Propædia
The Propædia is the first of three parts of the Encyclopædia Britannica, the other two being the 12-volume Micropædia and the 17-volume Macropædia. The Propædia is supposed to be a book that organizes the things in the Britannica, and a guideline to the index of the other two parts. It was introduced in 1974 with the 15th edition of the encyclopaedia to replace the index, but when many people complained, Britannica put the index back in two books in 1985. The core of the Propædia is its Outline of Knowledge, which is supposed to give people a classification of what we know, but the Propædia also has some parts listing the staff members, advisors and contributors to all three parts of the Britannica.
The Propædia can be used by a student who wants to know what there is to know, before even finding out about it. Once the student finds out what he needs to know, he will then find out about the thing itself.
The Outline has ten Parts, each with an essay to introduce the part. Below is the table of the ten parts.
Part | Title | Major subjects | # of Divisions | # of Sections | Total # | Lead author |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part One | Matter and Energy | Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy | 3 | 2,8,3 | 13 | Nigel Calder |
Part Two | The Earth | Geology, Geography, Oceanography | 4 | 4, 3, 2, 3 | 12 | Peter John Wyllie |
Part Three | Life on Earth | Taxonomy, Molecular and cell biology, Physiology, Neuroscience, Ecology | 5 | 3, 3, 9, 2, 5 | 22 | René Dubos |
Part Four | Human Life | Human evolution, Medicine, Psychology | 3 | 2, 4, 6 | 12 | Loren Eiseley |
Part Five | Human Society | Sociology, Economics, Politics, Law, Education | 6 | 4, 4, 6, 4, 3, 2 | 23 | Harold D. Lasswell |
Part Six | Art | Classification; criticism; various arts | 2 | 3, 9 | 12 | Mark Van Doren |
Part Seven | Technology | History and elements of technology; various technologies | 3 | 2, 5, 8 | 15 | Lord Peter Ritchie Calder |
Part Eight | Religion | General observations; various religions | 2 | 2, 9 | 11 | Wilfred Cantwell Smith |
Part Nine | The History of mankind | History organized by continent and epoch | 7 | 2, 4, 7, 5, 2, 11, 8 | 39 | Jacques Barzun |
Part Ten | The Branches of Knowledge | Logic, Mathematics, Science, Humanities, Philosophy, Library science | 6 | 2, 3, 7, 2, 3, 1 | 18 | Mortimer J. Adler |
Contributors to Propædia
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 | 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 | 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 | Matter and Energy | Professor of Physics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (1975-1986) | 6 | ||
Vincent E. Parker | 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 | The Earth | Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (1968-1978) | 9 | ||
Peter John Wyllie | The Earth | Professor of Geology and Chairman, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology | 10 | ||
N. J. Berrill | Life on Earth | Strathcone Professor of Zoology, McGill University (1946-1965) | 11 | ||
V. G. Dethier | 1993 | Life on Earth | Gilbert L. Woodside Professor of Zoology, University of Massachusetts at Amherst (1975-1993) | 12 | |
Louis S. Goodman | 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 | Life on Earth | Emeritus Professor of Biology, University of California, Riverside | 16 | ||
Theodore T. Puck | 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 | 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 | Life on Earth | Professor of Biology, Brown University | 19 | ||
Ralph H. Wetmore | 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 | Human Life | Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley | 24 | ||
Gregory A. Kimble | Human Life | Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Duke University | 25 | ||
Erich Klinghammer | 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 | 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 | Human Society | Professor of Economics, New York University; Emeritus Professor of Economics, Princeton University | 30 | |
Daniel Bell | 1919 | 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 | 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 | 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 | Human Society | Emeritus Professor of Finance and Economics, University of Pennsylvania | 41 | ||
Rudolf Arnheim | 1904 | Art | Emeritus professor of Psychology of Art, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University | 42 | |
Robert Jesse Charleston | 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 | 1981 | Art | Novelist and writer on architecture and industrial design | 46 | |
Richard Griffith | 1969 | Art | Curator, Museum of Modern Art Film Library (1951-1965); Lecturer on Motion Pictures, Wesleyan University (1967-1969) | 47 | |
Richard Hoggart | 1918 | Art | Professor of English, University of Birmingham (1962-1973); Warden, Goldsmiths' College, University of London (1976-1984) | 48 | |
Edward Lockspeiser | 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 | Art | Benjamin Franklin Professor of Music and Humanities, University of Pennsylvania | 51 | |
Michael Morrow | 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 | 1989 | Art | Program Director, London (1959-1963) and New York (1963-1987) Film Festivals; Movie 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 | 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 | 1978 | Art | Professor of Fine Arts, Columbia University (1951-1970) | 59 | |
Pierre Verlet | 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 | Art | Emeritus Professor of Drama, University of Bristol; Dean, Faculty of Arts (1970-1972) | 62 | ||
Raymond (Henry) Williams | 1988 | Art | Professor of Drama, University of Cambridge (1974-1983); Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge (1961-1988) | 63 | |
Paul S. Wingert | 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 | 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 | Religion | Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame; Provost (1970-1977) | 72 | ||
J. V. Langmead Casserley | 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 | Religion | Sterling Professor of History, Yale University; President, American Academy of Arts and Sciences | 75 | ||
Jakob Josef Petuchowski | 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 | The History of Mankind | University Professor Emeritus, Columbia University; Dean of Faculties and Provost (1958-1967) | 77 | |
Otto Allen Bird | 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 College (1966-1982) | 79 |
William H. Dray | The Branches of Knowledge | Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and of History, University of Ottawa | 80 | ||
Norwood Hanson | 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 (1978-1986) | 82 |
Ernan V. McMullin | 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 | 1969 | The Branches of Knowledge | Fellow, Balliol College, University of Oxford; Professor of Philosophy, Manchester University (1959-1966) | 85 | |
Nicholas Rescher | 1928 | The Branches of Knowledge | University Professor of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh; editor, American Philosophical Quarterly | 86 | |
Seymour Schuster | The Branches of Knowledge | Professor of Mathematics, Carleton College | 87 |
Related pages
References
- ↑ The dates of death in Table 2 were taken from the 2007 version of the Propædia, except recent (post-1999) deaths which were not noted.