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

reply to post by davidgrouchy


T. Kuhn is most influential author in my reading carrier! I did not mentioned him because above stated 20. -21. century limit. But for sure "Structure of scientific revolutions" is must read for anybody how want understand current science. It is something like Swiss army knife. I prosper as network admin now and this book gave me so incredible insight ... wrote 30 years before my job even emerged. It is incredible. Almost all my study carrier: mathematics was my enemy, Kuhn + Husserl opened my mind. Now mathematics/logic is beautiful for me. And positivism, materialism? I can laugh at them now. Thanks to Kuhn.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/b5021c9d79da.jpg[/atsimg]

Everyone always lists "1984" and "Origin of the Species". Bah, I say. Everyone knows that "Animal Farm" and "A Clockwork Orange" are the two books that define life imitating art.

But I guess that some animals truly are more equal than others, funny that I don't remember it being that way before.

But if you remove that 466 year restriction, I have a few Eastern works that should be of some very strong consideration. Like "The Analects of Confucius" or "Tao Te Ching" by Lao Tzu. Or just touch on that link in my signature for a quick educational read, some of which extends back more than 2000 years ago.

So many to pick from.
Lets try the conspiracy theory books of Bill Lyne.
And the interpretations of the ancients by Velikovsky.
Ancient History discovered by Dr. Barry Fell.
Then there are health books by Atkins and Roger Mason.
ED: Ops all the locked up writings of Tesla with his
Dynamic Theory of Gravity being part of them.


[edit on 4/8/2010 by TeslaandLyne]

I vote for the one were writing here as we write,, it's live,, action filled,, with some bad dialogue, is it dialogue after it is typed,,? or is it "once pen is put to paper so to speak,?"

Well i guess this actually by definition could be considered,, book writing ???

Well, I can't speak for any book I haven't read, but two fiction books, both by Ayn Rand, were amongst the most influential that I ever read. "Atlas Shrugged", and "The Fountainhead". Absolutely amazing books.

reply to post by Titen-Sxull


Yep, when the Zombie Apocalypse comes, the real groups of survivors will first acknowledge one another by holding up a copy of this book!

I'm keeping Zombieland's "rules" as an extra appendix for my copy...

I nominate Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs.

Just read them if you haven't, and you'll understand why.


TheAssoc.

reply to post by TheAssociate


Brave New World is great. I haven't read anything by William Burroughs. I added the Ayn Rand suggestions because nobody else had mentioned her yet, whereas every third post has 1984, Brave New World, and Origin of Species :p Still, those are also good picks.

reply to post by DragonsDemesne


I thought the selection of Ayn Rand's work was a good suggestion, as well. Atlas Shrugged is one of those books that should be on some sort of "mandatory reading" list, but ya beat me to it and I hadn't seen any mention of Huxley or Burroughs, so I went with those two crazy Beatniks.

But seriously, check out Naked Lunch if you get a chance.


TheAssoc.

maybe too hard a take to cover the entirety of influential books.
there are so many, from various cultures and eras and sectors of
knowledge. what's been listed so far though is quite interesting.

allow me to say what has influenced me immensely, at least
within the last decade or so. online there are some notes from
a lecture by ed witten. where he pretty much explains, in simple
enough terms, what amounts to his m theory. which encompasses
six major aspects of string theory. in a kind of seething cosmic
mandala set. very intriguing scrawl on the cards shown that he
actually used. a solid impressive build through the relative and
quantum. bringing together divergent aspects, if i recall aptly.

witten is theoretical physicist with heavy math background.
his perceptions are acute. his intelligence is said to rank with
newton. above hawking. he's at princeton. exceedingly formidable.
he's given to such a droll or quiet style that students call him
the alien. his website and google can rustle up the papers i
mention here. they are eye opening and up there with those
notes one of wittgenstein's students took surreptitiously after
being told no notes! where wittgenstein investigates chairness.

may all beings lumine in grace bliss kindly flowerings evermore:
om tara kali hrim peyt dzah ah humng hri prajna paramita a soha

THE NAKED LUNCH by William S Burroughs.

Nobody was as honest or original as old Uncle Bill Lee of the Nova police. He exploded the conspiracy like no other, the conspiracy of the control addicts, the senders that want everything to stay as it is, they want "now" to last forever.

Anyone interested in Burroughs really should check out the Boston obscenity trial transcripts.

Finnagans Wake, without doubt.

Books that make you think/ question what is around you are all of importance. Man is a social animal and what I have learnt so far in my journey thus far is that we exist in a constructed reality. For that reason I would have to say, personally and based on what I have read:

Brave New World- Aldous Huxley
The Undiscovered Self- Carl Jung

These two books are both examples of great thinkers that were aware of the direction society was progressing last century and had the foresight to consider the consequences of the development/ changes taking place in the world.

Lolita- Vladimir Nabokov

Nabokov, really makes us question what is right and is not afraid to tackle difficult subject material. Much misunderstood (by those who have not read it fully, I suspect). The art of helping us understand the damage that can be inflicted on others by selfish, debase actions is the gift that he bestows in this literary great. For me, this book opened my eyes to the world around me and made me start to question the motivations and behaviours of others and the way that humans/ society interact. A really great example of how literature/ the written word can move and cause us to start questioning what is around us. Know your enemy, as not everyone has good intentions.

1. Holy Bible, authorized version
King James' is the most published book, and defined modern English usage.

2. Experiments on Plant Hybridization
(Gregor Mendel's work revolutionized farming an allowed the population explosion worldwide.

3. Ulysses
Joyce's work defined the modern English novel

4. Leviathan
Hobbes' text set in motion both the American and French revolutions, thus transforming western civ.

5. Utilitarianism
John Stuart Mill. The philosophy of bureaucracy, in a nutshell. It shaped modern life.

my "Alternate List"

1. "Steal This Book"
Abbie Hoffman's self-aggrandizing portrait of the Yippie movement (forerunner of the hippies)

2. "Bausteine zur Geopolitik"
Karl Haushofer was the source of fascist ideas like lebensraum and the applications of Nietzchean philosophy to the realm of finance and national policy. Keynes read it. So did Kissinger. So did Greenspan, Rove and Cheney.

3. "Decline of the West"
Another one that is read by practically everyone who runs anything. I don't know if Obama has read this; there is a famous photo of Kissinger holding a copy of Spengler's work, taken during the Vietnam war. When asked about it, he started explaining it in terms of Karl Haushofer.

4. "Morning of the Magicians"
Two french writers re-vivified the New Age Movement after World War II; and their ideas have shaped everything from x-files episodes to the DSM-IVtr

5. "Necronomicon"
Latin tr., Olaus Wormius, 1612

My nominee:

Rulers of Evil; Useful Information about Ruling Bodies by Tupper Saussy

This book should be a "must read" for ATS members, though I am sure most would not agree with all of it.