The Light of Civilization

The Light of Civilization is a turn toward the humanities by Wu Jun, a computer scientist and Silicon Valley investor, following On Top of the Tides and The Beauty of Mathematics. The book unfolds roughly in chronological order, beginning with the birth of the Earth and the evolution of life, and moving through ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Chinese agricultural civilization, ancient Greek science, Roman law, porcelain, and the Renaissance, all the way to modern science, the Industrial Revolution, computers and the Internet, finance and Silicon Valley, astrophysics, and environmental protection. Rather than starting from the wars and dynastic changes of kings and generals, the author selects dozens of episodes overlooked in conventional historical narratives yet profoundly influential on the course of human civilization, presenting them as close-ups through an interwoven perspective of humanities, technology, and economics, in an attempt to sketch the diverse paths of human civilization's evolution. The book is substantial in scale and is usually published in three or four volumes, with relatively independent chapters that can be read separately. For this work the author traveled to civilization sites and museums around the world, and the book includes a number of illustrations and chronologies to aid reading. The work has won honors including "2014 China Good Book" and has been listed among outstanding publications recommended to young people nationwide.