One of three parts of the 15th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition
The one-volume Propædia is the first of three parts of the 15th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica , intended as a compendium and topical organization of the 12-volume Micropædia and the 17-volume Macropædia , which are organized alphabetically. Introduced in 1974 with the 15th edition, the Propædia and Micropædia were intended to replace the Index of the 14th edition; however, after widespread criticism, the Britannica restored the Index as a two-volume set in 1985. The core of the Propædia is its Outline of Knowledge , which seeks to provide a logical framework for all human knowledge. However, the Propædia also has several appendices listing the staff members, advisors and contributors to all three parts of the Britannica .
The last edition of the print Britannica was published in 2010.[ 1] [ 2]
Outline of Knowledge
Like the Britannica as a whole, the Outline has three types of goals:[ 3]
According to Mortimer J. Adler , the designer of the Propædia , all articles in the full Britannica were designed to fit into the Outline of Knowledge .[ 3]
The Outline has 167 sections, which are categorized into 41 divisions and then into 10 parts. Each part has an introductory essay written by the same individual responsible for developing the outline for that part, which was done in consultation and collaboration with a handful of other scholars. In all, 86 men and one woman were involved in developing the Outline of Knowledge .
The Outline was an eight-year project of Mortimer J. Adler , published 22 years after he published a similar effort (the Syntopicon ) that attempts to provide an overview of the relationships among the "Great Ideas" in Adler's Great Books of the Western World series. (The Great Books were also published by the Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. ) Adler stresses in his book, A Guidebook to Learning: For a Lifelong Pursuit of Wisdom , that the ten categories should not be taken as hierarchical but as circular.
The whole of the Propædia's synoptic outline of knowledge deserves to be read carefully. It represents a twentieth-century scheme for the organization of knowledge that is more comprehensive than any other and that also accommodates the intellectual heterodoxy of our time.
Contents
1. Matter and Energy
The lead author was Nigel Calder , who wrote the introduction "The Universe of the Physicist, the Chemist, and the Astronomer".
1.1 Atoms
1.1.1 Structure and Properties of Atoms
1.1.2 Atomic Nuclei and Elementary Particles
1.2 Energy, Radiation, and States of Matter
1.2.1 Chemical Elements: Periodic Variation in Their Properties
1.2.2 Chemical Compounds: Molecular Structure and Chemical Bonding
1.2.3 Chemical Reactions
1.2.4 Heat, Thermodynamics, Liquids, Gases, Plasmas
1.2.5 The Solid State of Matter
1.2.6 Mechanics of Particles, Rigid and Deformable Bodies: Elasticity, Vibration, and Flow
1.2.7 Electricity and Magnetism
1.2.8 Waves and Wave Motion
1.3 The Universe
1.3.1 The Cosmos
1.3.2 Galaxies and Stars
1.3.3 The Solar System
2. The Earth
The lead author was Peter John Wyllie , who wrote the introduction "The Great Globe Itself".
2.1 Earth's Properties, Structure, Composition
2.2 Earth's Envelope
2.2.1 The Atmosphere
2.2.2 The Hydrosphere: the Oceans, Freshwater and Ice Masses
2.2.3 Weather and Climate
2.3 Surface Features
2.4 Earth's History
3. Life
The lead author was René Dubos , who wrote the introduction "The Mysteries of Life".
3.1 The Nature and Diversity of Life
3.2 The Molecular Basis of Life
3.3 The Structures and Functions of Organisms
3.4 The Behavior of Organisms
3.4.1 Nature and Patterns of Behavior
3.4.2 Development and Range of Behavioral Capacities: Individual and Group Behavior
3.5 The Biosphere
4. Human Life
The lead author was Loren Eiseley , who wrote the introduction "The Cosmic Orphan".
