Preface
It is 2050, and you are watching Who Wants to be a Billionaire? The contestant is one question away from the jackpot. Up comes his
question: “What is the name of the theory that scientists started developing at the beginning of the twenty-first century, and
which helped the world overcome traffic congestion, financial market crashes, terrorist attacks, pandemic viruses, and cancer?” The contestant cannot believe his luck. What an easy question! But he is so nervous that his mind temporarily goes blank. He starts to consider option A: “They are all still unsolved problems” – but then quickly realizes that this is a dumb answer. Instead, he uses his last lifeline to ask the audience. The audience responds unanimously and instantaneously with option B: “The Theory of Complexity”. Without hesitation, he goes with option B. The host hands him the cheque, and the world has yet another billionaire.
Pure fantasy? Maybe not.
In this book, we will go on a journey to the heart of Complexity, an emerging science which looks set to trigger the next great wave of advances in everything from medicine and biology through to economics and sociology. Complexity Science also comes with the
prospect of solving a wide range of important problems which face us as individuals and as a Society. Consequently, it is set to permeate through every aspect of our lives.
There is, however, one problem. We don’t yet have a fullyfledged “theory” of Complexity. Instead, I will use this book to assemble all the likely ingredients of such a theory within a common framework, and then analyze a wide range of real-world applications within this same common framework. It will then require someone from the future – perhaps one of the younger readers of this book – to finally put all these pieces into place.
Complexity Science is a double-edged sword in the best possible sense. It is truly “big science” in that it embodies some of the hardest, most fundamental and most challenging open problems in academia. Yet it also manages to encapsulate the major practical issues which face us every day from our personal lives and health, through to global security. Making a pizza is complicated, but not complex. The same holds for filling out your tax return, or mending a bicycle puncture. Just follow the instructions step by step, and you will eventually be able to go from start to finish without too much trouble. But imagine trying to do all three at the same time. Worse still, suppose that the sequence of steps that you follow in one task actually depends on how things are progressing with the other two. Difficult? Well, you now have an indication of what Complexity is all about. With that in mind, now substitute those three interconnected tasks for a situation in which three interconnected people each try to follow their own instincts and strategies while reacting to the actions of the others. This then gives an idea of just how Complexity
might arise all around us in our daily lives.
While I was writing this book, I had the following “wish-list” in my head concerning its goals:
1. To provide a book which a wide cross-section of people would want to read and would enjoy reading – regardless of age,
background or level of scientific knowledge.
2. To introduce readers to the exciting range of real-world scenarios in which Complexity Science can prove its worth.
3. To provide the book on Complexity that “I never had but always needed”. In other words, to provide an easily readable yet thorough guide to this important scientific revolution.
4. To provide a book that my kids could read – or rather, a book that they would actually choose to read all by themselves. This is a very important goal, since Complexity will likely become the science of interest for future generations.
5. To provide a book which is just as readable on a plane or bus as in a library. As such, it should also make sense when read in short chunks.
6. To provide a book which provides professional scientists,economists, and policy-makers with a new perspective on
open problems in their field, and to help stimulate new Complexity-based interdisciplinary research projects.
However, as I finish the book and offer it up to potential readers,I realize that the above wish-list can essentially be reduced to just
one item: I would wish that you enjoy reading this book, and that it might provide you with fresh thoughts and insights for dealing
with the complex world in which we live, and which our children will inherit.
There are some practicalities concerning the book’s content and layout which I would like to explain. The language, examples and
analogies are kept simple since the focus of the book is to explain what Complexity Science is all about, and why it is so important for
us all. I therefore avoid delving into too much detail in the main text. Instead, the Appendix describes how to access the technical
research papers upon which the discussions in the book are based, and gives a list of Internet websites containing additional information about Complexity research around the world. Having said this, I won’t pull any punches in the sense that I tackle all the topics
which I believe to be relevant. Part 1 of the book takes us through the theoretical underpinnings of Complexity, while Part 2
delves into its real-world applications. Some of the territory is only just beginning to be explored, with very few answers available
for the questions being posed. From the perspective of other scientific revolutions throughout history this might seem to be par
for the course. However we are not talking about history here –instead, we are looking at work which is emerging at the forefront
of a new discipline. For this reason we will be highlighting where such research is heading, rather than where it has been.
But why should you believe what I write about Complexity? This is a crucially important question given that Complexity Science is still being developed and its potential applications explored. Unfortunately many accounts of Complexity in the popular press are second-hand, i.e. they are typically written by people who have done little, if any, research on Complexity themselves and are instead reporting on their interpretation of
other people’s work. Given the relatively immature nature of the field, I believe that such indirect interpretations are potentially
dangerous. For this reason, I will base the book’s content around my own research group’s experience in Complexity. This has
various advantages: (i) it reflects my own understanding of the Complexity field; (ii) it represents what I believe to be the most
relevant and important topics; (iii) it will hopefully give the reader a sense of what it is like to be at the “pit-face” in such a
challenging area of research; and (iv) it ensures that any reader can challenge me directly on any claims that I make, and can
demand an informed answer. To facilitate this process of public scrutiny, a complete list of the relevant scientific research reports
is presented in the latter part of the Appendix. I also encourage any readers who wish to email me with questions, to do so at
n.johnson@physics.ox.ac.uk

