The one-volumePropædia is the first of three parts of the15th edition ofEncyclopædia Britannica, intended as acompendium and topical organisation of the 12-volumeMicropædia and the 17-volumeMacropædia, which are organised alphabetically. Introduced in 1974 with the 15th edition, thePropædia andMicropædia were intended to replace the Index of the 14th edition; however, after widespread criticism, theBritannica restored the Index as a two-volume set in 1985. The core of thePropædia is itsOutline of Knowledge, which seeks to provide a logical framework for all human knowledge. However, thePropædia also has several appendices listing the staff members, advisors and contributors to all three parts of theBritannica.
The last edition of the printBritannica was published in 2010.[1][2]
Like theBritannica as a whole, theOutline has three types of goals:[3]
According toMortimer J. Adler, the designer of thePropædia, all articles in the fullBritannica were designed to fit into theOutline of Knowledge.[3]
TheOutline has 167 sections, which are categorised into 41 divisions and then into 10 parts. Each part has an introductory essay written by the same individual responsible for developing the outline for that part, which was done in consultation and collaboration with a handful of other scholars. In all, 86 men and one woman were involved in developing theOutline of Knowledge.
TheOutline was an eight-year project ofMortimer J. Adler, published 22 years after he published a similar effort (theSyntopicon) that attempts to provide an overview of the relationships among the "Great Ideas" in Adler'sGreat Books of the Western World series. (The Great Books were also published by theEncyclopædia Britannica Inc.) Adler stresses in his book,A Guidebook to Learning: For a Lifelong Pursuit of Wisdom, that the ten categories should not be taken as hierarchical but as circular.
The whole of thePropædia's synoptic outline of knowledge deserves to be read carefully. It represents a twentieth-century scheme for the organisation of knowledge that is more comprehensive than any other and that also accommodates the intellectual heterodoxy of our time.
— Mortimer J. Adler, inA Guidebook, pp. 91–2
The lead author wasNigel Calder, who wrote the introduction "The Universe of the Physicist, the Chemist, and the Astronomer".
The lead author wasPeter John Wyllie, who wrote the introduction "The Great Globe Itself".
The lead author wasRené Dubos, who wrote the introduction "The Mysteries of Life".
The lead author wasLoren Eiseley, who wrote the introduction "The Cosmic Orphan".
The lead author wasHarold D. Lasswell, who wrote the introduction "Man the Social Animal".
The lead author wasMark Van Doren, who wrote the introduction "The World of Art".
The lead author was LordPeter Ritchie-Calder, who wrote the introduction "Knowing How and Knowing Why".
The lead author wasWilfred Cantwell Smith, who wrote the introduction "Religion as Symbolism".
The lead author wasJacques Barzun, who wrote the introduction "The Point and Pleasure of Reading History".
The lead author wasMortimer J. Adler, who wrote the introduction "Knowledge Become Self-conscious".
| Name | Date of birth | Date of death | Part of Outline | Description | Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mortimer J. Adler | 1902 | 2001 | All Parts | Editor | 1 |
| Charles Van Doren | 1926 | 2019 | All Parts | Associate editor; Editorial Vice President ofEncyclopædia Britannica Inc. (1973–1982) | 2 |
| William J. Gorman | 1982 | All Parts | Associate editor; Senior Fellow of the Institute for Philosophical Research | 3 | |
| A. G. W. Cameron | 1925 | 2005 | Matter and Energy | Professor of Astronomy,Harvard University | 4 |
| Farrington Daniels | 1889 | 1972 | Matter and Energy | Professor of Chemistry,University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison | 5 |
| Morton Hamermesh | 1915 | 2003 | Matter and Energy | Professor of Physics,University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (1975–1986) | 6 |
| Vincent E. Parker | 1914 | 1997 | Matter and Energy | Emeritus Professor of Physics,California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; Dean, School of Science (1967–1977) | 7 |
