Early on in the life of the site we did a list of books that changed the world. It is such a broad topic that we are finally revisiting it to produce a second list. Before complaining about books that you think are missing from here, be sure to check the original list as you may find it listed there instead. Feel free to tell us what books you think deserve a place on the next list of books that changed the world. This list is in no particular order - it is impossible to order such diverse books.
10 Principia Mathematica
Isaac Newton
Why it changed the world: Newton’s Principia, published in 1687, laid the foundation for much of modern physics and mathematics.
The Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (mathematical principles of natural philosophy) is a three-volume work by Isaac Newton published on 5 July 1687. It contains the statement of Newton’s laws of motion forming the foundation of classical mechanics, as well as his law of universal gravitation and a derivation of Kepler’s laws for the motion of the planets (which were first obtained empirically). The Principia is widely regarded as one of the most important scientific works ever written. It is in a supplement to the Principia, entitled General Scholium, that Newton expressed his famous Hypotheses non fingo (”I feign no hypotheses” or “I make no guesses”).
Why it changed the world: A truly radical text in its time, the Analects have been the dominant influence on Chinese thought and culture.
The Analects, also known as the Analects of Confucius, are a record of the words and acts of the central Chinese thinker and philosopher Confucius and his disciples, as well as the discussions they held. The Chinese title literally means “discussion over [Confucius’] words.” Written during the Spring and Autumn Period through the Warring States Period (ca. 479 BCE - 221 BCE), the Analects is the representative work of Confucianism and continues to have a tremendous influence on Chinese and East Asian thought and values today. The Analects were almost certainly penned and compiled by disciples and second-generation disciples of Confucius, albeit being mostly about Confucius himself and his thought.
8 The Interpretation Of Dreams
Sigmund Freud
Why it changed the world: While many of Freud’s theories have now been dismissed by modern specialists, his concept that the unconscious retains much that the conscious mind appears to have forgotten has changed and influenced the way that people think about themselves.
The Interpretation Of Dreams introduces the Ego, and describes Freud’s theory of the unconscious with respect to dream interpretation. Dreams, in Freud’s view, were all forms of “wish-fulfillment” — attempts by the unconscious to resolve a conflict of some sort, whether something recent or something from the recessess of the past. The initial print run of the book was very low — it took many years to sell out the first 600 copies. Freud revised the book at least eight times, and in the third edition added an extensive section which treated dream symbolism very literally. Later psychoanalysts have expressed frustration with this section, as it encouraged the notion that dream interpretation was a straightforward hunt for symbols of sex, penises, etc.
7 Canon Of Medicine
Avicenna
Why it changed the world: It brought together the knowledge and theories of Ancient Greek, Persian, and Indian medicine (largely forgotten otherwise) and combined it with contemporary 11th century understanding. It laid the foundations of modern medical science.
The Canon of Medicine is a 14-volume Arabic medical encyclopedia written by a Persian scientist and physician Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā) and completed in 1025. It is considered the first pharmacopoeia, and among other things, the book is known for the introduction of systematic experimentation and quantification into the study of physiology, the discovery of the contagious nature of infectious diseases, the introduction of quarantine to limit the spread of contagious diseases, and the introduction of evidence-based medicine, experimental medicine, clinical trials, randomized controlled trials, efficacy tests, clinical pharmacology, neuropsychiatry, physiological psychology, risk factor analysis, and the idea of a syndrome in the diagnosis of specific diseases.
6 The Histories
Herodotus
Why it changed the world: They are the source of much of our knowledge of the ancient world and the foundation of history in Western literature.
The Histories of Herodotus of Halicarnassus is considered the first work of history in Western literature. Written about 440 BC in the Ionic dialect of classical Greek, The Histories tells the story of the Greco-Persian Wars between the Achaemenid Empire and the Greek city-states in the 5th century BC. Herodotus travelled extensively around the ancient world, conducting interviews and collecting stories for his book.
5 On Liberty
John Stewart Mill
Why it changed the world: Most of Mill’s theories are now full integrated into modern democracies - particularly the need to protect the rights of the individual.
On Liberty is a philosophical work by 19th century English philosopher John Stuart Mill, first published in 1859. To the Victorian readers of the time it was a radical work, advocating moral and economic freedom of individuals from the state. Perhaps the most memorable point made by Mill in this work, and his basis for liberty, is that “Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign”. Mill is compelled to say this in opposition to what he calls the “tyranny of the majority”, wherein through control of etiquette and morality, society is an unelected power that can do horrific things.
Why it changed the world: Plato’s contrast between the imperfect world of mortals and the perfect forms of immortal souls had a great deal of influence over Christianity and Islam and Western philosophy in general.
The Republic is a Socratic dialogue by Plato, written in approximately 380 BC. It is one of the most influential works of philosophy and political theory, and Plato’s best known work. In Plato’s fictional dialogues the characters of Socrates as well as various Athenians and foreigners discuss the meaning of justice and examine whether the just man is happier than the unjust man by constructing an imaginary city ruled by philosopher-kings.
3 Lady Chatterley’s Lover
D H Lawrence
Why it changed the world: It brought the concept of book censorship to a head and eventually helped to overturn it.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover is a novel by D. H. Lawrence written in 1928. Printed privately in Florence, Italy in 1928, it was not printed in the United Kingdom until 1960 (other than in an underground edition issued by Inky Stephensen’s Mandrake Press in 1929). Lawrence considered calling this book Tenderness at one time and made significant alterations to the original manuscript in order to make it palatable to readers. It has been published in three different versions. The publication of the book caused a scandal due to its explicit sex scenes, including previously banned four-letter words and perhaps because the lovers were a working-class male and an aristocratic female.