4.1 The Development of Human Life
4.2 The Human Body: Health and Disease
4.2.1 The Structures and Functions of the Human Body
4.2.2 Human Health
4.2.3 Human Diseases
4.2.4 The Practice of Medicine and Care of Health
4.3 Human Behavior and Experience
4.3.1 General theories of human nature and behavior
4.3.2 Antecedent conditions and developmental processes affecting a person's behavior and conscious experience
4.3.3 Influence of the current environment on a person's behavior and conscious experience: attention, sensation, and perception
4.3.4 Current Internal states affecting a person' behavior and conscious experience
4.3.5 Development of Learning and Thinking
4.3.6 Personality and the Self: Integration and Disintegration
5. Society
The lead author was Harold D. Lasswell , who wrote the introduction "Man the Social Animal".
5.1 Social Groups: Ethnic groups and Cultures
5.1.1 Peoples and Cultures of the World
5.1.2 The Development of Human Culture
5.1.3 Major Cultural Components and Institutions of Societies
5.1.4 Language and Communication
5.2 Social Organization and Social Change
5.2.1 Social Structure and Change
5.2.2 The Group Structure of Society
5.2.3 Social Status
5.2.4 Human Populations: Urban and Rural Communities
5.3 The Production, Distribution, and Utilization of Wealth
5.3.1 Economic Concepts, Issues, and Systems
5.3.2 Consumer and Market: Pricing and Mechanisms for Distributing Goods
5.3.3 The Organization of Production and Distribution
5.3.4 The Distribution of Income and Wealth
5.3.5 Macroeconomics
5.3.6 Economic Growth and Planning
5.4 Politics and Government
5.4.1 Political Theory
5.4.2 Political Institutions: the Structure, Branches, & Offices of Government
5.4.3 Functioning of Government: the Dynamics of the Political Process
5.4.4 International Relations: Peace and War
5.5 Law
5.5.1 Philosophies and Systems of Law; the Practice of Law
5.5.2 Branches of Public Law, Substantive and Procedural
5.5.3 Branches of Private Law, Substantive and Procedural
5.6 Education
5.6.1 Aims and Organization of Education
5.6.2 Education Around the World
6. Art
The lead author was Mark Van Doren , who wrote the introduction "The World of Art".
6.1 Art in General
6.1.1 Theory and Classification of the Arts
6.1.2 Experience and Criticism of Art; the Nonaesthetic Context of Art
6.1.3 Characteristics of the Arts in Particular Cultures
6.2 Particular Arts
7. Technology
The lead author was Lord Peter Ritchie-Calder , who wrote the introduction "Knowing How and Knowing Why".
7.1 Nature & Development of Technology
7.1.1 Technology: Its Scope and History
7.1.2 The Organization of Human Work
7.2 Elements of Technology
7.2.1 Technology of Energy Conversion and Utilization
7.2.2 Technology of Tools and Machines
7.2.3 Technology of Measurement, Observation, and Control
7.2.4 Extraction and Conversion of Industrial Raw Materials
7.2.5 Technology of Industrial Production Processes
7.3 Fields of Technology
8. Religion
The lead author was Wilfred Cantwell Smith , who wrote the introduction "Religion as Symbolism".
8.1 Religion in General
8.2 Particular Religions
8.2.1 Prehistoric Religion and Primitive Religion
8.2.2 Religions of Ancient Peoples
8.2.3 Hinduism and Other Religions of India
8.2.4 Buddhism
8.2.5 Indigenous Religions of East Asia: Religions of China, Korea, and Japan
8.2.6 Judaism
8.2.7 Christianity
8.2.8 Islam
8.2.9 Other Religions and Religious Movements in the Modern World
9. History
The lead author was Jacques Barzun , who wrote the introduction "The Point and Pleasure of Reading History".
