What's your nomination for Most Important book written in the last 466 years?

Sadly I have to say any version of the Bible.

Although not "important" to me, it is to so many worldwide and I believe it has to be classed with one of the most "important" books due to all the problems it has caused and will continue to cause for many years to come.

most important book in 466 years?

for me i'd say shel silverstein. maybe "the giving tree"

for the public i'd say "on the origin of species". mainly because it is so against what is still common knowledge in the 21st century...that a man in the sky created us out of clay and f***s with us...

for the 21st century i'd say ray kurzweil's "the singularity is near", because it is so rebellious in idea; non-forgiving and straight to the point that we are on a path of change.


[edit on 8-4-2010 by tektek2012]

reply to post by fanthorpe


i thought the world started 6000 years before, not 466?

maybe i'm wrong

I'm gonna go with The Book of the Sub-Genius.

Their Church on-line.

[edit on 4/8/2010 by LifeInDeath]

Originally posted by zeddissad

Originally posted by audas

Trollop.

This is like saying Picasso is not possible without Cezzane or Georges Braque or for that matter Diego Velázquez.....profoundly influenced, one leading to another, almost plagiarized - but one without the other - is utter rubbish and flies in the face of the actual philosophy your are espousing. Fatalism and destiny - Voltaire should have put you in Candide !!

Saul - Voltaires Bastards !
Chomsky - Manufacturing Consent / Hegemony.
Why Rich countries are Rich and Poor Countries are Poor
The Gulag Archipelago
The Mismeasure of Man
Darwin - On the Origin of Species
Foucault - All of them
Hobbes - Leviathan
Thomas Paine - The Rights of Man
Voltaire - Candide
Dawkins - God is not Great / The greatest Show on Earth.

......Will have to come back to this...

I'm sorry if I disturbed you by my cumbersome English. Philosophical cannon is not God for me and I enjoy every well pronounced work. Especially Foucault and Chomsky are my favorite authors. Still role of tradition is undeniable for me.
OP question was, what you think is most influential work. The "influence" part need time ... that is why I did not account 20. century (21.) authors - they need time to evaluate.
Once again sorry if I upset you - we have probably more common together then we realize know. BTW last two month I have appetite to read Candide again - I should visit my parents library soon.

No doubt we have a lot in common, three excellent references - I simply abhor absolutes.

My choice is
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/0500b01af88d.jpg[/atsimg]
Some quotes from random-online-book-store Customer Reviews

Thomas Kuhn performed a signal service for historiography of science by studying how new ideas and new ways of thinking displace the old. He invented the term 'paradigm shift' to describe what happens when 'normal science' runs into 'anomalies' and enters a 'crisis', which in turn leads to a 'scientific revolution'. Nobody had heard of such things before, so Kuhn had a scoop. He sketched some historical examples in iconoclastic style; the result is this short book, first published forty years ago and still wowing Cultural Studies students today.

Before Kuhn, we were taught in school that scientific progress was linear, that it was an unending progression of refinements and developments, with one "truth" leading to the next "truth." Kuhn's insights including pointing out that such a linear progression was mostly a lie. His thesis was that the major developments in science were mostly revolutionary. That some "truths" turned out to be false. Astronomy was revolutionized by Galielo and Copernicus, and man was divested from the center of the universe. Physics was revolutionized by Newton. Biology and Darwin. It didn't hurt that plate tectonics came along shortly after Kuhn published, and Kuhn looked like his model was predictive, too.

My favorite aspect of this book is how Kuhn describes people's blind resistance to new ideas and technology, even if it is something that will ultimately benefit mankind. In a moment of dark truth, Kuhn states that in many cases it is not a matter of convincing those who already established, but rather convincing the next generation and simply waiting for the current one to die off. It's both a guide to understanding how to really effect change in a world of stubborn thought, as well as a detailed history of innovations and the process required to make them mainstream. In its scathing criticism of the scientific establishment, it unveils how much further we could be if we did in fact adopt a linear structure for improving technology.

This book
has made me
more open minded.
What more can I say.


David Grouchy

Most definitely Dune by Frank Herbert...without a doubt...

Dune



[/im]

On The Origin Of Species, by Charles Darwin.

reply to post by davidgrouchy


Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica by I. Newton

reply to post by ghostsoldier


I agree that The Celestine Prophecy was one of the most important books, I bought more then 30 copies and gave them to people I knew, in fact just reread it recently, there has never been a book before or since that resonates with me so completely.

I'd have to go with The Old Man And The Sea.....It's an awesome work, and still should be required reading in my opinion. Poppa really got it right with that one.

Originally posted by pteridine
reply to post by davidgrouchy

 

Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica by I. Newton

This one should be first on the list.....

Originally posted by adifferentbreed
I'd have to go with The Old Man And The Sea.....It's an awesome work, and still should be required reading in my opinion. Poppa really got it right with that one.

Really? I reckon it's the worst Hemingway book I've read. A farewell to Arms is by far my favourite. But yeah.. a work of fiction. More important than On the Origin of Species? I don't think so..

[edit on 8-4-2010 by rhinoceros]

I believe it's a toss up between On the Origin of Species and The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.

reply to post by tektek2012


Well the KJV Bible was written in the last 400 years as well as plenty of other versions of where each different splinter group have basically changed the story to suit their own agenda.

Originally posted by pteridine
reply to post by davidgrouchy

 

Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica by I. Newton

nice to be able to agree with you on something!

Originally posted by fanthorpe
Well the KJV Bible was written in the last 400 years as well as plenty of other versions of where each different splinter group have basically changed the story to suit their own agenda.

True enough.
Star for you, but
I consider it a modern
translation of an older work.
Hence, outside the 466 year limit.


David Grouchy

[edit on 8-4-2010 by davidgrouchy]

Objectively I would definitely go with Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica. However, when it comes to personal preference either Paradise Lost by Milton or Principles of Psychology by William James. One is the greatest piece of literature ever and the other is still the most complete text on psychology ever written.

How to raise an emotionally intelligent child by Dr. John Gottman.

reply to post by Xcalibur254
Principles of Psychology by William James. One is the greatest piece of literature ever.

I'm finding out
about a lot of interesting
works, I was unaware of before.


David Grouchy




[edit on 8-4-2010 by davidgrouchy]