Writing style
Descriptive · Essayistic · Witty
Apple BooksThe Worldly Philosophers
Business and economics
- First published
- 1953
- Print length
- 365 pagesSimon & Schuster, 1992
Description
Robert L. Heilbroner approaches economics through the lives and arguments of the thinkers who tried to explain how capitalist society works. Moving across centuries, he treats economic theory as a response to upheaval, inequality, industrial change, and the recurring struggle over how wealth is created and distributed. Biographical portraits connect abstract ideas to the historical pressures that shaped them, while the contrast between figures as different as Adam Smith and Karl Marx reveals how sharply economists can disagree about markets, labor, ownership, and social order. Rather than offering a technical manual, the book uses the history of economic thought to illuminate the institutions and assumptions that continue to govern modern life.
Reading profile
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
- Writing
- How much attention the sentences and language require.
- Ideas
- How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
- Structure
- How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
- Background knowledge
- Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
- Emotional intensity
- Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Pace
Measured
Tone
Cerebral · Reflective · Warm
Structure
Chronological nonfiction
Focus
Character · Ideas · Information
Emotional intensity
2 / 5
Reading complexity
1–5 · higher means more demanding- Writing
- 3 / 5
- Ideas
- 4 / 5
- Structure
- 3 / 5
- Background knowledge
- 2 / 5
Themes
Book details
For the print edition listed above.
- Publisher
- Simon & Schuster
- Language
- English
- ISBN
- 9780671633189
Keep your books and notes in Collected for iPhone.
Apple Books is a service mark of Apple Inc. iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.