9.1 Ancient Southwest Asia, North Africa, and Europe
9.1.1 Ancient Southwest Asia and Egypt, the Aegean, and North Africa
9.1.2 Ancient Europe and Classical Civilizations of the Mediterranean to AD 395
9.2 Medieval Southwest Asia, North Africa, and Europe
9.2.1 The Byzantine Empire and Europe from AD 395–1050
9.2.2 The Formative Period in Islamic History, AD 622–1055
9.2.3 Western Christendom in the High and Later Middle Ages 1050–1500
9.2.4 The Crusades, the Islamic States, and Eastern Christendom 1050–1480
9.3 East, Central, South, and Southeast Asia
9.3.1 China to the Beginning of the Late T'ang AD 755
9.3.2 China from the Late T'ang to the Late Ch'ing AD 755–1839
9.3.3 Central and Northeast Asia to 1750
9.3.4 Japan to the Meiji Restoration 1868, Korea to 1910
9.3.5 The Indian Subcontinent and Ceylon to AD 1200
9.3.6 The Indian Subcontinent 1200–1761, Ceylon 1200–1505
9.3.7 Southeast Asia to 1600
9.4 Sub-Saharan Africa to 1885
9.4.1 West Africa to 1885
9.4.2 The Nilotic Sudan and Ethiopia AD 550–1885
9.4.3 East Africa and Madagascar to 1885
9.4.4 Central Africa to 1885
9.4.5 Southern Africa to 1885
9.5 Pre-Columbian America
9.5.1 Andean Civilization to AD 1540
9.5.2 Meso-American Civilization to AD 1540
9.6 The Modern World to 1920
9.6.1 Western Europe 1500–1789
9.6.2 Eastern Europe, Southwest Asia, and North Africa 1480–1800
9.6.3 Europe 1789–1920
9.6.4 European Colonies in the Americas 1492–1790
9.6.5 United States and Canada 1763–1920
9.6.6 Latin-America and Caribbean to 1920
9.6.7 Australia and Oceania to 1920
9.6.8 South Asia Under European Imperialism 1500–1920
9.6.9 Southeast Asia Under European Imperialism 1600–1920
9.6.10 China until Revolution 1839–1911, Japan from Meiji Restoration to 1910
9.6.11 Southwest Asia, North Africa 1800–1920, Sub-Saharan Africa 1885–1920: Under European Imperialism
9.7 The World Since 1920
9.7.1 International Movements, Diplomacy and War Since 1920
9.7.2 Europe Since 1920
9.7.3 The United States and Canada Since 1920
9.7.4 Latin American and Caribbean Nations Since 1920
9.7.5 China in Revolution, Japanese Hegemony
9.7.6 South and Southeast Asia: the Late Colonial Period and Nations Since 1920
9.7.7 Australia and Oceania Since 1920
9.7.8 Southwest Asia and Africa: the Late Colonial Period and Nations since 1920
10. Branches of Knowledge
The lead author was Mortimer J. Adler , who wrote the introduction "Knowledge Become Self-conscious".