这三姐妹踏出约克郡教区那片文明飞地，进入无人保护的世界，她们被迫成为家庭教师，把自己所受的教育作为商品兜售。她们身上记录了文明与粗蛮的冲突、教养与劳作的冲突、自我表达与自我压抑的冲突，无处不彰显出社会存在的新形式。
这是当时我所写过的最有理论雄心的一本书，尽管它关注的是经典作家，但我觉得它在理论上是有突破的。
——特里·伊格尔顿
-------------------------
《权力的神话》是英国著名批评家伊格尔顿关于勃朗特姐妹的几部为人所熟知的作品——《简·爱》《呼啸山庄》《谢莉》《教师》《维莱特》《艾格妮丝·格雷》的解读。伊格尔顿从小说文本和勃朗特姐妹所生活的历史背景与家庭环境出发，试图回答这样一个问题：在勃朗特姐妹的小说和她们所处的社会之间，是一种怎样的关系？
勃朗特姐妹生活在18世纪与19世纪之交，也即从田园牧歌式的浪漫主义，向英国工业资本主义开始转型的时代。一方面，身为牧师的女儿，她们有机会接受体面的教育，却因为迫于生计不得不做家庭教师，寄人篱下；另一方面，当工业革命正在她们家的门口如火如荼地展开，大规模的劳工运动也就此复兴。这种时代的交替在她们身上留下明显的烙印，“对异见者既同情又恐惧，对当局既心存不满又满怀敬仰”，恰如其分地体现了她们作为中低阶层在转型时代所特有的一种摇摆立场。
站在新时代的端口，在迈向城市化的英国社会里，人们正在学习新的感受方式，压抑、顺从和形塑自我；人们也有新的主体模式，既热情不断又挫折不断，既孤立无依又聪明自立，此般分裂式的处境在她们的小说中有充分而自由地展现。
当然，勃朗特姐妹的个性迥异，这也造就了她们的小说内容的不同发展趋势。相比夏洛特·勃朗特的“适度妥协”，艾米丽·勃朗特的性格则更显“激烈决绝”，正如他们的主人公在《简·爱》和《呼啸山庄》中表现出来的一样。
本书于1975年在英国首次出版，当时这种把作品放到作家生活的历史背景中去看的眼光还是独到而先锋的。哪怕是经历过1968年巴黎文化运动的年轻人，对他们来说，《权力的神话》也还是一种不成熟的构想，犹如政治疾风中的一芥稻草。到了1988年再版时，这本书引起了众多人的重视，女性主义者已开始批评伊格尔顿的作品忽视了勃朗特姐妹的性别特征。2005年又出了30周年纪念版，伊格尔顿在序言中坦陈女性身份的特质确实应作为重要因素考虑在其中。

