Reading the World: Ideas That Matter

A wide selection of classic Western and non-Western texts allows students to explore the development of ideas at different times and in different cultures.

From Lao Tzu to Aristotle, Charles Darwin to Jomo Kenyatta, Reading the World is a collection of 79 texts by some of the world's great thinkers. And because ideas have long been expressed visually as well as verbally, the collection includes 15 drawings, paintings, photographs, and other visual works. Organized around universal themes, and featuring a wide selection of both Western and non-Western texts, Reading the World presents a diversity of views on ideas that matter.