Knowing What We Know by Simon Winchester

KNOWING WHAT WE KNOW offers perspective on knowledge and its acquisition from a well-known, best-selling author, Simon Winchester (The Professor and the Madman). Winchester begins with a discussion of what is knowledge (“justified true belief”) and looks at how it has been created, organized, stored, and disseminated over time. In his exploration, he ranges from ancient times (referencing Plato, Socrates, and others) to “Modern Magic” and asks some rather profound questions for today: “If all knowledge, if the sum of all thought, is to be made available at the touch on a plate of glass, then what does that portend?” or “If machines will acquire all our knowledge for us and do our thinking for us, then what, pray, is the need for us to be?” Throughout the text numerous anecdotes are shared and an entire chapter is devoted to teaching children while other sections deal with topics such as libraries, culture, the printed word, journalism, and engineering. In addition, there is a several page Bibliography, listing books which Winchester consulted and/or recommends for further reading. The tone throughout is somewhat dry and scholarly, although KNOWING WHAT WE KNOW received a starred review from Booklist. For those who are interested, here are links to reviews in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.