◆入选 豆瓣·2019年外国文学非小说类年度十佳
◆编辑推荐
有关汉语诗歌翻译的经典之作。
当今昔皆为汉语的一首诗，变成一首英语诗、一首西语诗、一首法语诗，其中又有着怎样的发生呢？
伟大的诗歌正是在不断的变形、不断的翻译之境中活着：诗作死于穷途末路。
◆名家推荐
温伯格如同一位古中国的琴师，在山间，寂寞地调音、眺望世间 。
——北岛
世界对中国古典诗歌的理解，本书是最经典的标本。艾略特.温伯格让我们眼界大开。不同语言、不同思维方式所构造出的文化差异令人深叹翻译之难。但有意义的翻译总会带给我们诸多启发。中国文学在世界上完成自己的方式超出我们的想象。
——西川
◆内容简介
温伯格逐一检点了王维的《鹿柴》这首五言绝句的十九种以及更多种译本。在这段文本的细读之旅中，一面在翻译的横向上挪移，一面在诗的纵向上深入，向我们展示翻译的艺术、存心的得失，展示诗的幽微迷人、难以把捉。当然，也展示了汉语以及英语、法语、德语、西语等每种语言的质地、特色，以及运用。
一部简短而深美的经典小册。
对所有喜欢汉语、英语，喜欢翻译、喜欢诗的人来说，将开启一段迷人的短旅，尤其对于那些爱诗的人，更将如此。而那些在古典诗歌与当代诗歌两地犹疑，甚至把彼此划为敌对阵营并投戈相向的人，也许，会在这次短旅中温和地走向彼此，走向更远。
◆媒体推荐
温伯格对文字的敏感以及清晰思考的天赋在本书处处可见……渊博而迷人……
——《纽约书评》
……有关翻译最好的一个微型读本……同样最有趣、最渴切。
——《巴黎评论》
任何一个对翻译感兴趣的人都不可错过的一次阅读。
——Complete Review

T.S.艾略特，1948年诺贝尔文学奖得主，一个比起成为诗人更想成为圣徒的人；却因为无法成圣，而成了伟大的诗人。
他总是言说那些"不被言说的"，在公众面具保卫之下的孤独里过着隐秘的生活。如果不是因为他是诗人，有探究并定义这种生活的需求，那么我们将永远无法了解他的生活。
他的诗从生活的酒滓里滤出一部结局早已注定的大戏，呈现的便是一部连贯的灵魂自传，诚恳，直接，比任何旁观者的考语都来得更洞明，更直指人心-——他的生活与作品就这样紧密相联，彼此创造。这部传记就基于这些由诗人亲自作出的表述，并与他实在的生活相印证。
林德尔·戈登考察了这位二十世纪最伟大的诗人的一生，那游走于他身上的圣徒与罪人之间的深壑。她将艾略特的生平与作品互参，以理解这位精神的求索者所经受的试炼：他的缺陷与怀疑能让一切过着不完美人生的我们找到共鸣。
"艾略特是20世纪英语文学文化中最重要的人物，这样伟大的地位，他在很短的时间、惨淡的境遇里，用为数不多的作品就已斩获。"——路易斯·梅南德Louis Menand《纽约客》
"戈登以明智的同情，穿梭于艾略特的人生与作品，带着对艾略特诗歌与戏剧无懈可击的谙熟和深刻理解，刻画出了一个精妙入微的艾略特形象。他犹如詹姆斯笔下的人物，在记忆与欲望、世俗幸福与更纯净的精神世界间徘徊撕扯。"——角谷美智子Michiko Kakutani《纽约时报》
"一部深邃、细腻、复杂的杰作。贯穿全书的是一个饱受折磨又毫不妥协的形象：他有着清教徒式的克己，在一个相对主义盛行的世俗化时代里平庸地度过一生的图景令他恐惧。他奋力前行，觉察着那'平庸的人无法感知的颤栗'。"——理查德·伯恩斯坦Richard Bernstein《纽约时报》

