The Worldly Philosophers

The book was written in 1953 and has sold more than four million copies through seven editions. Heilbroner begins chapter two by describing the paradoxical and precarious nature of human behavior. Heilbroner describes three ways in which societies have dealt with: tradition, authoritarianism, and market system. The former two operate in the "old" ways, but the latter one is nothing less, according to Heilbroner, than a modern revolution.