A Social History of Knowledge II: From the Encyclopédie to Wikipedia

Peter Burke's A Social History of Knowledge II examines the gathering, analyzing, and dissemination of information from the mid-18th century through the early 21st century. The book continues the exploration Burke began in Volume I, focusing on institutions, technologies, and practices that shaped knowledge during this period. Burke traces major shifts in how societies have classified, verified, and distributed knowledge across academic disciplines, governments, and public spheres. The analysis spans the development of research universities, scientific institutes, intelligence agencies, think tanks, and digital information networks. The text devotes attention to both formal knowledge structures like libraries and universities as well as informal networks and communities that influenced what societies considered worth knowing. Burke examines how different cultures and time periods approached the organization and sharing of information. The work presents knowledge systems as dynamic entities shaped by social forces, power structures, and technological change rather than neutral repositories of facts. Through this lens, the book raises questions about authority, access, and the evolution of human understanding across generations.

Readers describe this academic text as dense but worthwhile, with detailed coverage of knowledge organization and transmission from 1750-2000. Liked: - Comprehensive examination of knowledge institutions like universities and think tanks - Clear explanation of how different formats (journals, lectures) shaped information sharing - Strong analysis of technological impacts on knowledge distribution - Effective use of concrete examples and cases Disliked: - Writing can be dry and academic - Some sections feel rushed or superficial - Focus primarily on Western/European perspective - Wikipedia coverage is brief despite being in the title Ratings: Goodreads: 3.9/5 (28 ratings) Amazon: 4.3/5 (6 ratings) Notable reader comments: "Manages to balance breadth and depth well" - Goodreads reviewer "Too Eurocentric in scope" - Academic review "Valuable resource but requires committed reading" - Amazon reviewer The book is out of print and has limited reviews online.

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The Power of Knowledge: How Information and Technology Made the Modern World by Jeremy Black This study explores the connection between information management and world power from the Renaissance to the present, focusing on how societies collect, analyze, and control information.

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🔖 Peter Burke spent over 50 years teaching at Cambridge University and is considered one of the world's leading cultural historians. 📚 The book examines how information has been collected, analyzed, and disseminated from the mid-18th century through the early 21st century. 💡 Burke's analysis shows how the rise of government bureaucracies and universities fundamentally changed knowledge organization, marking a shift from individual scholars to institutional knowledge management. 📰 The work explores how the invention of new media—from newspapers to digital databases—transformed not just how we share knowledge, but how we think about and categorize it. 🌐 The book traces Wikipedia's heritage back to the French Encyclopédie, showing how collaborative knowledge-sharing projects have existed for centuries, though their scale and speed have dramatically increased.