History of Humanity
Encyclopedia
The History of Humanity is part of UNESCO
’s General and Regional Histories Collection. The publication seeks to contribute to mutual understanding and dialogue between cultures and civilizations. This series seeks to illustrate the encounters between cultures across history and their respective contributions to the general progress of humankind. This is done through the promotion of a pluralist vision of history.
The History of Humanity – Scientific and Cultural Development (the complete title of the first edition of the series), provides a universal history of humanity, encompassing a multiplicity of points of view, memories, and opinions from all over the world and from varying points in history. This major task was undertaken by UNESCO
with the collaboration of over 450 distinguished scholars and researchers. This account of history explores the vastness of human cultural progress around the world, seeking to promote mutual respect and solidarity through the disarming of history.
The volumes begin with the prehistoric period and the beginnings of civilization, and go through to the twentieth century. Traditional methods of historical research based on written sources are used along with more contemporary critical methods, oral sources, and contributions from archaeology. The History of Humanity was published in six volumes and in several languages, including English, French, Italian, Russian, Spanish and Portuguese.
to work on a project illustrating the collective memory of humanity were raised in 1946. Following the establishment of the International Scientific Committee and the formation of international teams to undertake the research, the first edition of this series, The History of Humanity - Scientific and Cultural Development, was completed in 1966. Over the following decades, with unprecedented developments in social and physical sciences and technological advances, the project was adapted and again readapted to properly reflect these changes. The second edition was therefore prepared beginning in 1980 and completed in 2009.
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
’s General and Regional Histories Collection. The publication seeks to contribute to mutual understanding and dialogue between cultures and civilizations. This series seeks to illustrate the encounters between cultures across history and their respective contributions to the general progress of humankind. This is done through the promotion of a pluralist vision of history.
Objectives and Main Themes
-
- “Combining political, cultural, social and economic history, the many volumes produced have put in perspective, what constitutes, in the diversity of practices, the conceptions and memories that form part of the common heritage of humanity. That was, in particular, the objective of the History of the Scientific and Cultural Development of Mankind.” Koichiro MatsuuraKoichiro Matsuurais a Japanese diplomat. He is the former Director-General of UNESCO. He was first elected in 1999 to a six-year term and reelected on 12 October 2005 for four years, following a reform instituted by the 29th session of the General Conference...
, Director-General of UNESCO, 2009 [1]
- “Combining political, cultural, social and economic history, the many volumes produced have put in perspective, what constitutes, in the diversity of practices, the conceptions and memories that form part of the common heritage of humanity. That was, in particular, the objective of the History of the Scientific and Cultural Development of Mankind.” Koichiro Matsuura
The History of Humanity – Scientific and Cultural Development (the complete title of the first edition of the series), provides a universal history of humanity, encompassing a multiplicity of points of view, memories, and opinions from all over the world and from varying points in history. This major task was undertaken by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
with the collaboration of over 450 distinguished scholars and researchers. This account of history explores the vastness of human cultural progress around the world, seeking to promote mutual respect and solidarity through the disarming of history.
The volumes begin with the prehistoric period and the beginnings of civilization, and go through to the twentieth century. Traditional methods of historical research based on written sources are used along with more contemporary critical methods, oral sources, and contributions from archaeology. The History of Humanity was published in six volumes and in several languages, including English, French, Italian, Russian, Spanish and Portuguese.
History
The initial ideas for UNESCOUNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
to work on a project illustrating the collective memory of humanity were raised in 1946. Following the establishment of the International Scientific Committee and the formation of international teams to undertake the research, the first edition of this series, The History of Humanity - Scientific and Cultural Development, was completed in 1966. Over the following decades, with unprecedented developments in social and physical sciences and technological advances, the project was adapted and again readapted to properly reflect these changes. The second edition was therefore prepared beginning in 1980 and completed in 2009.
Volumes
- Edited by S.J. De Laet, A.H. DaniAhmad Hasan DaniProfessor Ahmad Hasan Dani FRAS, SI, HI , was a Pakistani intellectual, archaeologist, historian, and linguist. He was among the foremost authorities on Central Asian and South Asian archaeology and history. He introduced archaeology as a discipline in higher education in Pakistan and Bangladesh...
