Herbert J. Muller

Who was Herbert J. Muller?

Herbert J. Muller was an American historian, academic, government official and author. He was educated at Cornell University. He taught at Cornell, Purdue and Indiana University, served in the Department of State, the War Production Board, and frequently lectured abroad.

He is the author of "The Uses of the Past", a sweeping inquiry into the lessons of history, focusing on Rome & Greece, Christianity & Judaism, the Byzantine empire, the Middle Ages, and Russia & China.

Far less brilliant, original, and versatile than the Greeks, the Romans were content to borrow most of their culture from them. They gave it their own practical bent, however, translating it into terms more suitable for universal use. They were able to transmit it to the barbaric West and thereby to lay the foundations of modern Europe. Then they systematized education, bequeathing the seven liberal arts to the Middle Ages. They adapted Greek philosophy to daily needs, applying it to government and recasting it into a philosophy of life available to men without high gifts.