The word anthology comes to us from the Classical Greek anthos meaning flowers, and logia meaning collection. In time this collection came to be a selection of poems, wise sayings, stories, essays, and chronicles from history. Today as a selection of such writings, Perusals, edited by John Willard, invites the reader of all ages to explore short examples of the works of the great and eloquent thinkers from over the centuries. Thus the armchair traveler can learn from the ideas expressed by Socrates in ancient Greece to those of Einstein in modern America. At his fingertips, the reader of Perusals discovers if his interpretations yield a proper understanding of the diverse and demanding material, especially if he avails himself of the penetrating questions that appear in exercises that follow each selection. By the same means, the pragmatic student facing a standardized test can test his wits and learn to score and rank his ability to handle demanding passages. Both the venturesome explorer and conscientious student may wish to continue to the next books in the series, Perspectives I, which focuses on literature, and Perspectives II, on history.
