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Propædia

One of three parts of the 15th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Propædia
"Outline of Knowledge" redirects here. For an outline about knowledge, see Outline of knowledge.

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.

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Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition

The last edition of the print Britannica was published in 2010.[1][2]

Outline of Knowledge

Summarize
Perspective

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.

— Mortimer J. Adler, in A Guidebook, pp. 91–2

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".

3. Life

The lead author was René Dubos, who wrote the introduction "The Mysteries of Life".

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".

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".

Contributors to the Outline of Knowledge

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More information Name, Date of birth ...
Table 2: Contributors to the Outline of Knowledge in the Propædia[4]
NameDate of birthDate of deathPart of OutlineDescriptionIndex
Mortimer J. Adler 19022001All PartsEditor1
Charles Van Doren 19262019All PartsAssociate editor; Editorial Vice President of Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. (1973–1982)2
William J. Gorman 1982All PartsAssociate editor; Senior Fellow of the Institute for Philosophical Research3
A. G. W. Cameron 19252005Matter and EnergyProfessor of Astronomy, Harvard University4
Farrington Daniels 18891972Matter and EnergyProfessor of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison5
Morton Hamermesh 19152003Matter and EnergyProfessor of Physics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (1975–1986)6
Vincent E. Parker 19141997Matter and EnergyEmeritus Professor of Physics, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; Dean, School of Science (1967–1977)7
Richard J. Chorley 19272002The EarthProfessor of Geography, University of Cambridge; Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge8
William Stelling von Arx 19161999The EarthSenior Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (1968–1978)9
Peter John Wyllie 1930The EarthProfessor of Geology and Chairman, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology10
N. J. Berrill 19031996Life on EarthStrathcone Professor of Zoology, McGill University (1946–1965)11
Vincent Dethier 19151993Life on EarthGilbert L. Woodside Professor of Zoology, University of Massachusetts Amherst (1975–1993)12
Louis S. Goodman 19062000Life on EarthDistinguished Professor of Pharmacology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City13
Garrett Hardin 19152003Life on EarthEmeritus Professor of Human Ecology, University of California, Santa Barbara14
Ernst Walter Mayr 19042005Life on EarthAlexander Agassiz Professor Emeritus of Zoology, Harvard University15
John Alexander Moore 19152002Life on EarthEmeritus Professor of Biology, University of California, Riverside16
Theodore T. Puck 19162005Life on EarthProfessor of Biology, Biophysics and Genetics; Distinguished Professor of Medicine, University of Colorado, Health Sciences Center; Director, Eleanor Roosevelt Institute for Cancer Research17
Birgit Vennesland 19132001Life on EarthHead, Vennesland Research Laboratory, Max Planck Society (1970–1981); Director, Max Planck Institute for Cell Physiology, Berlin (1968–1970)18
Paul B. Weisz 19192012Life on EarthProfessor of Biology, Brown University19
Ralph H. Wetmore 18921989Life on EarthEmeritus Professor of Botany, Harvard University20
Emil H. White Life on EarthD. Mead Johnson Professor of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University21
Wilfrid Edward Le Gros Clark 18951971Human LifeProfessor of Anatomy, University of Oxford22
Russell S. Fisher 1985Human LifeChief Medical Examiner, State of Maryland; Professor of Forensic Pathology, University of Maryland Medical School, Baltimore23
F. Clark Howell 19252007Human LifeProfessor of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley24
Gregory A. Kimble 19172006Human LifeEmeritus Professor of Psychology, Duke University25
Erich Klinghammer 19302011Human LifeAssociate Professor of Psychology, Purdue University26
Warren Sturgis McCulloch 18991969Human LifeStaff member, Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT (1952–1969)27
William J. McGuire 19252012Human LifeProfessor of Psychology, Yale University28
Peter Medawar 19151987Human LifeNobel 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 19222017Human SocietyProfessor of Economics, New York University; Emeritus Professor of Economics, Princeton University30
Daniel Bell 19192011Human SocietyHenry Ford II Professor Emeritus of Social Science, Harvard University31
Guiliano H. Bonfante Human SocietyFormer Professor of Linguistics, University of Turin32
Kenneth E. Boulding 19101993Human SocietyDistinguished Professor of Economics, University of Colorado, Boulder33
Lewis A. Coser 19132003Human SocietyDistinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology, SUNY, Stony Brook34
Sigmund Diamond 19201999Human SocietyGiddings Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Columbia University35
Carl J. Friedrich 19011984Human SocietyEaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University (1955–1971)36
Paul Mundy Human SocietyProfessor of Sociology and Chairman, Department of Criminal Justice, Loyola University Chicago37
Kenyon E. Poole 19091988Human SocietyProfessor of Economics, Northwestern University38
C. Herman Pritchett Human SocietyEmeritus Professor of Political Science, University of California, Santa Barbara and University of Chicago39
Sol Tax 19071995Human SocietyProfessor of Anthropology, University of Chicago (1948–1976); Director, Center for the Study of Man, Smithsonian Institution40
Charles Raymond Whittlesey 19001979Human SocietyEmeritus Professor of Finance and Economics, University of Pennsylvania41
