[EAS] Diderot & d'Alembert Encycl

[pjk]

Subject:   Diderot & d'Alembert Encyclopedia

"Does anyone pay any attention to what science says?" asks
Bob Park in the current issue of his "What's New" newsletter
<http://www.aps.org/WN/WN05/wn022505.cfm>.

With US public policy and education in a steady march away from
science and reason, one's mind drifts to the 18th century
Enlightenment period. See my notes at the end of
<http://jove.eng.yale.edu/pipermail/eas-info/2004/000707.html>

And in his last book, "Building a Bridge to the Eighteenth Century:
How the Past Can Improve Our Future," the late Neil Postman revisits
the source of the values that formed our nation and its traditions
of sane authority and meaningful purpose. 

Do a little time travel. The famous Encyclopedia of Diderot and
d'Alembert was the Enlightement's quest to summarize all knowledge.
It is now becoming available in a translated online version in
English.  --PJK

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(from The Scout Report, Feb. 25, 2005)
<http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/2005/scout-050225.php>

The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert

http://www.hti.umich.edu/d/did/ 

Widely considered to be one of the crowning achievements of the
Enlightenment, the Encyclopedia edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le
Rond d'Alembert in the 18th century has proved to be fertile ground
for those who have sought to classify and chronicle the various
branches of knowledge. This highly ambitious project was published
during the period 1751 to 1777, and included 32 volumes amply
illustrated with engraved plates. Close to 150 years later, a group
of talented individuals sought to create an online version of the
Encyclopedia translated into English, with links to the original
French versions. The project is based at the University of Michigan
Library, although contributors to the project are scattered across
the world. Visitors to the site can search the currently available
articles or browse by title, French title, or subject. Finally,
visitors will want to take a look at the famous "Map of the System
of Human Knowledge" that is immediately identified with this most
celebrated human endeavor.