Amazon.co.uk Review
In the post-war period, the CIA funded not just the right-wing bits of European intellectual life but also the centre, in order to detach intellectuals from the Left, and this book tells us how. It is touching on the career of Michael Josselson, the principal intellectual bagman who in 1950 became the Congress' Administrative Secretary, and his eventual betrayal by various people like Stephen Spender who scapegoated him. Sanders demonstrates that, in the early days, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and the emergent CIA were less dominated by the far right than they later became, and that the idea of helping out progressive moderates--rather than being Machiavellian--actually appealed to the men at the top.
Many intellectuals were still drawn to Stalin's Russia. Saunders superbly traces the crisis of conscience that McCarthyism and its associated bookburning in US libraries caused, and the subsequent rise of more moderate ideals. Saunders does not discuss the way the cult of Kennedy grows out of the same soil as a lot of this stuff--he was an excuse to love America after all. This is an exhaustive account, which, despite neglecting some important side issues, is an essential book. --Roz Kaveney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Synopsis
During the Cold War, writers and artists were faced with a huge challenge. In the Soviet world, they were expected to turn out works that glorified militancy, struggle and relentless optimism. In the West, freedom of expression was vaunted as liberal democracy's most cherished possession. But such freedom could carry a cost. This book documents the extraordinary energy of a secret campaign in which some of the most vocal exponents of intellectual freedom in the West were instruments - whether they knew it or not, whether they liked it or not - of America's secret service.

Now available in paperback, this successful radical approach to complex analysis replaces the standard calculational arguments with new geometric ones. With several hundred diagrams, and far fewer prerequisites than usual, this is the first visual intuitive introduction to complex analysis. Although designed for use by undergraduates in mathematics and science, the novelty of the approach will also interest professional mathematicians.

Bayesian nets are widely used in artificial intelligence as a calculus for causal reasoning, enabling machines to make predictions, perform diagnoses, take decisions and even to discover causal relationships. But many philosophers have criticised and ultimately rejected the central assumption on which such work is based - the Causal Markov Condition. So should Bayesian nets be abandoned? What explains their success in artificial intelligence? This book argues that the Causal Markov Condition holds as a default rule: it often holds but may need to be repealed in the face of counterexamples. Thus Bayesian nets are the right tool to use by default but naively applying them can lead to problems. The book develops a systematic account of causal reasoning and shows how Bayesian nets can be coherently employed to automate the reasoning processes of an artificial agent. The resulting framework for causal reasoning involves not only new algorithms but also new conceptual foundations. Probability and causality are treated as mental notions - part of an agent's belief state.Yet probability and causality are also objective - different agents with the same background knowledge ought to adopt the same or similar probabilistic and causal beliefs. This book, aimed at researchers and graduate students in computer science, mathematics and philosophy, provides a general introduction to these philosophical views as well as an exposition of the computational techniques that they motivate.

Manfred D. Laubichler, Science
[A] brilliant biography, one can hardly imagine a better summary of Karl Pearson's fascinating life and complicated persona. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
John Aldrich American Scientist : Exceeds all expectations in recreating the intellectual worlds in which Pearson tried to find a home.
Manfred D. Laubichler Science : [A] brilliant biography, one can hardly imagine a better summary of Karl Pearson's fascinating life and complicated persona.
Peter J. Bowler Nature : Highlights the complex route by which [Pearson's] quest for emotional and intellectual satisfaction led him towards . . . modern statistics.
Jenny Marie Journal of the History of Biology : This book is a remarkable achievement.
Richard J. Cleary The American Statistician : Very effectively conveys . . . that . . . [statistics allows students] to see the world in a new and beautiful way.
Ramachandran Bharath MAA Reviews : Theodore Porter's Karl Pearson explores the fullness and richness of Pearson's intellectual and emotional life.

Gregory Bateson was a philosopher, anthropologist, photographer, naturalist, and poet, as well as the husband and collaborator of Margaret Mead. With a new foreword by his daughter Mary Katherine Bateson, this classic anthology of his major work will continue to delight and inform generations of readers.

