Arranged chronologically, the entries in “1001 Ideas That Changed the Way We Think” (Atria) start with the human control of fire 3,000 years ago and end with the discovery in 2012 that so-called junk DNA is a critical part of the human genome. Editor Robert Arp has produced a reference guide that’s fun to browse. Among his favorite ideas is Godwin’s Law, which states that if an online discussion continues long enough, someone will inevitably make a comparison to Adolf Hitler or the Nazis.
JAN GARDNER