likely. It is not only physicists who should be interested in these ideas, but anyone who cares at all about the structure and order of the universe in which he lives. As far as I'm concerned, physics outranks religion and many other subjects in importance to the state of human knowledge, yet few people become interested in it. This book is a wonderful guide to exploring what beings and objects in a fourth spatial dimension might look and act like. Pondering the concepts discussed in this book could be a powerful and intriguing experience for anyone who is curious about higher dimensions. When talking to people who are becoming interested in such ideas, I usually recommend that they read Michio Kaku's Hyperspace. From now on, I will recommend that they look at Surfing Through Hyperspace as a companion volume. Kaku's explanations combined with Pickover's lessons on visualization of these concepts should make a very effective introductory course.
Higher Dimensions Around and In Us .......2005-11-25
Clifford A. Pickover, "Surfing through Hyperspace," 239 pages, numerous illustrations
This book discusses higher-dimensional geometry, the fourth dimension, philosophy, religion, mathematics and string theory. The author begins by saying that he knows of no subject in mathematics that has intrigued both children and adults as much as the idea of a fourth dimension -- a spatial direction different from all the directions of our normal three-dimensional space. Philosophers and parapsychologists have meditated upon this dimension that no one can point to but may be all around us. Theologians have speculated that the afterlife, heaven, hell, angels, and our souls could reside in a fourth dimension -- that God and Satan could literally be lumps of hypermatter in a four-dimensional space inches away from our ordinary three-dimensional world. The book's table of contents gives a good indication of topics and people covered. I have given more information about the topic in parentheses.
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1. Degrees of Freedom (history of fourth dimension, string theory, hyper-time)
Chapter 2. The Divinity of Higher Dimensions (Flatland, 4-D creatures, God)
Chapter 3. Satan and Perpendicular Worlds (parallel universes, wormholes, 4-D chess)
Chapter 4. Hyperspheres and Tesseracts (Hinton Cubes, tesseracts, hyperspheres)
Chapter 5. Mirror Worlds (Zollner, aliens, Mobius words, Klein bottles)
Chapter 6. The Gods of Hyperspace (Hypothetical access to the 4th dimension)
Concluding Remarks
Appendix I. Mind-Bending Four-Dimensional Puzzles
Appendix II. Higher Dimensions in Science Fiction
Appendix III. Banchoff Klein Bottle
Appendix IV. Quaternions
Appendix V. Four-Dimensional Mazes
Appendix VI. Smorgasbord for Computer Junkies
Appendix VII. Evolution of Four-Dimensional Beings
Appendix VIII. Questions for Further Thought
Appendix IX. Hyperspace Titles
A fun story involving fictional FBI agents exploring the fourth dimension weaves the topics together. A mixture of humor and mathematics.
A profound disappointment in six easy lessons!.......2005-06-16
Queen Victoria almost certainly would have been amused if she had thought to pick up a copy of Edwin Abbott's inventive story "Flatland" when it was first published in 1884. But it's unlikely that she would be amused at the degree to which Pickover has chosen to rehash all of the same ideas - and, not just once, but seeking to dress the same material up as different chapters over and over again. My goodness, there are only so many ways that one can say a three dimensional sphere projects as a circle in two dimensions. Therefore, a four dimensional hypershpere projects into three dimensions as a sphere. OK, OK - I got it the first time!
It's bad enough that Surfing Through Hyperspace barely rises above plagiarism. But Pickover has tried to tart the presentation up with a bizarre, pretentious narration that is also a simple rip off from Scully and Mulder of X-Files fame! This silly repetitious presentation borders on insulting to any intelligent reader who, after reading a couple or three chapters, will realize they would have been better off going to the store to buy the original item - Flatland.
Any other material that is beyond Flatland - wormholes, Many Worlds Theory, quantum mechanics and superluminal contact, to name a few examples - are explained more completely and more clearly in any number of other sources. I did briefly get excited when one chapter headed down a road that looked really promising - multidimensional variations on games like chess and monopoly; knights that weren't allowed to effectively jump into the 3rd dimension by leaping over men on the board; 3-D chess play inside an 8x8 cube; a chess board on a Möbius strip. Then Pickover pulled the ultimate cop out - "We leave exploration of these interesting variations as an exercise to the reader." For crying out loud, if I was a mathematician, a physicist or a game theorist, somehow I doubt I would have purchased the book in the first place!
Surfing Through Hyperspace promised a deeper understanding of higher dimensions but, for me, it was a profound disappointment.
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Tropical Deforestation: A Socio-Economic Approach
Manufacturer: Earthscan Publications Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
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ASIN: 1853832383 |
Book Description
An assessment of the underlying socio-economic causes of deforestation, using a specially developed, integrated model to analyze forestry and land-use, and to examine the consequences of different policy alternatives. The results show how policy measures limited to dealing only with timber which is internationally traded are doomed to fail in slowing down deforestation processes, and that only measures which address the interests of those immediately affected will have any success. A crucial survey and analysis for policy makers, practitioners and researchers.
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