| Richard J. Chorley | 1927 | 2002 | The Earth | Professor of Geography,University of Cambridge; Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge | 8 |
| William Stelling von Arx | 1916 | 1999 | The Earth | Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (1968–1978) | 9 |
| Peter John Wyllie | 1930 | The Earth | Professor of Geology and Chairman, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences,California Institute of Technology | 10 | |
| N. J. Berrill | 1903 | 1996 | Life on Earth | Strathcone Professor of Zoology,McGill University (1946–1965) | 11 |
| Vincent Dethier | 1915 | 1993 | Life on Earth | Gilbert L. Woodside Professor of Zoology,University of Massachusetts Amherst (1975–1993) | 12 |
| Louis S. Goodman | 1906 | 2000 | Life on Earth | Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology,University of Utah, Salt Lake City | 13 |
| Garrett Hardin | 1915 | 2003 | Life on Earth | Emeritus Professor of Human Ecology,University of California, Santa Barbara | 14 |
| Ernst Walter Mayr | 1904 | 2005 | Life on Earth | Alexander Agassiz Professor Emeritus of Zoology, Harvard University | 15 |
| John Alexander Moore | 1915 | 2002 | Life on Earth | Emeritus Professor of Biology, University of California, Riverside | 16 |
| Theodore T. Puck | 1916 | 2005 | Life on Earth | Professor of Biology, Biophysics and Genetics; Distinguished Professor of Medicine,University of Colorado, Health Sciences Center; Director, Eleanor Roosevelt Institute for Cancer Research | 17 |
| Birgit Vennesland | 1913 | 2001 | Life on Earth | Head, Vennesland Research Laboratory, Max Planck Society (1970–1981); Director, Max Planck Institute for Cell Physiology, Berlin (1968–1970) | 18 |
| Paul B. Weisz | 1919 | 2012 | Life on Earth | Professor of Biology,Brown University | 19 |
| Ralph H. Wetmore | 1892 | 1989 | Life on Earth | Emeritus Professor of Botany, Harvard University | 20 |
| Emil H. White | Life on Earth | D. Mead Johnson Professor of Chemistry,Johns Hopkins University | 21 | ||
| Wilfrid Edward Le Gros Clark | 1895 | 1971 | Human Life | Professor of Anatomy, University of Oxford | 22 |
| Russell S. Fisher | 1985 | Human Life | Chief Medical Examiner, State ofMaryland; Professor of Forensic Pathology,University of Maryland Medical School,Baltimore | 23 | |
| F. Clark Howell | 1925 | 2007 | Human Life | Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley | 24 |
| Gregory A. Kimble | 1917 | 2006 | Human Life | Emeritus Professor of Psychology,Duke University | 25 |
| Erich Klinghammer | 1930 | 2011 | Human Life | Associate Professor of Psychology,Purdue University | 26 |
| Warren Sturgis McCulloch | 1899 | 1969 | Human Life | Staff member, Research Laboratory of Electronics,MIT (1952–1969) | 27 |
| William J. McGuire | 1925 | 2012 | Human Life | Professor of Psychology,Yale University | 28 |
| Peter Medawar | 1915 | 1987 | Human Life | Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, 1960; Jodrell Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy,University College London (1951–1962); Director, National Institute, Mill Hill, London (1962–1971); Scientific staff member,Medical Research Council, England (1971–1984) | 29 |
| William J. Baumol | 1922 | 2017 | Human Society | Professor of Economics,New York University; Emeritus Professor of Economics,Princeton University | 30 |
| Daniel Bell | 1919 | 2011 | Human Society | Henry Ford II Professor Emeritus of Social Science, Harvard University | 31 |
| Guiliano H. Bonfante | Human Society | Former Professor of Linguistics,University of Turin | 32 | ||
| Kenneth E. Boulding | 1910 | 1993 | Human Society | Distinguished Professor of Economics,University of Colorado, Boulder | 33 |
| Lewis A. Coser | 1913 | 2003 | Human Society | Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology,SUNY, Stony Brook | 34 |
| Sigmund Diamond | 1920 | 1999 | Human Society | Giddings Professor Emeritus of Sociology,Columbia University | 35 |
| Carl J. Friedrich | 1901 | 1984 | Human Society | Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University (1955–1971) | 36 |
