464 pages
English language
Published May 15, 2018 by Harper Perennial.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (Hebrew: קיצור תולדות האנושות, [Ḳitsur toldot ha-enoshut]) is a book by Yuval Noah Harari, first published in Hebrew in Israel in 2011 based on a series of lectures Harari taught at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in English in 2014. The book surveys the history of humankind from the evolution of archaic human species in the Stone Age up to the twenty-first century, focusing on Homo sapiens. The account is situated within a framework that intersects the natural sciences with the social sciences. The book has gathered mixed reviews. While it was positively received by the general public, scholars with relevant subject matter expertise have been very critical of its scientific claims.
An interesting and thought-provoking work on the history and possible future of humanity. The scholarship is broad, which makes me (perhaps unfairly) skeptical of its depth. Sapiens covers a number of complex topics in an accessible way, so I assume some tiny percentage of what I learned from this book is misinformation.
This books tries to talk about everything but ends up talking about nothing.
It takes the sweetest bits, the sensational bits, from the most popular disciplines, smash them together to make a very provocative and fascinating book. Going through chapter after chapter felt like brainlessly scrolling through TikTok style videos, the obnoxious particular kind that start with the phrase "Did you knogw that...".
I think that Harari wanted to be impersonal while expounding his favourite scientific facts, nonetheless I found him to be tendentious and biased, even if only in a small number of occasions, particularly when adding to the fact.
Nice historical factoids, then a head-scratching over-simplification, followed by an assumption, etc. Sometimes felt like reading a puffed-up Wikipedia article.
Bon llibre que fa un repàs, evidentment succint, a la història de la humanitat des de l'inici fins, més o menys, ara, des d'un punt de vista molt crític al capitalisme, al liberalisme i a la forma de gestionar-ho tot que tenim els humans en general. Una molt bona, a estones densa, lectura.
Eine absolute Empfehlung für jeden, der sich einigermaßen für die Geschichte und Evolution der Menschheit interessiert. Das Buch liest sich wie ein Krimi und gibt ganz neue Einblicke in diesem spannenden Gebiet.
Bücher über wissenschaftliche Themen können ja verdammt zäh sein. Man fühlt sich manchmal eher wie in einer drögen Vorlesen und nur sehr bedingt unterhalten. Bei Harari ist das völlig anders.
Die Geschichte der Menschheit "kurz" (der Wälzer ist immer noch dick genug) und so lesbar zu beschreiben, dabei aber immer wissenschaftlich fundiert und nachvollziehbar, das ist schon eine Meisterleistung. Man versteht auch sofort, woher einige Entwicklungen der Menschheit kommen, ohne sich dabei belehrt zu fühlen.
Eine absolute Empfehlung. Vielleicht nichts für die ganz jungen und (die meisten) Teens, aber Jugendlich und alle Erwachsenen sollten das Buch ganz dringend lesen.
I can see why everyone from Bill Gates to Barack Obama was raving about it. It's an extremely compelling, accessible history - almost like a novelization - of humankind.
Loved the author's perspective, the way he built history with a refreshing detachment, as if seen from an alien. Some chapters were particularly fertile in making me think, such as the social constructs that drive us, the way we have instrumented dairy animals... Politics weren't deeply discussed but I guess that's fair, all things considered. I must point out I am not a regular history books reader either. It's more of a 4.5 rating.
চমৎকার বই। কিছু জিনিস একটু ডিস্টার্বিং হতে পারে তাদের জন্য যারা মর্ডান-পোস্টমডার্ন বা মেডিভ্যাল কিছু ইল্যুশনের ওপর নির্ভরশীল তাদের জীবনযাপনের জন্য।
