353. Studying the History of Knowledge feat. Peter Burke

How does one tell the story of knowledge through the centuries? And what kind of knowledge is being discussed when looking at its history?

Peter Burke, a professor of history at Cambridge University, has written more than 30 books over the course of his lifetime and has taken a special interest in studying the history of knowledge and polymaths.

He and Greg discuss a couple of his major works like The Polymath: A Cultural History from Leonardo da Vinci to Susan Sontag and What is the History of Knowledge? (What is History?). They also discuss how the history of knowledge can not come without a history of ignorance, whether or not polymaths are a thing of the past, and if the aggregate amount of knowledge is increasing today.

unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.