Worlds Apart

Owen Barfield (1898-1997) was one of the twentieth century's most insightful writers and philosophers. His ideas informed the thinking and writing of influential authors such as C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien who were fellow members of the Inklings, an Oxford group of scholars.As a leading Anthroposophist in the English-speaking world, Barfield was especially interested in the evolution of human consciousness, exploring its development through the history of language.Thinkers and writers central to Barfield's work include Goethe, Coleridge, and Rudolf Steiner. Although best known for his non-fiction, such as 'Poetic Diction' and 'Saving the Appearances', Barfield also wrote poetry, fiction, and plays.T. S. Eliot, W. H. Auden, Howard Nemerov, and Saul Bellow are among those who have praised Barfield's writing, and Barfield is often described as having a prophetic, powerful mind.

Worlds Apart: A Dialogue of the 60's is a fictional conversation among eight people: a physicist, a biologist, a theologian, a philosopher, a psychiatrist, a teacher, a rocket scientist, and a lawyer.Energetic, wide-ranging and deeply penetrating, this brilliantly witty book points toward a solution to a major problem of our time, the gap between specializations.As the sheer bulk of human knowledge demands ever increasing specialization, is man losing sight of the wholeness of life?Owen Barfield is one of the twentieth century's most significant writers and thinkers. Widely renowned for his insight and literary artistry, Barfield addresses key concerns of the sciences, humanities, social sciences, and arts in our time. His fellow Inklings, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, are among the leading figures influenced by Barfield's work."A journey into seas of thought very far from ordinary routes of intellectual shipping" T.S. Eliot