UPSC Exam  >  UPSC Questions  >  Who wrote “The discovery of America and... Start Learning for Free
Who wrote “The discovery of America and the cape route to India were the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind?
  • a)
    Adam Smith
  • b)
    Karl Marx
  • c)
    G.B. Shaw
  • d)
    None of these
Correct answer is option 'A'. Can you explain this answer?
Explore Courses for UPSC exam

Similar UPSC Doubts

Read the information given below carefully and answer.At the end of the nineteenth century, a rising interest in Native American customs and an increasing desire to understand Native American culture prompted ethnologists to begin recording the life stories of Native American. Ethnologists had a distinct reason for wanting to hear the stories: they were after linguistic or anthropological data that would supplement their own field observations, and they believed that the personal stories, even of a single individual, could increase their understanding of the cultures that they had been observing from without. In addition, many ethnologists at the turn ofthe century believed that Native American manners and customs were rapidly disappearing, and that it was important to preserve for posterity as much information as could be adequately recorded before the cultures disappeared forever.There were, however, arguments against this method as a way of acquiring accurate and complete information. Franz Boas, for example, described autobiographies as being “of limited value, and useful chiefly for the study of the perversion of truth by memory,” while Paul Radin contended that investigators rarely spent enough time with the tribes they were observing, and inevitably derived results too tinged by the investigator’s own emotional tone to be reliable. Even more importantly, as these life stories moved from the traditional oral mode to recorded written form, much was inevitably lost. Editors often decided what elements were significant to the field research on a given tribe. Native Americans recognized that the essence of their lives could not be communicated in English and that events that they thought significant were often deemed unimportant by their interviewers. Indeed, the very act of telling their stories could force Native American narrators to distort their cultures, as taboos had to be broken to speak the names of dead relatives crucial to their family stories.Despite all of this, autobiography remains a useful tool for ethnological research: such personal reminiscences and impressions, incomplete as they may be, are likely to throw morelight on the working of the mind and emotions than any amount of speculation from an ethnologist or ethnological theorist from another culture.Q.It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements about the usefulness of life stories as a source of ethnographic information?

Read the information given below carefully and answer the following question.At the end of the nineteenth century, a rising interest in Native American customs and an increasing desire to understand Native American culture prompted ethnologists to begin recording the life stories of Native American. Ethnologists had a distinct reason for wanting to hear the stories: they were after linguistic or anthropological data that would supplement their own field observations, and they believed that the personal stories, even of a single individual, could increase their understanding of the cultures that they had been observing from without. In addition, many ethnologists at the turn ofthe century believed that Native American manners and customs were rapidly disappearing, and that it was important to preserve for posterity as much information as could be adequately recorded before the cultures disappeared forever.There were, however, arguments against this method as a way of acquiring accurate and complete information. Franz Boas, for example, described autobiographies as being “of limited value, and useful chiefly for the study of the perversion of truth by memory,” while Paul Radin contended that investigators rarely spent enough time with the tribes they were observing, and inevitably derived results too tinged by the investigator’s own emotional tone to be reliable. Even more importantly, as these life stories moved from the traditional oral mode to recorded written form, much was inevitably lost. Editors often decided what elements were significant to the field research on a given tribe. Native Americans recognized that the essence of their lives could not be communicated in English and that events that they thought significant were often deemed unimportant by their interviewers. Indeed, the very act of telling their stories could force Native American narrators to distort their cultures, as taboos had to be broken to speak the names of dead relatives crucial to their family stories.Despite all of this, autobiography remains a useful tool for ethnological research: such personal reminiscences and impressions, incomplete as they may be, are likely to throw morelight on the working of the mind and emotions than any amount of speculation from an ethnologist or ethnological theorist from another culture.Q.Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?

