It has been said (and rightly, we believe) that the history of economic thought has lost popularity in academic circles in recent years.1 At least we must admit that little scholarly work is being done in this field today in comparison with, for example, the turn of the century. Hence now would seem to be an opportune time to consider the im? portance of this field for the education of an economist. And it is with this thought in mind that we have undertaken to sketch here some of the vistas opened up by Joseph A. Schumpeter's monumental work which became available in 1954, a few years after his death.