10.1 Logic
10.1.1 History and Philosophy of Logic
10.1.2 Formal Logic, Metalogic , & Applied Logic
10.2 Mathematics
10.3 Science
10.3.1 History and Philosophy of Science
10.3.2 The Physical Sciences
10.3.3 The Earth Sciences
10.3.4 The Biological Sciences
10.3.5 Medicine
10.3.6 The Social Sciences, Psychology, Linguistics
10.3.7 The Technological Sciences
10.4 History and The Humanities
10.4.1 Historiography
10.4.2 The Humanities and Humanistic Scholarship
10.5 Philosophy
10.6 Preservation of Knowledge
10.6.1 Institutions and Techniques for the Collection, Storage, Dissemination and Preservation of Knowledge
Contributors to the Outline of Knowledge
Table 2: Contributors to the Outline of Knowledge in the Propædia [ 4]
Name
Date of birth
Date of death
Part of Outline
Description
Index
Mortimer J. Adler
1902
2001
All Parts
Editor
1
Charles Van Doren
1926
2019
All Parts
Associate editor; Editorial Vice President of Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. (1973–1982)
2
William J. Gorman
1982
All Parts
Associate editor; Senior Fellow of the Institute for Philosophical Research
3
A. G. W. Cameron
1925
2005
Matter and Energy
Professor of Astronomy, Harvard University
4
Farrington Daniels
1889
1972
Matter and Energy
Professor of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin–Madison , Madison
5
Morton Hamermesh
1915
2003
Matter and Energy
Professor of Physics, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis (1975–1986)
6
Vincent E. Parker
1914
1997
Matter and Energy
Emeritus Professor of Physics, California State Polytechnic University , Pomona; Dean, School of Science (1967–1977)
7
Richard J. Chorley
1927
2002
The Earth
Professor of Geography, University of Cambridge ; Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
8
William Stelling von Arx
1916
1999
The Earth
Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (1968–1978)
9
Peter John Wyllie
1930
The Earth
Professor of Geology and Chairman, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology
10
N. J. Berrill
1903
1996
Life on Earth
Strathcone Professor of Zoology, McGill University (1946–1965)
11
Vincent Dethier
1915
1993
Life on Earth
Gilbert L. Woodside Professor of Zoology, University of Massachusetts Amherst (1975–1993)
12
Louis S. Goodman
1906
2000
Life on Earth
Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology, University of Utah , Salt Lake City
13
Garrett Hardin
1915
2003
Life on Earth
Emeritus Professor of Human Ecology, University of California , Santa Barbara
14
Ernst Walter Mayr
1904
2005
Life on Earth
Alexander Agassiz Professor Emeritus of Zoology, Harvard University
15
John Alexander Moore
1915
2002
Life on Earth
Emeritus Professor of Biology, University of California, Riverside
16
Theodore T. Puck
1916
2005
Life on Earth
Professor of Biology, Biophysics and Genetics; Distinguished Professor of Medicine, University of Colorado , Health Sciences Center; Director, Eleanor Roosevelt Institute for Cancer Research
17
Birgit Vennesland
1913
2001
Life on Earth
Head, Vennesland Research Laboratory, Max Planck Society (1970–1981); Director, Max Planck Institute for Cell Physiology, Berlin (1968–1970)
18
Paul B. Weisz
1919
2012
Life on Earth
Professor of Biology, Brown University
19
Ralph H. Wetmore
1892
1989
Life on Earth
Emeritus Professor of Botany, Harvard University
20
Emil H. White
Life on Earth
D. Mead Johnson Professor of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University
21
Wilfrid Edward Le Gros Clark
1895
1971
Human Life
Professor of Anatomy, University of Oxford
22
Russell S. Fisher
1985
Human Life
Chief Medical Examiner, State of Maryland ; Professor of Forensic Pathology, University of Maryland Medical School, Baltimore
23
F. Clark Howell
1925
2007
Human Life
Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
24
Gregory A. Kimble
1917
2006
Human Life
Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Duke University
25
Erich Klinghammer
1930
2011
Human Life
Associate Professor of Psychology, Purdue University
26
Warren Sturgis McCulloch
1899
1969
Human Life
Staff member, Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT (1952–1969)
27
William J. McGuire
1925
2012
Human Life
Professor of Psychology, Yale University
28
Peter Medawar
1915
