Encyclopedia

An (alternatively encyclopaedia/encyclopædia) is a written compendium of knowledge. The term comes from the Greek {{polytonic|????????? ???????}} (engkuklios paideia), literally "a rounded education". Many encyclopedias are titled Cyclopaedia and the terms are interchangeable.

Early encyclopedic works

The idea of collecting all of the world's knowledge within arm's reach under a single roof goes back to the ancient Library of Alexandria and Pergamon. Many writers of antiquity (such as Aristotle) attempted to write comprehensively about all human knowledge. One of the most significant of these early encyclopedists was Pliny the Elder (first century C.E.), who wrote the Naturalis Historia (Natural History), a 37 volume account of the natural world that was extremely popular in Western Europe for much of the Middle Ages.

Related Topics:
Library of Alexandria - Pergamon - Aristotle - Pliny the Elder - Naturalis Historia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Chinese emperor Cheng-Zu of the Ming Dynasty oversaw the compilation of the Yongle Encyclopedia, one of the largest encyclopedias in history, which was completed in 1408 and comprised over 11,000 handwritten volumes, of which only about 400 now survive. In the succeeding dynasty, emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty personally composed 40,000 poems as part of a 4.7 million page library in 4 divisions, including thousands of essays. It is instructive to compare his title for this knowledge, Watching the waves in a Sacred Sea to a Western-style title for all knowledge.

Related Topics:
Chinese emperor - Cheng-Zu - Ming Dynasty - Yongle Encyclopedia - 1408 - Qianlong - Qing Dynasty

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The early Muslim compilations of knowledge in the middle ages included many comprehensive works, and much development of what we now call scientific method, historical method, and citation. Notable works include Abu Bakr al-Razi's encyclopedia of science, the Mutazilite Al-Kindi's prolific output of 270 books, and Ibn Sina's medical encyclopedia, which was a standard reference work for centuries. Also notable are works of universal history (or sociology) from Asharites, al-Tabri, al-Masudi, Ibn Rustah, al-Athir, and Ibn Khaldun, whose Muqadimmah contains cautions regarding trust in written records that remain wholly applicable today. These scholars had an incalculable influence on methods of research and editing, due in part to the Islamic practice of isnad which emphasized fidelity to written record, checking sources, and skeptical inquiry.

Related Topics:
Early Muslim compilations of knowledge - Scientific method - Historical method - Citation - Abu Bakr al-Razi - Mutazilite - Al-Kindi - Ibn Sina - Asharite - Al-Tabri - Al-Masudi - Ibn Rustah - Al-Athir - Ibn Khaldun - Muqadimmah - Isnad

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

However, these works were rarely available to more than specialists: they were expensive, and written for those extending knowledge rather than (with some exceptions in medicine) using it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~