100: INSANI TEHZEEB KAY MAMAR (2ND EDITION)

Will James Durant (1885–1981) was an American philosopher, historian, and essayist, best known for his seminal book The Story of Civilization, co-authored with his wife Ariel Durant (1898–1981). He sought to improve the understanding of human perspectives. He was born in Massachusetts to Joseph Durant and Mary Allard, who had immigrated to the United States from Quebec. He graduated from St. Petersburg School in 1900 and then went to St. Peter's College in New Jersey. He became a socialist in 1905 and graduated two years later. After working for a magazine for $2 a week, he wrote articles on sex offenders for other magazines. In 1907, he began teaching Latin, French, English, and geometry at the University of New Jersey and also became the college librarian. In 1911, Ferrer began teaching at the Modern School. Here he fell in love with Chaya Kofman, alias Ariel, a girl thirteen years his junior, and the two married. They had a daughter and adopted a son. In 1913, Will gave up teaching and began giving lectures at the Presbyterian Church for a fee of ten dollars. The notes from these lectures became the starting point for “The Story of Civilization.” In 1917, while working on his doctorate in philosophy, he wrote his first book, “Philosophy and the Social Problem.” “The Story of Philosophy” began as short pamphlets written for workers. In 1926, a major American publisher published these pamphlets in book form. The success of the book gave Will and Ariel Durant financial freedom and enabled them to travel around the world. Then he set about writing the eleven-volume masterpiece, The Story of Civilization. Will and Ariel Durant attempted to present a “unified history” of the human race. They were against writing history from a scholarly perspective. Their goal was to write a biography of civilization that included culture, art, philosophy, religion, etc., in addition to wars, politics, and the lives of the conquerors. After Will Durant’s death, two of his books, Heroes of History (2001) and The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time (2002), were published. Several of his books have been translated into Urdu. Will and Ariel have expressed their intense love for each other in their joint autobiography. In their final days, when Will was hospitalized, Ariel stopped eating and died on October 25, 1981. Although his daughter Ethel and grandchildren tried to hide Ariel's death from the ailing Will, he learned of it and died two weeks later. On November 7, 1981, two days after his 96th birthday, Will Durant was buried next to Ariel in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

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It is difficult and in a way inaccurate to classify the architects or heroes of human civilization by their "impact." How can you compare a scientist or philosopher who has presented a theory in a scientific field with an inventor or a warrior? Or how can you compare a saint or conqueror who has achieved success in one region and era with another region or era? Yet we find books that list not just the hundred but also the fifty or ten greats. In reality, all of these are excuses for looking at historical figures from their own perspective. While their aim is to include many figures, they also exclude or reject many figures from the stream of history. The same is the case with this book. After reading Will Durant’s famous book, “The Story of Civilization,” consisting of eleven volumes (more than 14,000 pages), I selected those figures who were most prominent in this book. His wife, Ariel Durant, constantly helped him in writing this book. This not only gives us an insight into the life and work of the builders of civilization, but also shows us what conclusions the author has drawn from his research and writing for half a century; which eras, which individuals and achievements are outstanding in his opinion. For example, who does he consider to be among the greatest thinkers in human history? Which poets do he think are truly great; poets whose songs still resonate in the ears after hundreds of thousands of years? All these subjects have been combined in the book under consideration. I believe that this book fully conveys the essence of "The Story of Civilization." Will Durant himself was carrying out this task in the last days of his life (1981). In a way, I have completed his intended project in the Urdu translation.