| Paul Mundy | Human Society | Professor of Sociology and Chairman, Department of Criminal Justice,Loyola University Chicago | 37 | ||
| Kenyon E. Poole | 1909 | 1988 | Human Society | Professor of Economics,Northwestern University | 38 |
| C. Herman Pritchett | Human Society | Emeritus Professor of Political Science, University of California, Santa Barbara andUniversity of Chicago | 39 | ||
| Sol Tax | 1907 | 1995 | Human Society | Professor of Anthropology, University of Chicago (1948–1976); Director, Center for the Study of Man,Smithsonian Institution | 40 |
| Charles Raymond Whittlesey | 1900 | 1979 | Human Society | Emeritus Professor of Finance and Economics,University of Pennsylvania | 41 |
| Rudolf Arnheim | 1904 | 2007 | Art | Emeritus professor of Psychology of Art, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University | 42 |
| Robert Jesse Charleston | 1916 | 1994 | Art | Keeper, Department of Ceramics,Victoria and Albert Museum (1963–1976) | 43 |
| Clifton Fadiman | 1904 | 1999 | Art | Member, Board of Editors,Encyclopædia Britannica | 44 |
| Francis Fergusson | 1904 | 1986 | Art | Professor of Comparative Literature,Rutgers University (1953–1969); Professor of Comparative Literature, Princeton University (1973–1981) | 45 |
| John Gloag | 1896 | 1981 | Art | Novelist and writer on architecture and industrial design | 46 |
| Richard Griffith | 1912 | 1969 | Art | Curator,Museum of Modern Art Film Library (1951–1965); Lecturer on Motion Pictures,Wesleyan University (1967–1969) | 47 |
| Richard Hoggart | 1918 | 2014 | Art | Professor of English,University of Birmingham (1962–1973); Warden, Goldsmiths' College,University of London (1976–1984) | 48 |
| Edward Lockspeiser | 1905 | 1973 | Art | Officier d'Académie,Paris; Writer and broadcaster on music. | 49 |
| Roy McMullen | 1984 | Art | Author, critic, and art historian | 50 | |
| Leonard B. Meyer | 1918 | 2007 | Art | Benjamin Franklin Professor of Music and Humanities, University of Pennsylvania | 51 |
| Michael Morrow | 1929 | 1994 | Art | Music editor,Encyclopædia Britannica; Director,Musica Reservata,London | 52 |
| Beaumont Newhall | 1908 | 1993 | Art | Director,Eastman Kodak House (1958–1971); Visiting Professor of Art,University of New Mexico (1971–1984) | 53 |
| Herbert Read | 1893 | 1968 | Art | Watson Gordon Professor of Fine Art,University of Edinburgh (1931–1933); editor,The Burlington Magazine (1933–1939); Charles Eliot Norton professor of Poetry, Harvard University (1953–1954) | 54 |
| Richard Roud | 1929 | 1989 | Art | Program Director, London (1959–1963) and New York (1963–1987) Film Festivals; Film critic,The Guardian (1963–1969) | 55 |
| George Savage | 1982 | Art | Art consultant; author ofPorcelain Through the Ages,Pottery Through the Ages, and other works | 56 | |
| Wolfgang Stechow | 1896 | 1974 | Art | Professor of Fine Arts,Oberlin College (1940–1963) | 57 |
| Joshua C. Taylor | 1981 | Art | William Rainey Harper Professor of Humanities and Professor of Art, University of Chicago (1963–1974); Director, National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution | 58 | |
| Everard M. Upjohn | 1903 | 1978 | Art | Professor of Fine Arts, Columbia University (1951–1970) | 59 |
| Pierre Verlet | 1908 | 1987 | Art | Chief Curator, Cluny Museum (1945–1965); Chief Curator, National Museum of Sèvres Porcelain (1945–1965); Chief Curator of Art Objects from the Middle Ages to the Modern Period,Louvre Museum (1945–1965) | 60 |
| René Wellek | 1903 | 1995 | Art | Sterling Professor of Comparative Literature, Yale University (1952–1972) | 61 |
| Glynne William Gladstone Wickham | 1922 | 2004 | Art | Emeritus Professor of Drama,University of Bristol; Dean, Faculty of Arts (1970–1972) | 62 |
| Raymond (Henry) Williams | 1921 | 1988 | Art | Professor of Drama, University of Cambridge (1974–1983); Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge (1961–1988) | 63 |
| Paul S. Wingert | 1900 | 1974 | Art | Professor of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University | 64 |
| Bruno Zevi | 1918 | 2000 | Art | Professor of Architectural History,University of Rome (1963–1979) | 65 |
