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Charles Murray, Human Accomplishment: The Pursuit of Excellence in the Arts and Sciences, 800 B.C. to 1950
Harper Collins | ISBN 0060929642 | 2004 | PDF | 4.6 MB | 692 pages
Charles Murray focuses on ranking the greats in this book, instead of ranking the IQ of the populace, which he did with Hernstein in The Bell Curve. He shows us how ranking the greats can be done objectively by using the surveys of histories of the various disciplines. Whoever gets the most mentions and space from the experts who have the ability to recognize greatness make it on to Murray's lists.
Murray does a good job of explaining why the greats are great. It is very difficult to create a work that will be renowned for centuries, let alone a few decades. It is very difficult to be the first to be able to explain how something works in a scientific discovery, such as how a flame starts. To give us an idea of what genius is, he mentions that Beethoven was able to compose music without an instrument in front of him, just by writing it in down on paper, knowing what the notes, harmonies, and melodies would sound like. He composed great music even after becoming totally deaf. This goes far beyond a merely talented musician in popular music who can just play well by ear.
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