The Syntopicon: Mortimer Adler's 1952 Index of Western Thought

In 1952, Mortimer J. Adler published 'A Syntopicon', a two-volume concept-oriented index designed to help readers navigate the 54-volume Great Books of the Western World set published by Encyclopædia Britannica. The Syntopicon catalogued every mention of 102 'Great Ideas of Western Civilization' across 431 works, from Homer to Hemingway. Adler, a University of Chicago philosophy professor, conceived the index as an ambitious solution to the intimidating wall of knowledge the Great Books presented. Despite its commercial success in suburban America during the early 1960s, customers reportedly found the Syntopicon unwieldy. The concept has inspired a digital successor, Syntopi.com, which offers a 3D visualization and a personal curriculum-creation tool. The original Syntopicon is available on the Internet Archive.