1987
Human Life
Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, 1960; Jodrell Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy, University College London (1951–1962); Director, National Institute, Mill Hill, London (1962–1971); Scientific staff member, Medical Research Council , England (1971–1984)
29
William J. Baumol
1922
2017
Human Society
Professor of Economics, New York University ; Emeritus Professor of Economics, Princeton University
30
Daniel Bell
1919
2011
Human Society
Henry Ford II Professor Emeritus of Social Science, Harvard University
31
Guiliano H. Bonfante
Human Society
Former Professor of Linguistics, University of Turin
32
Kenneth E. Boulding
1910
1993
Human Society
Distinguished Professor of Economics, University of Colorado , Boulder
33
Lewis A. Coser
1913
2003
Human Society
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology, SUNY , Stony Brook
34
Sigmund Diamond
1920
1999
Human Society
Giddings Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Columbia University
35
Carl J. Friedrich
1901
1984
Human Society
Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University (1955–1971)
36
Paul Mundy
Human Society
Professor of Sociology and Chairman, Department of Criminal Justice, Loyola University Chicago
37
Kenyon E. Poole
1909
1988
Human Society
Professor of Economics, Northwestern University
38
C. Herman Pritchett
Human Society
Emeritus Professor of Political Science, University of California, Santa Barbara and University of Chicago
39
Sol Tax
1907
1995
Human Society
Professor of Anthropology, University of Chicago (1948–1976); Director, Center for the Study of Man, Smithsonian Institution
40
Charles Raymond Whittlesey
1900
1979
Human Society
Emeritus Professor of Finance and Economics, University of Pennsylvania
41
Rudolf Arnheim
1904
2007
Art
Emeritus professor of Psychology of Art, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University
42
Robert Jesse Charleston
1916
1994
Art
Keeper, Department of Ceramics, Victoria and Albert Museum (1963–1976)
43
Clifton Fadiman
1904
1999
Art
Member, Board of Editors, Encyclopædia Britannica
44
Francis Fergusson
1904
1986
Art
Professor of Comparative Literature, Rutgers University (1953–1969); Professor of Comparative Literature, Princeton University (1973–1981)
45
John Gloag
1896
1981
Art
Novelist and writer on architecture and industrial design
46
Richard Griffith
1912
1969
Art
Curator, Museum of Modern Art Film Library (1951–1965); Lecturer on Motion Pictures, Wesleyan University (1967–1969)
47
Richard Hoggart
1918
2014
Art
Professor of English, University of Birmingham (1962–1973); Warden, Goldsmiths' College, University of London (1976–1984)
48
Edward Lockspeiser
1905
1973
Art
Officier d'Académie, Paris ; Writer and broadcaster on music.
49
Roy McMullen
1984
Art
Author, critic, and art historian
50
Leonard B. Meyer
1918
2007
Art
Benjamin Franklin Professor of Music and Humanities, University of Pennsylvania
51
Michael Morrow
1929
1994
Art
Music editor, Encyclopædia Britannica ; Director, Musica Reservata , London
52
Beaumont Newhall
1908
1993
Art
Director, Eastman Kodak House (1958–1971); Visiting Professor of Art, University of New Mexico (1971–1984)
53
Herbert Read
1893
1968
Art
Watson Gordon Professor of Fine Art, University of Edinburgh (1931–1933); editor, The Burlington Magazine (1933–1939); Charles Eliot Norton professor of Poetry, Harvard University (1953–1954)
54
Richard Roud
1929
1989
Art
Program Director, London (1959–1963) and New York (1963–1987) Film Festivals; Film critic, The Guardian (1963–1969)
55
George Savage
1982
Art
Art consultant; author of Porcelain Through the Ages , Pottery Through the Ages , and other works
56
Wolfgang Stechow
1896
1974
Art
Professor of Fine Arts, Oberlin College (1940–1963)
57
Joshua C. Taylor
1981
Art
William Rainey Harper Professor of Humanities and Professor of Art, University of Chicago (1963–1974); Director, National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution
58
Everard M. Upjohn
1903
1978
Art
Professor of Fine Arts, Columbia University (1951–1970)
59
Pierre Verlet
1908
1987
Art
Chief Curator, Cluny Museum (1945–1965); Chief Curator, National Museum of Sèvres Porcelain (1945–1965); Chief Curator of Art Objects from the Middle Ages to the Modern Period, Louvre Museum (1945–1965)
