The socio-biogenic propaedia is concerned with accounting for the existentiality of the larger population by articulation of the lived and cumulative memory; a "remembered present". In modern society, the propaedia is represented by the totality of the collective knowledge as it accrues at information reservoirs, within databases, and forums of mass communications.
The abridgement of the Encyclopedia Britannica's Propaedia: Outline of Knowledge as annotated by the following 10 sections is illustrative of the breadth of the knowledge base and the consequently, the need to systematically and coherently organise knowledge.
OUTLINE OF KNOWLEDGE
1. MATTER & ENERGY (Lead Author: Nigel Calder)
1.1 Atoms
1.1.1 Structure and Properties of Atoms 1.1.2 Atomic Nuclei and Elementary Particles
1.2 Energy, Radiation, and States of Matter
1.2.1 Chemical Elements: Periodic Variation in Their Properties
1.2.2 Chemical Compounds: Molecular Structure and Chemical Bonding
1.2.3 Chemical Reactions
1.2.4 Heat, Thermodynamics, Liquids, Gases, Plasmas
1.2.5 The Solid State of Matter
1.2.6 Mechanics of Particles, Rigid and Deformable Bodies]]: Elasticity, Vibration, and Flow
1.2.7 Electricity and Magnetism
1.2.8 Waves and Wave Motion
1.3 The Universe
1.3.1 The Cosmos
1.3.2 Galaxies and Stars
1.3.3 The Solar System
INTELLECTUAL HERITAGE
"The whole of the Propædia’s synoptic outline of knowledge deserves to be read carefully. It represents a twentieth-century scheme for the organization of knowledge that is more comprehensive than any other and that also accommodates the intellectual heterodoxy of our time" MJ Adler
2. THE EARTH (Lead Author: Peter John Wiley)
3. LIFE (Lead Author: Rene Dubos)
4. HUMAN LIFE (Lead Author: Loren Eiseley)
4.1 The Development of Human Life
4.2 The Human Body: Health and Disease
4.3 Human Behavior and Experience
4.1.1 Human Evolution 4.1.2 Human Heredity: the Races
4.2.1 The Structures and Functions of the Human Body 4.2.2 Human Health 4.2.3 Human Diseases 4.2.4 The Practice of Medicine and Care of Health
Conscious Experience 4.3.5 Development of Learning and Thinking 4.3.6 Personality and the Self: Integration and Disintegration
5. SOCIETY (Lead Author: Harald D. Lasswell)
6. ART (Lead Author: Mark Van Doren)
6.1 Art in General
6.2 Particular Arts
6.1.1 Theory and Classification of the Arts 6.1.2 Experience and Criticism of Art; the Nonaesthetic Context of Art 6.1.3 Characteristics of the Arts in Particular Cultures
6.2.1 Literature 6.2.2 Theater 6.2.3 Motion Pictures 6.2.4 Music 6.2.5 Dance 6.2.6 Architecture, Garden and Landscape Design, and Urban Design 6.2.7 Sculpture6.2.8 Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Photography 6.2.9 Decoration and Design|Functional Design
7. TECHNOLOGY (Lead Author: Lord Peter Ritchie Calder)
7.1 Nature & Development of Technology
7.2 Elements of Technology
7.3 Fields of Technology
7.1.1 Technology: Its Scop and History 7.1.2 The Organization of Human Work
7.2.1 Technology of Energy Conversion and Utilization 7.2.2 Technology of Tools and Machines 7.2.3 Technology of Measurement, Observation, and Control
7.2.4 Extraction and Conversion of Industrial Raw Materials 7.2.5 Technology of Industrial Production Processes
7.3.1 Agriculture and Food Production 7.3.2 Technology of the Major Industries 7.3.3 Construction Technology 7.3.4 Transportation Technology7.3.5 Technology of Information Processing and of Communications Systems 7.3.6 Military Technology 7.3.7 Technology of the Urban Community7.3.8 Technology of Earth and Space Exploration
8. RELIGION (Lead Author: Wilfred Cantwell Smith)
8.1 Religion in General
8.2 Particular Religions
8.1.1 Knowledge and Understanding of Religion 8.1.2 Religious Life: Institutions and Practices
8.2.1 Prehistoric Religion and Primitive Religion 8.2.2 Religions of Ancient Peoples 8.2.3 Hinduism and Other Religions of India 8.2.4 Buddhism8.2.5 Indigenous Religions of East Asia: Religions of China, Korea, and Japan 8.2.6 Judaism 8.2.7 Christianity 8.2.8 Islam 8.2.9 Other Religions and Religious Movements in the Modern World
9. HISTORY (Lead Author: Jacques Barzun)
10. BRANCHES OF KNOWLEDGE (Lead Author: Mortimer J. Adler)
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