The Discoverers, Daniel J. Boorstin (ISBN 978-039472625-0, Vintage)

This book by Daniel Boorstin was first published in 1983. I read the Dutch translation around 1995 at which time it made quite an impression on me. In my mind it was still among the best books I have read. End of last year I decided to read it again but in the original English version this time. Reading it a second time it was not such a revelation anymore compared to the first time. And luckily for me I read much in the past 30 years to enlarge my ‘knowledge’ of history. But it was still a good refresher and summary of man’s search for knowledge. Reading it you feel like being a part of a great adventure and taking part in the discovery of knowledge. Even though it is well written and reads fast it takes a bit of time to get through as it spans around 800 pages of small print. The book covers a lot of topics and contains many stories, facts and details. It is not a book to read diagonally to get the gist. Reading it that way you will miss out on the joy of discovery while reading. You need to invest time in reading it and slow down the pace. If you do you become at least figuratively a little bit like its subject a discoverer. The book is part of a trilogy and I am planning to read the other 2 books as well now. I started reading this book during a vacation and this was a good decision as it allowed to spend enough time reading it and make some progress. Very worth while the time investment and great fun.