60
René Wellek
1903
1995
Art
Sterling Professor of Comparative Literature, Yale University (1952–1972)
61
Glynne William Gladstone Wickham
1922
2004
Art
Emeritus Professor of Drama, University of Bristol ; Dean, Faculty of Arts (1970–1972)
62
Raymond (Henry) Williams
1921
1988
Art
Professor of Drama, University of Cambridge (1974–1983); Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge (1961–1988)
63
Paul S. Wingert
1900
1974
Art
Professor of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University
64
Bruno Zevi
1918
2000
Art
Professor of Architectural History, University of Rome (1963–1979)
65
Konstantinos Apostolos Doxiadis
1914
1975
Technology
Chairman, Doxiadis Associates International; Chairman, Board of Directors, Doxiadis Associates, Inc.; Washington D.C. Chairman, Board of Directors, Athens Technological Organization; President, Athens Center of Ekistics
66
Eugene S. Ferguson
1916
2004
Technology
Emeritus Professor of History, University of Delaware ; Curator of Technology, Hagley Museum , Greenville Delaware
67
Melvin Kranzberg
1917
1995
Technology
Callaway Professor of the History of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology (1972–1988)
68
Harvey G. Mehlhouse
Technology
Vice President, Western Electric Company, New York City (1965–1969); President (1969–1971); Chairman of the Board (1971–1972)
69
Robert Smith Woodbury
1983
Technology
Professor of the History of Technology, MIT
70
Arthur Llewellyn Basham
1914
1986
Religion
Professor of Asian Civilizations, Australian National University
71
James T. Burtchaell
1934
2015
Religion
Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame ; Provost (1970–1977)
72
J. V. Langmead Casserley
1909
1978
Religion
Professor of Apologetics, Seabury-Western Theological Seminary
73
Ichiro Hori
1974
Religion
Professor of the History of Religions, Seijo University and Kokugakuin University
74
Jaroslav Jan Pelikan
1923
2006
Religion
Sterling Professor of History, Yale University; President, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
75
Jakob Josef Petuchowski
1925
1991
Religion
Sol and Arlene Bronstein Professor of Judeo-Christian Studies, Hebrew Union College , Jewish Institute of Religion , Cincinnati (1981–1991)
76
Jacques Barzun
1907
2012
The History of Mankind
University Professor Emeritus, Columbia University; Dean of Faculties and Provost (1958–1967)
77
Otto Allen Bird
1914
2009
The Branches of Knowledge
Emeritus Professor of Arts and Letters, University of Notre Dame
78
Wing-Tsit Chan
1901
1994
The Branches of Knowledge
Professor of Chinese Philosophy and Culture, Dartmouth College (1942–1966); Anna R. D. Gillespie Professor of Philosophy, Chatham University (1966–1982)
79
William Herbert Dray
1921
2009
The Branches of Knowledge
Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and of History, University of Ottawa
80
Norwood Hanson
1924
1967
The Branches of Knowledge
Professor of Philosophy, Yale University (1963–1967)
81
J. H. Hexter
1910
1996
The Branches of Knowledge
Charles L. Stillé Professor of History, Yale University, (1967–1978); Distinguished Historian in residence, Washington University in St. Louis (1978–1986)
82
Ernan V. McMullin
1924
2011
The Branches of Knowledge
Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame
83
Karl Menger
1902
1985
The Branches of Knowledge
Professor of Mathematics, Illinois Institute of Technology (1946–1971)
84
Arthur Norman Prior
1914
1969
The Branches of Knowledge
Fellow, Balliol College, University of Oxford ; Professor of Philosophy, Manchester University (1959–1966)
85
Nicholas Rescher
1928
2024
The Branches of Knowledge
University Professor of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh ; editor, American Philosophical Quarterly
86
Seymour Schuster
1926
2020
The Branches of Knowledge
Professor of Mathematics, Carleton College
87
Section 4.2.1 uses transparencies of organ systems originally commissioned by Parke-Davis . Similar in design to the three-dimensional Visible Man and Visible Woman dolls designed by sculptor Marcel Jovine , successive plastic sheets reveal different layers of human anatomy .
See also
References
Information related to Propædia