Top 25 Books that Changed History by Miriam TuliaoJanuary 30, 2014

What are the books that have made an impact on our culture and society? The New York Public Library decided to delve into the world of literature and examine 25 books that changed history. It was no easy feat—reading is such a personal experience—but we found that the following books have offered unique insights about the world around us and changed the course of human history.

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Comments

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List

Submitted by Mark (not verified) on February 1, 2014 - 11:53am

It says that this is a NY Public Library list but in actuality it is only one person's opinion. It does not say that Miriam took a poll among the other employees or the people that take out books at the library. So to classify this as a NY Public Library list is not so accurate. Then the complete order of the list you posted is not in the same order you mentioned in the article. You have the Torah last and in the article it was in the top 5.

This is more like the list that influenced Blogger

Submitted by Chill (not verified) on February 5, 2014 - 2:03pm

I really cannot believe that in the list we have the following BLATANT omissions. The blogger is OBVIOUSLY uneducated and unqualified to be comprising such a list with such a pretentious title. Blatant Omissions: 1) Homer's Odyssey and Iliad... 2) Aristotle's Poetics (it influenced all of Theater and Creative Writing) 3) Ptolemy's "The Almagest" 4) Euclid's "Elements" it shaped Mathematical Thinking 5) Newton's Principia Mathematica 6) Henry George's "Progress and Poverty" I don't see Saint John the Chrysostom which influenced all of Christian Teachings including Saint Thomas Aquinas who copied him word by word (from the Greek) when writing in Latin Also why Mention the Torah (separately, when the Hebrew text of the Torah was recreated from the Greek text of the Bible?), when Bible is the book that has influenced the world?

Lighten up

Submitted by Craig (not verified) on February 9, 2014 - 10:41am

Jeez, you use the word "pretentious" you pompous douche?

Calm down.

Submitted by TK Steel (not verified) on December 30, 2014 - 9:44pm

Calm your farm cup cake. Do you really expect anything on the internet to be all encompassing. I think you think a little too highly of yourself there champ. Why don't you write your own bloody list and post it? Then people could tell you you are wrong and moronic for leaving books out. ;)

Alphabetical order. The only

Submitted by Barry (not verified) on July 3, 2014 - 1:36pm

Alphabetical order. The only way to be nonbiased.

List

Submitted by Margaret Heinikel (not verified) on August 30, 2016 - 1:29pm

The list above is in alphabetical order. Hence the Torah at the end.

The impact of a book is immeasurable, no?

Submitted by Chadley (not verified) on February 4, 2014 - 3:52pm

What were the criteria that made these books the "top 25 books that changed history?" They're all good selections, but it'd be interesting to know what put these books in front of other valid choices.

Re: Selection Criteria

Submitted by Melanie (not verified) on February 6, 2014 - 10:33am

Per this Forbes article: "To create the list, Tuliao said she considered the books in the library’s collection, how they were used by its patrons, and how often they were checked out. She also evaluated the impact of the books over time. “Many books in this list were published decades, if not centuries, ago, After such a period of time, these books still resonate with readers and that is an important aspect when creating a list like the top 25 books that changed history,” Tuliao added." http://www.forbes.com/sites/janelevere/2014/01/31/new-york-public-library-selects-top-25-books-that-changed-the-course-of-history/

Garbled title

Submitted by Kevin W Parker (not verified) on February 12, 2014 - 11:15am

You'd think a librarian would be able to get the title of one of the most important science books ever written right. It should be "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life"

Not a comprehensive list and since the list is subjective...

Submitted by Allen (not verified) on February 26, 2014 - 3:00pm

"Cold and Heartless, words proceed from those whose life is so uneventful, they may need to get a life! I want to first, thank the Librarian who posted this list, thank you for the service you provide. To the rest of you critics, start your own blog and start your own list if you don't like what she added or did not add. This their list of 25 books that have changed history, I'm sure someone can come up with a completely different list. DO IT! and stop criticizing,

NYPL top books that have changed the world ???

Submitted by Bob Aussenheimer (not verified) on May 22, 2015 - 2:34pm

I'm far from a "Holy Roller" but you place the Bible at 5th place... That fact, in and of itself proves this list to be dubious at best !!!

it's in pseudo-alphabetical

Submitted by John Carter (not verified) on November 6, 2015 - 8:45am

it's in pseudo-alphabetical order. I say pseudo because the bible made 5th place, meaning they alphabetized by "bible"-the 1st word of the title is NOT "bible", it's "King", meaning it should be behind "Hiroshima" in the list. the list is not in order of importance, and the compiler is making no attempt to claim it is. it's just 25 books that people continually go to in the library. which is why I take issue with the dictionary included, the one she cited is certainly influential in that it BEGAN dictionaries but I would bet either the Oxford English or Webster's are the most consulted.

Check your facts

Submitted by nerreman (not verified) on July 29, 2015 - 9:18pm

Really, don't people have any sense these days? Those that are criticizing the order of the list could surely see that it has been created alphabetically in order to remove any sense of bias or favoritism? If you are going to display your lack of intellect, do it wisely. The person who said that the list was dubious needs to think again.