12 Books That Changed the World
Gentle readers know that I often post these sorts of literary lists -- various critics and journalists' judgments and choices of books that they think are important. It's always interesting to see what people think -- or don't think -- of particular books.
Here is the latest, from the Sunday Times of London, as one journalist chooses 12 books that changed the world -- and in the process found himself making surprising decisions. Read on! (And do let me know what you think or if you have additions).
Principia Mathematica (1687) by Isaac Newton
Married Love (1918) by Marie Stopes
Magna Carta (1215) by members of the English ruling classes
Book of Rules of Association Football (1863) by a group of former English public-school men
On the Origin of Species (1859) by Charles Darwin
On the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1789) by William Wilberforce in Parliament, immediately printed in several versions
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) by Mary Wollstonecraft
Experimental Researches in Electricity (three volumes, 1839, 1844, 1855) by Michael Faraday
Patent Specification for Arkwright’s Spinning Machine (1769) by Richard Arkwright
The King James Bible (1611) by William Tyndale and 54 scholars appointed by the king
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776) by Adam Smith
The First Folio (1623) by William Shakespeare