For those students about to embark in an economics class, you may want to consider checking out this book. It is a combination of history and biography while it outlines the discourse of economic thought. The book is called “Worldly Philosophers” because the nature of man and society, in terms of an economic system, reflects the way of life and a philosopher’s perspective on it. The book engages the reader both for its insight, historical relevance, and for its accessibility – much different from a text book that tends to apply to the hypothetical or dryly delineate theories without any context. Heilbroner himself had wrote this book in hopes to turn the dodgey subject into something that is palatable and relevant to a general audience.
There are many book reviews out there, and many people may have found this book disappointing – namely a handful of economic teachers and students. Some students were saying that this book didn’t encompass some of their favorite economists or discuss some “important” economic theories; however, as a writer, you cannot always please everybody. It would make the writer lose focus in trying to encompass everything (I had even seen a review that criticized Heilbroner for not including Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau!) Teachers have also commented on how this book lacked textbook qualities of explaining the mathematics behind the theories (this mean they would have to TEACH!) But again, this is not what Heilbroner’s book was geared towards, he doesn’t even use the terminology of the economist. So in response to these one-star reviews, in addition to my previous commenting on who would enjoy this book, I would like to add who this book would be useful to.
The book would probably be very useful for students who have taken an introductory course in economics. Like any book read by a reader with a background, it offers another way of saying things, a different approach to outline ideas, and another perspective. For example, I learned about the state of mind before the development of markets, (and how that the peasants had no concept of an increasing standard of living – this is a modern idea since the conception of markets). This is one of the many great insights that shows an evolution of the economy over time, its effects on people, and how the attitudes and policies needed to change over time and events.
Again, you don’t have to have taken an economics course to enjoy this book. I find to go the other way makes the class more useful & enjoyable to discourse and learning. Depends on the person. You can’t really approach either with “knowing everything”; that would be like critiquing books based on what you thought was important and omitted, or going to class and controlling the topics of discussion. Of course, there may be validity in certain cases, but between the one-star reviews and hielbroner’s book, this is not the case. This book is an intro book and not for those who are looking for “intermediate principles and theories”. The book is mainly written for the average reader, and should it further interest them, they can advance their specific course of study through other means.
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