Read the information given below carefully and answer.At the end of the nineteenth century, a rising interest in Native American customs and an increasing desire to understand Native American culture prompted ethnologists to begin recording the life stories of Native American. Ethnologists had a distinct reason for wanting to hear the stories: they were after linguistic or anthropological data that would supplement their own field observations, and they believed that the personal stories, even of a single individual, could increase their understanding of the cultures that they had been observing from without. In addition, many ethnologists at the turn ofthe century believed that Native American manners and customs were rapidly disappearing, and that it was important to preserve for posterity as much information as could be adequately recorded before the cultures disappeared forever.There were, however, arguments against this method as a way of acquiring accurate and complete information. Franz Boas, for example, described autobiographies as being “of limited value, and useful chiefly for the study of the perversion of truth by memory,” while Paul Radin contended that investigators rarely spent enough time with the tribes they were observing, and inevitably derived results too tinged by the investigator’s own emotional tone to be reliable. Even more importantly, as these life stories moved from the traditional oral mode to recorded written form, much was inevitably lost. Editors often decided what elements were significant to the field research on a given tribe. Native Americans recognized that the essence of their lives could not be communicated in English and that events that they thought significant were often deemed unimportant by their interviewers. Indeed, the very act of telling their stories could force Native American narrators to distort their cultures, as taboos had to be broken to speak the names of dead relatives crucial to their family stories.Despite all of this, autobiography remains a useful tool for ethnological research: such personal reminiscences and impressions, incomplete as they may be, are likely to throw morelight on the working of the mind and emotions than any amount of speculation from an ethnologist or ethnological theorist from another culture.Q.According to the passage, collecting life stories can be a useful methodology because

Top Courses for UPSC

Who wrote “The discovery of America and the cape route to India were the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind?a)Adam Smithb)Karl Marxc)G.B. Shawd)None of theseCorrect answer is option 'A'. Can you explain this answer?
Question Description
Who wrote “The discovery of America and the cape route to India were the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind?a)Adam Smithb)Karl Marxc)G.B. Shawd)None of theseCorrect answer is option 'A'. Can you explain this answer? for UPSC 2025 is part of UPSC preparation. The Question and answers have been prepared according to the UPSC exam syllabus. Information about Who wrote “The discovery of America and the cape route to India were the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind?a)Adam Smithb)Karl Marxc)G.B. Shawd)None of theseCorrect answer is option 'A'. Can you explain this answer? covers all topics & solutions for UPSC 2025 Exam. Find important definitions, questions, meanings, examples, exercises and tests below for Who wrote “The discovery of America and the cape route to India were the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind?a)Adam Smithb)Karl Marxc)G.B. Shawd)None of theseCorrect answer is option 'A'. Can you explain this answer?.
Solutions for Who wrote “The discovery of America and the cape route to India were the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind?a)Adam Smithb)Karl Marxc)G.B. Shawd)None of theseCorrect answer is option 'A'. Can you explain this answer? in English & in Hindi are available as part of our courses for UPSC. Download more important topics, notes, lectures and mock test series for UPSC Exam by signing up for free.
Here you can find the meaning of Who wrote “The discovery of America and the cape route to India were the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind?a)Adam Smithb)Karl Marxc)G.B. Shawd)None of theseCorrect answer is option 'A'. Can you explain this answer? defined & explained in the simplest way possible. Besides giving the explanation of Who wrote “The discovery of America and the cape route to India were the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind?a)Adam Smithb)Karl Marxc)G.B. Shawd)None of theseCorrect answer is option 'A'. Can you explain this answer?, a detailed solution for Who wrote “The discovery of America and the cape route to India were the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind?a)Adam Smithb)Karl Marxc)G.B. Shawd)None of theseCorrect answer is option 'A'. Can you explain this answer? has been provided alongside types of Who wrote “The discovery of America and the cape route to India were the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind?a)Adam Smithb)Karl Marxc)G.B. Shawd)None of theseCorrect answer is option 'A'. Can you explain this answer? theory, EduRev gives you an ample number of questions to practice Who wrote “The discovery of America and the cape route to India were the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind?a)Adam Smithb)Karl Marxc)G.B. Shawd)None of theseCorrect answer is option 'A'. Can you explain this answer? tests, examples and also practice UPSC tests.
Explore Courses for UPSC exam

Top Courses for UPSC

Explore Courses
Signup for Free!
Signup to see your scores go up within 7 days! Learn & Practice with 1000+ FREE Notes, Videos & Tests.
10M+ students study on EduRev