Title: Surprising, challenging, original
Product review: This book is completely unlike standard intellectual histories or biographies. You don't just see the development of one person or even of the four main subjects (Holmes, James, Peirce, and Dewey); instead, you really get a feel for a whole messy terrain of intellectual life, in which hundreds of people are running in and out, influencing each other. It's challenging (actually, impossible) to remember everyone whose ideas are mentioned, but it's not really necessary. The point is to follow the ideas, as they combine and react over time.The book is also extremely surprising to read because many of the ideas are completely unexpected, from a modern perspective. Many individuals seem to fuse together 1) ideas we might agree with today, 2) ideas we are aware of and utterly reject, and 3) ideas that just seem outrageously unexpected, completely "outside-the-box" (such as the contention that the gravity was produced by evolution).All in all, it's an amazing read.
Would you say this review depicts the product in a flattering or unflattering light?