, J.L. Lorenzo and R.B. Nunoo - Edited by A.H. DaniAhmad Hasan DaniProfessor Ahmad Hasan Dani FRAS, SI, HI , was a Pakistani intellectual, archaeologist, historian, and linguist. He was among the foremost authorities on Central Asian and South Asian archaeology and history. He introduced archaeology as a discipline in higher education in Pakistan and Bangladesh...
, J.P. Mohen, J.L. Lorenzo, C.A. DiopCheikh Anta DiopCheikh Anta Diop was a historian, anthropologist, physicist, and politician who studied the human race's origins and pre-colonial African culture. He is regarded as an important figure in the development of the Afrocentric viewpoint, in particular for his theory that the ancient Egyptians were...
, V.M. Masson, T. ObengaTheophile ObengaThéophile Obenga is a professor emeritus, formerly at San Francisco State University, in the Africana Studies Center. He was born in 1936 in Brazzaville, French Equatorial Africa ....
, M.B. Sakellariou, B.K. Thapar, Xia NaiXia NaiXia Nai was a Chinese archaeologist. He majored in economic history at the elite Tsinghua University in Beijing , winning a scholarship to study abroad. He went to University College London and studied Egyptology earning a doctorate that was finally awarded to him in 1946...
, Zhang Changshou - Edited by E. Condurachi, J. Herrmann, E. ZürcherErik ZürcherErik Zürcher was a Dutch Sinologist.From 1962-1993, Zürcher was a professor of history of East Asia at the Leiden University. He was also Director of the Sinological Institute, between 1975 and 1990. His Chinese name was Xǔ Lǐhe .- Biography :He studied Sinology, Buddhism, specializing in Chinese...
, J. Harmatta, J. Litvak King, R. Lonis, T. ObengaTheophile ObengaThéophile Obenga is a professor emeritus, formerly at San Francisco State University, in the Africana Studies Center. He was born in 1936 in Brazzaville, French Equatorial Africa ....
, R. Thapar, Zhou Yiliang - Edited by M. A. Al-Bakhit, L. Bazin, S. M. Cissoko, A.A. Kamel, M. S. Asimov, P. Gendrop, A. Gieysztor, I. Habib, Y. Karayannopoulos, J. Litvak King, P. Schmidt
- Edited by P. BurkePeter BurkePeter Burke is a British historian and professor.He was born to a Roman Catholic father and Jewish mother . He was educated by the Jesuits and at St John's College, Oxford, and was a doctoral candidate at St Antony's College...
, H. InalcikHalil Inalcik-Biography:He was born in Istanbul to a Crimean Tatar family, which left Crimea for Constantinople in 1905. His birthday is unknown but İnalcık chose 26 May 1916 for his birthday. He attended Balıkesir Teacher Training School and then Ankara University, Faculty of Language, History and Geography,...
, I. Habib, J. Ki-ZerboJoseph Ki-ZerboJoseph Ki-Zerbo was a Burkinabé politician and writer. He spent his youth in Toma where he grew up in a rural context inside a big family. Ki-Zerbo himself declared that his first 11 years passed in a rural context marked his personality and thoughts. He was recognized as one of Africa’s foremost...
, T. Kusamitsu, C. Martínez Shaw, E. Tchernjak, E. Trabulse - Edited by P. MathiasPeter MathiasPeter Mathias is a British economic historian. He attended Colston's School and Bristol Grammar School where he became interested in history. In December 1945, he applied for a scholarship at King's College, Cambridge; instead he won an Exhibition at Jesus College, Cambridge during Summer 1946...
, N. Todorov, G. Carrera Damas, A.O. Chibariyan, Shu-Li Ji, I.D. ThiamIba Der ThiamIba Der Thiam is a Senegalese writer, historian, and politician, currently serving as the First Vice-President of the National Assembly of Senegal....
- Edited by S. Gopal, S.L. Tikhvinsky, I.A. Abu-LughodIbrahim Abu-LughodIbrahim Abu-Lughod was a Palestinian academic, characterised by Edward Said as "Palestine's foremost academic and intellectual" and by Rashid Khalidi as one of the first Arab-American scholars to have a really serious effect on the way the Middle East is portrayed in political science and in...
, G. Weinberg, I.D. ThiamIba Der ThiamIba Der Thiam is a Senegalese writer, historian, and politician, currently serving as the First Vice-President of the National Assembly of Senegal....
, W. Tao