modern civilization

The Zapotecs make up the largest Indigenous group in southern Mexico. The current population of Zapotec people worldwide is estimated to be between 800,000 and 1,000,000. Learn more about the myths, traditions, and social activities of this Indigenous group.

A history of the first decade of the twenty-first century, surveying political, social, and cultural trends and events, and including brief profiles of important people of the 2000s.

Discusses the people, movements, and events behind the theories and ideas that changed the modern world, covering topics in the biological sciences, mathematics and the physical sciences, the arts, the social sciences, philosophy, religion, and politics and the law.

"In 'What We Owe the Future,' Oxford philosopher William MacAskill . . . [argues] that people not only have equal moral worth no matter where or how they live, but also no matter when they live. This idea has implications beyond the obvious (climate change)--including literally making sure that there are people in the future: It's not unusual to hear someone way, 'Oh, I could never bring a child into this world.' MacAskill argues that the sentiment itself may well be immoral: we have a responsibility not just to consider whether the world of the future will be suitable for supporting humans, but to act to make sure there are humans in it. And while it may seem that the destructive capacity of modern industrial technology means that we ought to eschew it as much as possible, MacAskill argues for optimism in our ability to (eventually) get technology right, for the future's benefit, and ours"--Provided by publisher.

Examines the impact World War I had on the psychology of those who fought it and lived through it and the role it played in the development of modernism, chronicling history between the 1913 premiere of Stravinsky's ballet "The Rite of Spring" and the death of Hitler in 1945.

"We celebrate the Ancient Romans for contributions they made to modern engineering and architecture, but their impact is felt in even the smallest details of everyday life. Discover how inventions like socks, fast food restaurants, and movie theaters got their start in Ancient Rome and evolved into things we enjoy"--Provided by publisher.

"Every four years, the world celebrates one of the . . . contributions of the Ancient Greeks: the Olympic Games. That, of course, is not all this . . . civilization left behind. From theater to democracy, discover how the Greeks' ancient inventions and philosophies evolved into objects and ideas we know and treasure today"--Provided by publisher.

Retraces the story of when Poggio Bracciolini found Lucretius' poem "On the Nature of Things," during the Renaissance and how the recirculation of this poem changed history.

A collection of eighty essays which span the career of author Jacques Barzun.

Presents a personality quiz that will tell you which decade you belong in.