David S. Kidder - The Intellectual Devotional: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Roam Confidently with the Cultured Class

THE

INTELLECTUAL

DEVOTIONAL

Revive Your Mind,
Complete Your Education,
and
Roam Confidently
with the Cultured Class

DAVID S. KIDDER & NOAH D. OPPENHEIM

Credit for The Second Coming by W.B. Yeats on is reprinted with the permission of Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group, from The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats: Volume I: The Poems, revised, edited by Richard J. Finneran. Copyright 1924 by The Macmillan company; copyright renewed 1952 by Bertha Georgie Yeats.

Howl by Allen Ginsburg on is reprinted from Howl, 1956 City Lights Publishers.

I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes on is reprinted from The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, 1995 Vintage, Random House/Bertelsmann.

An excerpt from Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov on is reprinted from Lolita, 2005 Vintage, Random House/Bertelsmann.

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost on is reprinted from Selected Poems, 1992 Gramercy, Random House/Bertelsmann

Notice

2006 by TID Volumes, LLC

Illustration credits, see

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Book design by Anthony Serge, principal designer; initial interior creative, Nelson Kunkel, The Ingredient

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kidder, David S.

The intellectual devotional : revive your mind, complete your education, and roam confidently with the cultured class / David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim.

p. cm.

ISBN-13 9781594865138 hardcover

ISBN-10 1594865132 hardcover

eISBN-13 9781609616892 ebook

1. CivilizationMiscellanea. 2. Intellectual lifeMiscellanea. 3. Learning and scholarshipMiscellanea. 4. Devotional calendars.

I. Oppenheim, Noah D. II. Title.

CB151.K535 2006

909dc22

2006023840

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For Jos and JackDavid

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This book was a collaboration. Our thanks extend to Rodales Leigh Haber, who nurtured this project to completion. Joy Tutela of the David Black Agency was a passionate advocate and friend. Andy Carpenter and Tony Serge realized our vision. Nelson Kunkel and Vernon Steward offered critical contributions at the beginning.

Each entry was researched and composed by a writer with expertise in the relevant field of knowledge. All the entries were then reviewed for accuracy by scholars with advanced degrees.

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

HistoryAlan Wirzbicki

LiteratureMatt Blanchard

Visual ArtsEric von Dorster

ScienceJennifer Drapkin

MusicRobbie Whelan

PhilosophyFrederick Stazz

ReligionAndrew Silver

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

HistoryJames Downs, PhD

LiteratureGeorgette Fleischer, PhD

Visual ArtsIrina Oryshkevich, PhD

ScienceDavid Boyajian, MD

MusicMelissa Cox, PhD

PhilosophyThomas Kelly, PhD

**For a list of the research sources our writers employed, please visit

www.theintellectualdevotional.com**

Daily Devotionals have long been a favored tool of those looking for a regular dose of spiritual growth. Bedside volumes, read upon waking in the morning or before retiring at night, Devotionals consist of 365 exercises in learning and reflection. One easily digestible entry is tackled each day.

The Intellectual Devotional is a secular compendium in the same tradition. It is one years worth of daily readings that will refresh your spirit, stimulate your mind, and help complete your education. Each entry is drawn from a different field of knowledge: History, Literature, Visual Arts, Science, Music, Philosophy, and Religion. Read one passage a day and you will explore each subject once a week.

These readings offer the kind of regular exercise the brain requires to stay fresh, especially as we age. They represent an escape from the day-to-day grind into the rarefied realm of human wisdom. And, they will open new horizons of intellectual discovery.

A brief summary of the journey ahead

MONDAYHISTORY

A survey of people and events that shaped the development of Western civilization.

TUESDAYLITERATURE

A look at great writers and a synopsis of their most important workspoems and novels that continue to inspire readers today.

WEDNESDAYVISUAL ARTS

An introduction to the artists and artistic movements that yielded the worlds most influential paintings, sculptures, and works of architecture.

THURSDAYSCIENCE

From the origin of black holes to a description of how batteries work, the wonders of science are simplified and revealed.

FRIDAYMUSIC

What inspired our greatest composers, how to read a sheet of notes, and why Mozart is so revereda comprehensive review of our musical heritage.

SATURDAYPHILOSOPHY

From ancient Greece to the twentieth century, the efforts of humankinds greatest thinkers to explain the meaning of life and the universe.

SUNDAYRELIGION

An overview of the worlds major religions and their beliefs.

We hope your progress through this collection of knowledge inspires your curiosity and opens new areas of exploration in your life.

David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim

About 2000 BC, the Egyptian pharaohs realized they had a problem. With each military victory over their neighbors, they captured and enslaved more prisoners of war. But the Egyptians could not pass down written orders to these slaves as they could not read hieroglyphics.