David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim have put together a volume of daily lessons from seven fields of knowledge that follow a weekly regimen. Monday is History, Tuesday is Literature, Wednesday is Visual Arts, Thursday is Science, Friday is Music, Saturday is Philosophy, and Sunday is, of course, Religion. It is, in essence, a quick course in things your really ought to know, like the education and reign of Alexander The Great.

Kidder is an entrepreneur who has founded many cutting edge companies in the information age and served as Vice-President of THINK New Ideas. Oppenheim has a well-established career as a television and print journalist and is currently the senior producer of NBC’s Today show.

The layout and construction of this book is such that it allows the reader to take in these facts as well as take time to let them sink in. For example, when you read about melody and the structure of music Friday morning, you have the whole day to think about it and at a single page per day it doesn’t bog you down with too much to remember. Then the information will be well absorbed into the gray matter until it is needed at a cocktail party where you can wow the boss's wife or bore the obnoxious guy from sales.

This makes for a wonderful experience in learning that will take even the most tired of minds and revive them with the power of ammonium carbonate. In addition to the body of the daily essay there are footnotes that are sometimes humorous and always supportive of the main idea. If my high school English teacher judged it, an A+ would be emblazoned on the cover.

The Intellectual Devotional is perfect for everyone. You don’t have to be a Ph.D. to want to read this book; you just have to like learning.