Our view of the world today has emerged through the questions, theories, speculations and hypotheses raised by brilliant minds over millennia. Often ridiculed, or even persecuted, for their beliefs, these extraordinary individuals have nevertheless driven human thought relentlessly forward. Their once-radical propositions are now accepted truths. Drawing on a wide spectrum of topics - including politics, cosmology, the arts, philosophy, and religious beliefs - 1001 Ideas That Shaped the Way We Think traces the exponential growth of human knowledge across the centuries. Ranging from the ancient wisdom of Confucius and Plato to the latest cutting-edge thinking of the twenty-first century, it offers a wealth of stimulation and amusement for any reader with a lively and curious mind. This richly informative and entertaining book provides a wide variety of answers to the great eternal questions: how was the universe created and what is the place of humans within it? How should a person live? And how can we build a just society? But 1001 Ideas That Shaped the Way We Think also includes a host of speculations that are remarkable for their sheer weirdness - from the concept of the transmigration of souls to parallel universes and the paradoxes of time travel (what happens if you travel back in time and kill your own grandfather?). Readers will discover how the Greek philosopher Zeno 'proved' a flying arrow never moves and discover the mathematical proof of the existence of life in other galaxies. The inspiring ideas explored range from Gandhi's theory of civil disobedience to Mary Wollstonecraft's groundbreaking advocacy of women's rights.

A wide variety of cultural movements are also covered, including Neoclassicism, Surrealism, and Postmodernism.