"This collection amounts to a retrospective exhibition of a working life. . . . Bateson has come to this position during a career that carried him not only into anthropology, for which he was first trained, but into psychiatry, genetics, and communication theory. . . . He . . . examines the nature of the mind, seeing it not as a nebulous something, somehow lodged somewhere in the body of each man, but as a network of interactions relating the individual with his society and his species and with the universe at large."—D. W. Harding, New York Review of Books

"[Bateson's] view of the world, of science, of culture, and of man is vast and challenging. His efforts at synthesis are tantalizingly and cryptically suggestive. . . .This is a book we should all read and ponder."—Roger Keesing, American Anthropologist

英国17世纪文学经典《忧郁的解剖》是一部奇书，从古到今受其影响者包括：约翰•弥尔顿、塞缪尔•约翰逊、劳伦斯•斯特恩、查尔斯•兰姆、约翰•济慈、塞缪尔•泰勒•柯勒律治、豪尔赫•路易斯•博尔赫斯、塞缪尔•贝克特、梁实秋、钱锺书（钱译蒲顿《解愁论》）、杨周翰等。本书自1621年出版后，累计修定、扩充了五次，多次重版。2012年，中文精选本内地首发，书中包括了原版书最精华的部分。2018年增译本，增译一倍篇幅，并对旧译逐字逐句进行重译，力求为读者呈现一部可靠、耐读的中文译本。
罗伯特•伯顿实乃一个彻头彻尾的书痴，他成天活在书堆里，嗜书如命，并且还用大半辈子写了本将古往今来的所有书籍都熔于一炉的精粹之作——《忧郁的解剖》。伯顿那博杂的学问，从稀世奇书中搜罗来的妙语，闪着粗朴之智慧与诡谲之文雅的炫学，五花八门的素材，趣味故事与说理相杂糅的写法，以及至关重要的一点——裹在古怪文风中的奇情奇感，使得该书即便对当代读者来说也都是趣味与知识的无价宝库。

About the book:
In the work of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) lies an impact akin to a sudden acquisition of sight. His landscapes and seascapes scorch the eye with such ravishing light and color, with such elemental force, it is as if the sun itself were gleaming out of the frame.
Appropriately known as “the painter of light”, Turner worked in print, watercolor, and oils to transform landscape from serene contemplative scenes to pictures pulsating with life. He anchored his work to the River Thames and to the sea, but in the historical context of the Industrial Revolution, also integrated boats, trains, and other markers of human activity, so as to juxtapose the thrust of civilisation against the forces of nature.
This book covers Turner's illustrious, wide-ranging repertoire to introduce an artist who combined a traditional genre with a radical modernism.
约瑟夫·玛罗德·威廉·透纳(1775-1857)的作品总是带给人一种重见光明般的震撼。透纳在风景画中刻画的光影色彩和自然张力是那么的夺人眼球，让人觉得画框里闪耀发光的就是真正的太阳。
透纳作为著名的“光线画家”，不管是采用版画、水彩，还是油画，都能巧妙地将静谧景色转变成充满生命张力的画面。透纳取景偏爱泰晤士河和海面而不是工业革命背景下的历史景象，但透纳也融合了船只、火车和其他人类活动的标记，在大自然中镌刻了文明的印记。
本书将介绍透纳这位将现代主义融合在传统体裁中的画家，书中几乎涵盖了透纳的全部作品。
--------------------------------
About the series（Basic Art Series 2.0）:
Basic Art was born back in 1985 with the very first original TASCHEN publication: Picasso. Since then, the series has evolved into the best-selling art book collection ever published, offering succinct slimline artist introductions across 200 titles, translated into some 20 languages.
For its 30th anniversary, we have given this much-loved series a makeover: Basic Art 2.0, freshly designed, revised, and hardcover bound, but still with the same rock-bottom price tag!
系列简介：
1985年， Basic art系列的首部著作《毕加索》问世，开启了德国TASCHEN出版公司的艺术出版历程。此后的30余年中， Basic art系列始终坚持以简洁、精练的笔法勾勒艺术家们的世界，内容不断充裕，培养了众多忠实读者，成为多年居销量榜首的经典艺术书系。
时至今日，此系列已出版图书近200种，更有多达20种的各国语言版本在世界范围内发行，具有极高的口碑和影响力。

《染匠之手》收录了一代文学巨匠W.H.奥登精彩纷呈的散文作品，包括他作为牛津大学诗歌教授发表的著名讲演录。书中的文章题材广泛却又互有关联，对诗歌，对艺术，对人生的种种境况都提出了自己的看法。这些所思、所感独出机杼，不落窠臼，核心的关注点虽然是文艺，立论的背后却是作者在二十世纪中的全部经验。

