Human Accomplishment, by Charles Murray (https://a.co/d/fbWYxZe) starts by attempting to catalog and even quantify the greatest achievements in different fields, and then tries to devise a narrative to describe the conditions that promote the greatest accomplishments.
Re: Geography of Thought: One of my favorite essays of all time is Macaulay's essay on Francis Bacon - he makes a convincing case that Bacon's great innovation was shifting philosophy away from the Grecian focus on improving the individual to improving his condition - making imperfect men comfortable rather than perfect.
Human Accomplishment, by Charles Murray (https://a.co/d/fbWYxZe) starts by attempting to catalog and even quantify the greatest achievements in different fields, and then tries to devise a narrative to describe the conditions that promote the greatest accomplishments.
Re: Geography of Thought: One of my favorite essays of all time is Macaulay's essay on Francis Bacon - he makes a convincing case that Bacon's great innovation was shifting philosophy away from the Grecian focus on improving the individual to improving his condition - making imperfect men comfortable rather than perfect.