| Konstantinos Apostolos Doxiadis | 1914 | 1975 | Technology | Chairman, Doxiadis Associates International; Chairman, Board of Directors, Doxiadis Associates, Inc.; Washington D.C. Chairman, Board of Directors, Athens Technological Organization; President, Athens Center of Ekistics | 66 |
| Eugene S. Ferguson | 1916 | 2004 | Technology | Emeritus Professor of History,University of Delaware; Curator of Technology,Hagley Museum, Greenville Delaware | 67 |
| Melvin Kranzberg | 1917 | 1995 | Technology | Callaway Professor of the History of Technology,Georgia Institute of Technology (1972–1988) | 68 |
| Harvey G. Mehlhouse | Technology | Vice President, Western Electric Company, New York City (1965–1969); President (1969–1971); Chairman of the Board (1971–1972) | 69 | ||
| Robert Smith Woodbury | 1983 | Technology | Professor of the History of Technology,MIT | 70 | |
| Arthur Llewellyn Basham | 1914 | 1986 | Religion | Professor of Asian Civilizations,Australian National University | 71 |
| James T. Burtchaell | 1934 | 2015 | Religion | Professor of Theology,University of Notre Dame; Provost (1970–1977) | 72 |
| J. V. Langmead Casserley | 1909 | 1978 | Religion | Professor of Apologetics,Seabury-Western Theological Seminary | 73 |
| Ichiro Hori | 1974 | Religion | Professor of the History of Religions,Seijo University andKokugakuin University | 74 | |
| Jaroslav Jan Pelikan | 1923 | 2006 | Religion | Sterling Professor of History, Yale University; President, American Academy of Arts and Sciences | 75 |
| Jakob Josef Petuchowski | 1925 | 1991 | Religion | Sol and Arlene Bronstein Professor of Judeo-Christian Studies,Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati (1981–1991) | 76 |
| Jacques Barzun | 1907 | 2012 | The History of Mankind | University Professor Emeritus, Columbia University; Dean of Faculties and Provost (1958–1967) | 77 |
| Otto Allen Bird | 1914 | 2009 | The Branches of Knowledge | Emeritus Professor of Arts and Letters, University of Notre Dame | 78 |
| Wing-Tsit Chan | 1901 | 1994 | The Branches of Knowledge | Professor of Chinese Philosophy and Culture,Dartmouth College (1942–1966); Anna R. D. Gillespie Professor of Philosophy,Chatham University (1966–1982) | 79 |
| William Herbert Dray | 1921 | 2009 | The Branches of Knowledge | Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and of History,University of Ottawa | 80 |
| Norwood Hanson | 1924 | 1967 | The Branches of Knowledge | Professor of Philosophy, Yale University (1963–1967) | 81 |
| J. H. Hexter | 1910 | 1996 | The Branches of Knowledge | Charles L. Stillé Professor of History, Yale University, (1967–1978); Distinguished Historian in residence,Washington University in St. Louis (1978–1986) | 82 |
| Ernan V. McMullin | 1924 | 2011 | The Branches of Knowledge | Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame | 83 |
| Karl Menger | 1902 | 1985 | The Branches of Knowledge | Professor of Mathematics,Illinois Institute of Technology (1946–1971) | 84 |
| Arthur Norman Prior | 1914 | 1969 | The Branches of Knowledge | Fellow, Balliol College,University of Oxford; Professor of Philosophy,Manchester University (1959–1966) | 85 |
| Nicholas Rescher | 1928 | 2024 | The Branches of Knowledge | University Professor of Philosophy,University of Pittsburgh; editor,American Philosophical Quarterly | 86 |
| Seymour Schuster | 1926 | 2020 | The Branches of Knowledge | Professor of Mathematics,Carleton College | 87 |
Section 4.2.1 usestransparencies of organ systems originally commissioned byParke-Davis. Similar in design to the three-dimensionalVisible Man andVisible Woman dolls designed by sculptorMarcel Jovine, successive plastic sheets reveal different layers ofhuman anatomy.
DVD-editionUltimate Reference Suite included the BrainStormer, is a tool for browse topics in the encyclopaedia by using a dynamic index (graphical interface of dynamicMind Maps, with highlighting in different colours: people, places, things, and related concepts), based on Propædia andTheBrain software.Britannica.com includes simple list pages roughly corresponding to chapters of Propædia.