勃兰兑斯在哥本哈根大学的讲演汇编成《十九世纪文学主流》。这部著作纵论法、德、英诸国的浪漫主义和民主主义运动，探索这些国家文学重要的动向，研究内容涉及文学艺术、宗教和政治等方面。他倡导作家关注现实的社会问题等观点，改变了丹麦及北欧浪漫派脱离现实的倾向，推动了欧洲现实主义文学的发展。

本書的要旨，是要帶出十九世紀英國建立漢學與大英帝國培訓對華外交譯員的緊密關係，以及在這前題下，香港在英國漢學成立過程中的角色、位置及功能。過去討論到中國現代化的著作，都關注到中國如何通過各種翻譯活動而達到現代革新。事實上，不闇中國事務的英國，能夠在中國現代轉化過程中攫取準確的中國情報，讓英國國會及外交部釐訂適時及時的中國政策，大量的在華的英藉譯員功不可沒。這些英籍譯員均長時間在香港及中國生活，掌握中國第一手政情及民情，他們的另一特色，是他們結束遠東外交及政治生涯後，被英國最高學府羅致成為首任中文教授，他們遂利用自己的外交經驗、在地中國知識、管理殖民地願景得出來的一套實用中文知識，建構出有別於歐洲的漢學理念，奠下十九世紀創立的英國漢學基石。

榮獲2007年Wolfson史學獎，
唯一貫穿中西的帝國通史！
這一筆歷史帳，你不能不知道！
首創「歐亞革命」帝國史觀，顛覆了歷史課本的西歐視角，
全方位俯瞰六世紀（1405~2000年）的世界舞台：
江南和英國條件相仿，為什麼工業革命只發生在後者？
清朝平定新疆，其意義相當於歐洲征服美洲？
日本鎖國時，江戶繁榮無比，一城人口數就超越當時歐洲各國？
俄國1812年擊退拿破崙，二戰還成為打倒希特勒的主力？
帝國究竟是個人的野心霸業，還是歷史的常態？
為什麼1405年帖木兒死後，世界上再無全球帝國？！
一改傳統西歐觀點，放大時空格局，
深入追索在政經文化的交互影響下，
東、西方勢力如何展演出今日世界的全貌！
《帖木兒之後》將世界視為一個完整的有機體，用真正的全球視野、全方位視角，為人類現代史提供了嶄新（但平衡可靠）的觀點。歷來史學名著與此鉅作相比，都顯得有所侷限；日後我們也很難期待再有超越之作。
帖木兒是史上最後一位「世界征服者」。他的部隊燒殺劫掠，征討範圍西達地中海濱，東抵中國邊境，似乎再過不久，就能恢復其祖先成吉思汗時期的帝國版圖。然而，當他於一四○五年去世，一統天下的帝國也從此告終，至今再不復見。
接下來的歷史書寫，傳統上都以歐洲帝國的擴張作為世界舞台的焦點，卻忽視了伊斯蘭世界和東亞偉大文明的並存，在當時形成三足鼎立的均勢形勢。直到歐亞世界發生一場革命，才使這均勢發生改變，但也從未徹底翻轉過。
從帖木兒去世到二十世紀結束，這六百年之間，亞洲的幾大帝國並未受到歐洲入侵者的深刻撼動。中華帝國歷經種種內憂外患，至今屹立不搖，反倒是曾經「日不落」的大英帝國走向了滅亡，而納粹帝國更在竄起後不旋踵間，就遭擊潰。
帝國的興衰或屹立，其背後的原因仍是世界史領域極耐人尋味的謎題。
《帖木兒之後》以嶄新的觀點看待全球歷史：
在「視角」上，摒除以西歐為中心的偏見，採360度全舞台的視野，將遠東、中東、中亞乃至西伯利亞一併納入觀看鏡頭中；
在「面向」上，從經濟、文化、地緣政治到常民生活，進行全面而深化的探討；在「論述」上，廣納各方學者門派，從布勞岱爾到霍布斯邦，從亞當斯密、馬克思、韋伯到薩依德……等等，詳述各家論點，再一一檢視討論；在「方法」上，以時間為切片，跨越空間來綜覽全局，追索各方勢力彼此間的交互作用。
作者透過由此得出的歷史視野，探討過去六百年間歐亞歷史上最著名、最撼動人心的事件，使那些事件再度鮮活呈現於今日，讓我們不僅再度感到驚奇，也更清楚認識今日「全球化」世界最顯著的特色－－亞洲的偉大復興。我們如欲掌握未來走向，就必須深刻梳理這段至為關鍵的歐亞世界史。
本書特色
1. 探討的時間長達六世紀，空間橫跨三大洲，以帝國的興衰，來說明後世權力版圖如何分配。
2. 獨創「歐亞革命」（The Eurasian Revolution）觀點：認為亞洲帝國主義對世界的影響，無論就空間上還是影響的深遠度上，比歐洲帝國有過之而無不及，甚至主張這段期間歐洲的重要性有被過度誇大之嫌。
3. 難得一見的全面性世界通史，不只是記述流水帳：作者吸收法國年鑑學派學說，消化大量經濟史、文化史資料，融會貫通古今六百年歷史，近距離檢視歷史細節，寫出觀點最全面客觀、時空縱深最廣袤的世界通史。推翻歷史歷本上歐洲中心論的版本，還原客觀史實。
4. 解釋了許多棘手的歷史疑點：自帖木兒死後，中央帝國消失，人類歷史從陸地轉移到海洋的演變，不是「地理大發現」、「工業革命」這等簡化觀點就能解釋的；同時期中國、印度與日本的成就，用這套觀點也無法解釋；那麼，歐洲的優勢又是如何產生的？作者抽絲剝繭，細緻地從客觀的地緣政治、文化、經濟的交互影響下，演繹出當時各國錯綜複雜的消長變化。
5. 帖木兒之後，歷史又翻新了一頁，回不去以前的大一統帝國，出現東西分流的現象，最後至今日又回到帖木兒死時的均勢、合流狀態。歷史的教訓告訴我們，人類不願接受單一制度、單一統治者或單單一套規範。由此來看，我們仍活在帖木兒的陰影裡，或者更貼切地說，仍活在他失敗的陰影裡。

