The Discoverers
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| Author | Daniel Boorstin |
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| Cover artist | Robert Aulicino |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical |
| Publisher | Random House |
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Publication date
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1983 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
| Pages | 745 |
| ISBN | (hbk) 0-394-72625-1 (pbk) |
| OCLC | 11399771 |
| Followed by | The Creators |
The Discoverers is a non-fiction historical work by Daniel Boorstin published in 1983 and is the first in the Knowledge Trilogy that also includes The Creators and The Seekers. The book, subtitled A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself, is the history of human discovery. Discovery in all its many forms are present - exploration, scientific, medical, mathematical and the more theoretical ones such as time, evolution, plate tectonics and relativity. He praises the inventive, human mind and its eternal quest to discover the universe and our place in it.
In "A Personal Note to the Reader" Boorstin writes, "My hero is Man, the Discoverer. The world we now view from the literate West...had to be opened by countless Columbuses. In the deep recesses of the past, they remain anonymous." The structure is topical and chronological, beginning in the prehistoric era in Babylon and Egypt.
The Discoverers (as well as The Creators and The Seekers) resonates with tales of individuals, their lives, beliefs and accomplishments. They form the building blocks of his tale and from them flow descriptions and commentary on historical events. In this respect he is like other historians (David McCullough, Paul Johnson, Louis Hartz and Richard Hofstadter, to name a few) who give prominence to the individual and the incremental approach to history. Thus, in the chapter "In Search of the Missing Link", he features Edward Tyson and his contributions in comparative anatomy. Tycho Brahe, the Danish astronomer, is the guiding light in "The Witness of the Naked Eye" and Isaac Newton merits an entire chapter ("God said, Let Newton Be!") devoted to his life and accomplishments.
The role of religion and culture is another recurring theme. Boorstin, a reform Jew, has been described as a "secular, skeptical moderate Northeastern liberal of the New Deal rather than the New Left school." [1] The purpose of religion (and God) was not personal salvation but establishing a societal anchor that inspired public morality.
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