Propædia

The Propædia is the first of three parts of the Encyclopædia Britannica, the other two being the 12-volume Micropædia and the 17-volume Macropædia. The Propædia is supposed to be a book that organizes the things in the Britannica, and a guideline to the index of the  other two parts. It was introduced in 1974 with the 15th edition of the encyclopaedia to replace the index, but when many people complained, Britannica put the index back in two books in 1985. The core of the Propædia is its Outline of Knowledge, which is supposed to give people a classification of what we know, but the Propædia also has some parts listing the staff members, advisors and contributors to all three parts of the Britannica.

The Propædia can be used by a student who wants to know what there is to know, before even finding out about it.  Once the student finds out what he needs to know, he will then find out about the thing itself.

The Outline has ten Parts, each with an essay to introduce the part. Below is the table of the ten parts.

+ Table 1: The Ten Parts of the Outline of Knowledge in the Propædia  Part  Title  Major subjects  # of Divisions  # of Sections  Total #  Lead author 01Part One Matter and Energy  Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy  3  2,8,3  13  Nigel Calder 02Part Two The Earth  Geology, Geography, Oceanography  4  4, 3, 2, 3  12  Peter John Wyllie 03Part Three Life on Earth  Taxonomy, Molecular and cell biology, Physiology, Neuroscience, Ecology  5  3, 3, 9, 2, 5  22  René Dubos 04Part Four Human Life  Human evolution, Medicine, Psychology  3  2, 4, 6  12  Loren Eiseley 05Part Five Human Society  Sociology, Economics, Politics, Law, Education  6  4, 4, 6, 4, 3, 2  23  Harold D. Lasswell 06Part Six Art  Classification; criticism; various arts  2  3, 9  12  Mark Van Doren 07Part Seven Technology  History and elements of technology; various technologies  3  2, 5, 8  15  Lord Peter Ritchie Calder 08Part Eight Religion  General observations; various religions  2  2, 9  11  Wilfred Cantwell Smith 09Part Nine The History of mankind  History organized by continent and epoch  7  2, 4, 7, 5, 2, 11, 8  39  Jacques Barzun 10Part Ten The Branches of Knowledge  Logic, Mathematics, Science, Humanities, Philosophy, Library science  6  2, 3, 7, 2, 3, 1  18  Mortimer J. Adler

 Contributors to Propædia 
+ Table 2: Contributors to the Outline of Knowledge in the  The dates of death in Table 2 were taken from the 2007 version of the Propædia, except recent (post-1999) deaths which were not noted. 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    All Parts  Associate editor; Editorial Vice President of Encyclopædia 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     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     Matter and Energy  Professor of Physics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (1975-1986)  6 Vincent E. Parker     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     The Earth  Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (1968-1978)  9 Peter John Wyllie     The Earth  Professor of Geology and Chairman, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology  10 N. J. Berrill     Life on Earth  Strathcone Professor of Zoology, McGill University (1946-1965)  11 V. G. Dethier   1993  Life on Earth  Gilbert L. Woodside Professor of Zoology, University of Massachusetts at Amherst (1975-1993)  12 Louis S. Goodman     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     Life on Earth  Emeritus Professor of Biology, University of California, Riverside  16 Theodore T. Puck     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     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     Life on Earth  Professor of Biology, Brown University  19 Ralph H. Wetmore     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 of Maryland; Professor of Forensic Pathology, University of Maryland Medical School, Baltimore  23 F. Clark Howell     Human Life  Professor of Anthropology, University of California,  Berkeley  24 Gregory A. Kimble     Human Life  Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Duke University  25 Erich Klinghammer     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     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    Human Society  Professor of Economics, New York University; Emeritus Professor of Economics, Princeton University  30 Daniel Bell 1919    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     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   1988  Human Society  Professor of Economics, Northwestern University  38 C. Herman Pritchett     Human Society  Emeritus Professor of Political Science, University of California, Santa Barbara and University 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     Human Society  Emeritus Professor of Finance and Economics, University of Pennsylvania  41 Rudolf Arnheim 1904      Art  Emeritus professor of Psychology of Art, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University  42 Robert Jesse Charleston    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    1981  Art  Novelist and writer on architecture and industrial design  46 Richard Griffith    1969  Art  Curator, Museum of Modern Art Film Library (1951-1965); Lecturer on Motion Pictures, Wesleyan University (1967-1969)  47 Richard Hoggart 1918     Art  Professor of English, University of Birmingham (1962-1973); Warden, Goldsmiths' College, University of London (1976-1984)  48 Edward Lockspeiser    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      Art  Benjamin Franklin Professor of Music and Humanities, University of Pennsylvania  51 Michael Morrow    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    1989  Art  Program Director, London (1959-1963) and New York (1963-1987) Film Festivals; Movie critic, The Guardian (1963-1969)  55 George Savage    1982  Art  Art consultant; author of Porcelain Through the Ages, Pottery Through the Ages, and other works  56 Wolfgang Stechow     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    1978  Art  Professor of Fine Arts, Columbia University (1951-1970)  59 Pierre Verlet        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      Art  Emeritus Professor of Drama, University of Bristol; Dean, Faculty of Arts (1970-1972)  62 Raymond (Henry) Williams    1988    Art  Professor of Drama, University of Cambridge (1974-1983); Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge (1961-1988)  63 Paul S. Wingert     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    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     Religion  Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame; Provost (1970-1977)  72 J. V. Langmead Casserley    1978  Religion  Professor of Apologetics, Seabury-Western Theological Seminary  73 Ichiro Hori    1974  Religion  Professor of the History of Religions, Seijo University and Kokugakuin University  74 Jaroslav Jan Pelikan     Religion  Sterling Professor of History, Yale University; President, American Academy of Arts and Sciences  75 Jakob Josef Petuchowski    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   The History of Mankind  University Professor Emeritus, Columbia University; Dean of Faculties and Provost (1958-1967)  77 Otto Allen Bird     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 College (1966-1982) 79 William H. Dray     The Branches of Knowledge  Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and of History, University of Ottawa  80 Norwood Hanson    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 (1978-1986)  82 Ernan V. McMullin     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    1969  The Branches of Knowledge  Fellow, Balliol College, University of Oxford; Professor of Philosophy, Manchester University (1959-1966)  85 Nicholas Rescher 1928   The Branches of Knowledge  University Professor of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh; editor, American Philosophical Quarterly  86 Seymour Schuster     The Branches of Knowledge  Professor of Mathematics, Carleton College  87

Related pages
 Encyclopædia Britannica
 Micropædia, Macropædia

 References 

Category:Encyclopædia Britannica