The fascinating life and work of Charles Van Doren

A History of Knowledge by Charles Van Doren

The book received good reviews in the Western media when it was first published. One reviewer said that, "Van Doren's book details the development of thought. Covering the expanse of human history, Van Doren highlights people and events that have advanced knowledge and reason to today's standards."

Another wrote that, "A coherent journey from the beginnings of writing and philosophy to the computerized technology of the modern era. How knowledge and learning have changed the course of human events and our understanding of the world."

Van Doren's attempt was to present a history of the whole through various parts, so "knowledge" is traced through science, through philosophy, through politics, through literature, and so on. He talks about certain kinds of knowledge -- general knowledge, universal knowledge, certain knowledge, and defines and expands upon these categories throughout the text. He distinguishes between general knowledge and knowledge of particulars, and explores the inter-relationship of knowledge and happiness: "The desire to know, when you realise you do not know, is universal and probably irresistible. It was the original temptation of mankind, and no man or woman, and especially no child, can overcome it for long. But it is a desire, as Shakespeare said, that grows by what it feeds on. It is impossible to slake the thirst for knowledge. And the more intelligent you are, the more this is so."

The book is fairly easy reading and instructive and many students have found it useful for getting a quick briefing on the key events in the development of civilization. I was intrigued to learn, for instance, that the mighty Inca Empire which existed for thousands of years never invented writing. More interestingly, the Incas built miles of roads throughout their empire but they never invented the wheel so all travel took place on foot. They appeared not to know anything about the civilization of the Aztecs in Mesoamerica only a few hundred miles away, mainly due to the limitations of travel. There are many other interesting facts and stories to be found as the book takes the reader through the ages of history introducing pivotal events and the persons who featured in them. These capsule introductions to philosophers and thinkers will tantalize history buffs and whet the appetite for more reading on the subject.

However this outline -- given its meager size it can scarcely be more -- of human history viewed through "the lens of intellectual achievement and the advance of knowledge" has an undeniably selective approach because Van Doren traces almost solely the Western tradition of intellectual development. This "compendium of everything" mentions Asian thought, philosophy and knowledge rather cursorily and devotes barely two pages to the birth and growth of Islam and its Prophet referring to the contribution of the Muslims to the advance of European scientific theory, more or less in passing. This cavalier disregard for the intellectual heritage of the rest of the world and its European-centric bias makes the book disappointing for those of us who would like to have a broader world view.

Quite as interesting though is the story of the man -- this is the Van Doren who was accused of cheating on the earliest of the quiz shows in the US as far back as the 1950s. It is ironic that he should have indulged in fraud because he was educated enough to have, perhaps, won the prize on his own. Certainly he was better read than the current crop of would-be millionaires so popular on the television today.

Van Doren was a 30 year old English professor at Columbia University when he first appeared on the popular quiz show "Twenty-One." Good looking and well bred as well as a serious academic, he came from a family of intellectual achievers. His father was the Pulitzer Prize winning poet Mark Van Doren and his mother was a novelist and writer, while his uncle was a noted historian. Van Doren himself had a broad range of interests because although he earned his BA studying a "great books" curriculum he also studied astrophysics and maths.

When a friend told him of the money to be made from quiz shows, Van Doren applied to "Twenty-One" which at the time was facing faltering ratings. The producers saw in him the kind of attractive winner who could popularize the show, so the idea of fraud was born. The producers scripted the program so that Van Doren and another challenger would have a string of ties to build up the drama for Van Doren's eventual victory and the attractive young man played his part to perfection. Fed with answers and coached on how to act during the show, he appeared to television audiences to know about topics as diverse as the natural sciences, American history, and pop culture and he soon became the new champion of "Twenty-One" and ratings for the show began to rise.

He finally earned $138,000 --which was a very large sum at the time. At a Grand Finale he tied and then eventually lost to the new challenger. Because of his popularity on the show he became a sought after celebrity and the television companies capitalized on this by giving him lucrative contracts for guest appearances as a panelist on other shows.

Finally and inevitably the tabloids found out that the quiz show had been rigged and the scandal broke in a blaze of publicity. Van Doren repeatedly denied that he was involved or that the allegations were correct. He was called to appear before a Congressional Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, which was investigating the quiz-show scandal, and there he finally confessed to being a party to the deception. The media was horror-struck because no matter how gullible they are, the American public does not like being made a fool of, so the reaction against Van Doren was strong. NBC cancelled its contract with him and he was forced to resign from his job at Columbia University and faced strong social ostracism.

The scandal finally faded away and many years later became the basis for a 1994 film "Quiz Show" which had a big name cast and was directed by Robert Redford. It is quite a good film and easy on the eyes because it has the handsome Ralph Fiennes as Van Doren. I wonder whether there is a DVD around?

But what of the protagonist of this morality play? Charles Van Doren's story should have a salutary effect because, as we used to say when we were children, "cheaters never prosper," and that is exactly what happened to him. He more or less went underground after the scandal broke and led a quiet life, out of the public eye, working as an editor at the Encyclopedia Britannica for many years and writing under a pseudonym. Only when enough time had passed for the scandal to be largely forgotten did he use his real name once again for this book.

The shining promise that his education and erudition could have led to is evident from the scholarship and learning displayed in this book. But unfortunately his reputation was forever besmirched and his "lifetime of reading, thinking, and talking" was tainted by humiliation and ignominy. An object lesson for all who contemplate and engage in fraudulent schemes for personal gain!

Yasmeen Murshed is a full-time bookworm and a part-time educationist . She is also the founder of Scholastica School.