The authors adopt the conventional (and correct) view of the Enlightenment, that between the late 17th and early 19th centuries, a number of philosophers and other writers advanced theories — about economics, politics, science and society — that marked a decisive break with the past. These concepts, they believe, still define the modern world. The authors’ big four are Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Charles Darwin and (a joint prize) Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. The ideas are, of course, capitalism, socialism, evolution and liberal democracy.
From a review in The New York Times
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