The Farther Shore: A Natural History of Perception, 1798-1984 - Softcover

Gifford, Don

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0679733329 ISBN 13: 9780679733324

Publisher: Vintage, 1991

Synopsis

Looks at how modern technology has changed the way we perceive the world, and compares modern impressions of the world with those of two hundred years ago

About this title

From Library Journal:

Gifford, best known as editor of the excellent 1966 classic Literature of Architecture , is intriguing, refreshing, and thought-provoking here. By "perception," he means the effects of technology, urbanization, population growth, and social and cultural expansion on our perceptions--how planes, trains, and automobiles have changed our perception of time and distance; how electronic media have affected our perception of "news" and "celebrities"; and how "big numbers" have changed our perception of size and distance. His main points of reference are the journals and letters of the naturalist Gilbert White, but the book brims with examples from Thoreau, Wordsworth, and Joyce, among others, in clever counterpoint to present-day examples from Reagan to People magazine. This is a thinking person's alternative to the rash of futurist and pseudosociological tracts that infest the publishing world.
- Mark L. Shelton, Columbus, Ohio
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

Gifford touches on subjects including advertising, photography, electronic eavesdropping and Thoreau as he examines hisor 'the'? aa.his is correct/pk thesis that our five senses act as a creative filter to external reality, allowing us to selectively shape our worlds. "Humane and highly perceptive, this delightful essay redefines the way we look at the world," PW said.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0679733329
• ISBN 13: 9780679733324
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 257