Rudolf Arnheim 19042007ArtEmeritus professor of Psychology of Art, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University42
Robert Jesse Charleston 19161994ArtKeeper, Department of Ceramics, Victoria and Albert Museum (1963–1976)43
Clifton Fadiman 19041999ArtMember, Board of Editors, Encyclopædia Britannica44
Francis Fergusson 19041986ArtProfessor of Comparative Literature, Rutgers University (1953–1969); Professor of Comparative Literature, Princeton University (1973–1981)45
John Gloag 18961981ArtNovelist and writer on architecture and industrial design46
Richard Griffith 19121969ArtCurator, Museum of Modern Art Film Library (1951–1965); Lecturer on Motion Pictures, Wesleyan University (1967–1969)47
Richard Hoggart 19182014ArtProfessor of English, University of Birmingham (1962–1973); Warden, Goldsmiths' College, University of London (1976–1984)48
Edward Lockspeiser 19051973ArtOfficier d'Académie, Paris; Writer and broadcaster on music.49
Roy McMullen 1984ArtAuthor, critic, and art historian50
Leonard B. Meyer 19182007ArtBenjamin Franklin Professor of Music and Humanities, University of Pennsylvania51
Michael Morrow 19291994ArtMusic editor, Encyclopædia Britannica; Director, Musica Reservata, London52
Beaumont Newhall 19081993ArtDirector, Eastman Kodak House (1958–1971); Visiting Professor of Art, University of New Mexico (1971–1984)53
Herbert Read 18931968ArtWatson 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 19291989ArtProgram Director, London (1959–1963) and New York (1963–1987) Film Festivals; Film critic, The Guardian (1963–1969)55
George Savage 1982ArtArt consultant; author of Porcelain Through the Ages, Pottery Through the Ages, and other works56
Wolfgang Stechow 18961974ArtProfessor of Fine Arts, Oberlin College (1940–1963)57
Joshua C. Taylor 1981ArtWilliam Rainey Harper Professor of Humanities and Professor of Art, University of Chicago (1963–1974); Director, National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution58
Everard M. Upjohn 19031978ArtProfessor of Fine Arts, Columbia University (1951–1970)59
Pierre Verlet 19081987ArtChief 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 19031995ArtSterling Professor of Comparative Literature, Yale University (1952–1972)61
Glynne William Gladstone Wickham 19222004ArtEmeritus Professor of Drama, University of Bristol; Dean, Faculty of Arts (1970–1972)62
Raymond (Henry) Williams 19211988ArtProfessor of Drama, University of Cambridge (1974–1983); Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge (1961–1988)63
Paul S. Wingert 19001974ArtProfessor of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University64
Bruno Zevi 19182000ArtProfessor of Architectural History, University of Rome (1963–1979)65
Konstantinos Apostolos Doxiadis 19141975TechnologyChairman, Doxiadis Associates International; Chairman, Board of Directors, Doxiadis Associates, Inc.; Washington D.C. Chairman, Board of Directors, Athens Technological Organization; President, Athens Center of Ekistics66
Eugene S. Ferguson 19162004TechnologyEmeritus Professor of History, University of Delaware; Curator of Technology, Hagley Museum, Greenville Delaware67
Melvin Kranzberg 19171995TechnologyCallaway Professor of the History of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology (1972–1988)68
Harvey G. Mehlhouse TechnologyVice President, Western Electric Company, New York City (1965–1969); President (1969–1971); Chairman of the Board (1971–1972)69
Robert Smith Woodbury 1983TechnologyProfessor of the History of Technology, MIT70
Arthur Llewellyn Basham 19141986ReligionProfessor of Asian Civilizations, Australian National University71
James T. Burtchaell 19342015ReligionProfessor of Theology, University of Notre Dame; Provost (1970–1977)72
J. V. Langmead Casserley 19091978ReligionProfessor of Apologetics, Seabury-Western Theological Seminary73
Ichiro Hori 1974ReligionProfessor of the History of Religions, Seijo University and Kokugakuin University74
Jaroslav Jan Pelikan 19232006ReligionSterling Professor of History, Yale University; President, American Academy of Arts and Sciences75
Jakob Josef Petuchowski 19251991ReligionSol and Arlene Bronstein Professor of Judeo-Christian Studies, Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati (1981–1991)76
Jacques Barzun 19072012The History of MankindUniversity Professor Emeritus, Columbia University; Dean of Faculties and Provost (1958–1967)77
Otto Allen Bird 19142009The Branches of KnowledgeEmeritus Professor of Arts and Letters, University of Notre Dame78
Wing-Tsit Chan 19011994The Branches of KnowledgeProfessor of Chinese Philosophy and Culture, Dartmouth College (1942–1966); Anna R. D. Gillespie Professor of Philosophy, Chatham University (1966–1982)79
William Herbert Dray 19212009The Branches of KnowledgeEmeritus Professor of Philosophy and of History, University of Ottawa80
Norwood Hanson 19241967The Branches of KnowledgeProfessor of Philosophy, Yale University (1963–1967)81
J. H. Hexter 19101996The Branches of KnowledgeCharles L. Stillé Professor of History, Yale University, (1967–1978); Distinguished Historian in residence, Washington University in St. Louis (1978–1986)82
Ernan V. McMullin 19242011The Branches of KnowledgeProfessor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame83
Karl Menger 19021985The Branches of KnowledgeProfessor of Mathematics, Illinois Institute of Technology (1946–1971)84
Arthur Norman Prior 19141969The Branches of KnowledgeFellow, Balliol College, University of Oxford; Professor of Philosophy, Manchester University (1959–1966)85
Nicholas Rescher 19282024The Branches of KnowledgeUniversity Professor of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh; editor, American Philosophical Quarterly86
Seymour Schuster 19262020The Branches of KnowledgeProfessor of Mathematics, Carleton College87
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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.

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References

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