《十九世纪欧洲思想史》是德裔英国学者约翰·西奥多·梅尔茨的主要著作，是公认的世界名著。著者秉承整合人类全部知识的宏大抱负，毕生孜孜于此项宏伟工程，竭力在自然科学和人文艺术之间搭建桥梁。梅尔茨的《十九世纪欧洲思想史》，是对科学思想（第一、二卷）和哲学思想（第三、四卷）的拓展研究，它不仅是一部科学史，也是一部科学思想史；不仅是一部哲学史，也是一部对哲学主要观念进行的全景考察。著者延续了同时代著名学者惠威尔《归纳科学的历史》的风格，作为对十九世纪欧洲大陆人类智力活动进行全景式的研究唯一著作，它成为后来的学者们的重要和基本的必读书。
这部著作分为前后两个部分，这里的前两卷主要探讨自然科学，包含有大量的注释和索引，涉及欧洲各伟大科学家的主要工作和理论。 《十九世纪欧洲思想史》（第一、二卷）的主要章节包括：导论；法国的科学精神；德国的科学精神；英国的科学精神；天文学的自然观；原子的自然观；动力学或机械的自然观；物理学的自然观；形态学的自然观；发生论的自然观；生机论的自然观；心理物理学的自然观；统计学的自然观；十九世纪数学思想的发展；回顾和展望等。

"Thompson's book has been called controversial, but perhaps only because so many have forgotten how explosive England was during the Regency and the early reign of Victoria. Without any reservation, The Making of the English Working Class is the most important study of those days since the classic work of the Hammonds."-- Commentary
"Mr. Thompson's deeply human imagination and controlled passion help us to recapture the agonies, heroisms and illusions of the working class as it made itself. No one interested in the history of the English people should fail to read his book."--London Times Literary Supplement