Introduction to MANAS Online


Each eight-page weekly issue of the MANAS Journal contained several short essays, crafted from a wide variety of sources, that reflected on the human condition. Written, edited, and published for 41 years by Henry Geiger, the MANAS Journal was the work of a lifetime that continues to grow in importance, credibility, and influence. In 1971, a collection of articles from the MANAS Journal were published together as the MANAS Reader.

Perspectives on MANAS Journal


These four perspectives on MANAS and Henry Geiger tell the larger story behind the journal.

   ~Henry Geiger's Foreword to the MANAS Reader provides a broad summary of the practical and philosophic roots of MANAS and articulates the value of "intelligent idealism" to a future still darkly unclear.

   ~Robert Kirsch’s Review of the MANAS Reader praises the published book, which contains articles from the first 25 years of the MANAS Journal, for stirring the mind and restoring a sense of adventure in philosophy.

   ~Susan Witt's MANAS and the Schumacher Center for a New Economics recalls the delight of receiving MANAS in the weekly mail and explains the current effort to keep MANAS accessible in a digital age.

   ~Richard Grossman's A Man and His Paper sketches the unassuming character of Henry Geiger and the other unique personalities behind the creation of MANAS.


Tools of MANAS Online


There are several ways to explore the thousands of pages of MANAS journal, organized here in an online library of Adobe Acrobat PDF files. You will need Acrobat Reader to view the PDF's. Click here to download Acrobat Reader.

The main way to access the MANAS archives is through the MANAS Search Engine that allows you to search by subject, author, or source by simply entering a keyword into the search field.

The additional ways are to browse the MANAS Online reference materials.

  ~The Table of Contents provides a direct link to any MANAS issue by exploring the essay titles within each weekly edition, organized by yearly volume.

  ~The Selected Bibliography is a list of the primary contributors and key references that influenced the writing of the journal. Items of interest in the bibliography may be entered as keywords in the search field to find the corresponding MANAS essays.

  ~The Index was created using Henry Geiger's carefully maintained card index files of MANAS articles. The Index provides insight into the vast contents of MANAS and valuable terms for searching. It is currently available to download as a PDF document.

MANAS has its own unique ethos. These tools are simply a vehicle of introduction. You will soon find your own methods of locating your favorite essays. Share the articles widely in the spirit of the free exchange of ideas. This was Henry Geiger's intent. We are glad to have helped facilitate this exploration and exchange.