A science historian explores ten founding ideas of Western civilisation and unearths their flaws 

‘Witty and accessible’ ANGELA SAINI
‘A vital piece of work’ ROMA AGRAWAL
‘Stunning’ DAN HICKS

Western civilisation is a powerful brand, full of accepted wisdoms like ‘knowledge is power’, ‘time is money’, and ‘justice is blind’ that we rarely question. Taking cues from Greek philosophy and honed in the Enlightenment, certain notions about humanity and society grew into the tenets many of us still live by today.

But when we take a closer look at these ideas, it seems they’re not all they are cracked up to be. In fact, some of them are outright lies – and we can start to ask who really benefits from them. What is the value of a scientific worldview that conjured up ‘race’? Are the Western concepts of ‘saving’ and ‘wasting’ time really the best ways to live? Who are our laws actually designed to serve? And the real question: is the West as civilised as it likes to think it is?