2 The Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer
Why it changed the world: The first great work of literature written in the vernacular English (rather than Latin or French commonly used at the time) - the Canterbury Tales set the standard for future works of English literature.
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century (two of them in prose, the rest in verse). The tales, some of which are originals and others not, are contained inside a frame tale and told by a collection of pilgrims on a pilgrimage from London Borough of Southwark to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The Canterbury Tales are written in Middle English. Although the tales are considered to be his magnum opus, some believe the structure of the tales is indebted to the works of The Decameron, which Chaucer is said to have read on an earlier visit to Italy.
Why it changed the world: It set practical standards in geography which lasted 1500 years, and is our best record of the state of geographic knowledge in the 2nd century.
The Geographia or Geography is Ptolemy’s main work besides the Almagest. It is a compilation of what was known about the world’s geography in the Roman Empire of the 2nd century. Ptolemy relied mainly on the work of an earlier geographer, Marinos of Tyre, and on gazetteers of the Roman and ancient Persian empire, but most of his sources beyond the perimeter of the Empire were unreliable. The original work included maps, but due to the difficulties involved in copying them by hand, they have fallen out of the manuscript transmission. The work has been discovered and used through the ages by several noted people around the world. Ptolemy also devised and provided instructions on how to create maps both of the whole inhabited world and of the Roman provinces. Ptolemy was well aware that he knew about only a quarter of the globe.
This article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains quotations from Wikipedia.
Contributor: JFrater
译文:
十本改变世界的书
早在这个网站建立之时，我们就做了页面链接列举改变世界的书。由于这个话题太泛，所以我们又再次登陆网站做了第二次列举。当你发现有些书从清单上消失并要抱怨时，请先到第一张清单上寻找，也许它们在那上面。如果你认为有哪些书应该在下一次被列为改变世界的书，请毫不犹豫的告诉我们。这张清单上的书并不是经过特别排列的，因为根本没有办法去排列这些内容各异的书。
10 《自然哲学的数学原理》
艾萨克·牛顿
改变世界的理由：牛顿的《自然哲学的数学原理》出版于1687年，为许多现代物理学和数学理论奠定了基础。
牛顿的著作The Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica《自然哲学的数学理论》共分三卷，于1687年7月5日出版。本书引论了牛顿经典力学的基本原理——惯性定律，万有引力定律和由开普勒定律衍生而来的行星运行定律（其主要由经验得出）。人们普遍认为《自然哲学的数学理论》是迄今最重要的科技著作之一。牛顿的名言“Hypotheses non fingo”（“我不做虚假的假设”或“我不做猜测”）更是巩固了此书的权威性。
改变世界的理由：论语中的儒家思想曾一度在中国的思想文化中占统治地位，成为当时唯一的科考标准。
《论语》记载了孔子（中国主要的思想家、哲学家）孔子及其弟子的言行，及他们所讨论的话题。其中文的字面意思是“对孔子的言语进行讨论”。编写与春秋战国时期（大约在公元前479——221年间）的《论语》是儒家思想的代表作，至今还一直对中国及东亚地区的伦理思想和价值观有着巨大影响。虽然本书主要讲述了孔子及其思想，却是由孔子的弟子及其传弟子编撰而成的。
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改变世界的理由：尽管弗洛伊德的许多理论已被现代的专家们摒弃，但是他的潜意识概念已经改变和影响了人们自我思考时的方式，那就是那些似乎在意识中被遗忘的东西仍然是存在于我们的潜意识中的。
《梦的解析》一书介绍了自我的概念，并描述了在梦的解析中弗洛伊德的潜意识理论。弗洛伊德认为，梦是在以各种形式来“满足愿望”——通过在潜意识中，一定程度上地缓解冲突来实现，无论这是最近还是很久以前发生的事。这本书在首次发行后的销量不容乐观——许多年后，首次印刷的600本才完全售出。弗洛伊德曾修改此书8余次，并在第三版中增加了内容，即事实上梦具有象征意义。此后，一些心理学家对这部分的内容感到沮丧，因为弗洛伊德在这部分内容中提出梦不过是对性、阴茎等的渴望。
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改变世界的理由：本书集合了古希腊、波斯和印度医学知识和理论（尽管大多已被遗忘），并结合了十一世纪时期的认识，为现代的医学奠定了基础。
由波斯科学家、物理学家阿维森纳(Ibn Sīnā)所著的《医点》完成与1025年，共有十四卷，是一部阿拉伯医学百科全书。此书被推崇为第一本药典。此外，其还因对系统实验法的介绍，在生理学研究的权威性，传染病中传染本质的发现，对隔离抑制传染病传播和循证医学、实验医学、临床实验、随机对照试验、能效测试、临床药理学、神经精神学、生理心理学、易患因素分析及诊断特殊疾病综合症想法的介绍而闻名。
改变世界的理由：它们是我们获得古老世界的知识的源泉，为西方文学史奠定了基础。
《历史》一书是由出生于哈利卡纳苏斯城的希罗多德所著，其被推崇为记载西方文学历史的第一部著作。此书采用古希腊的爱奥尼亚方言记载了公元前440年的史实。《历史》讲述在公元前五世纪时，在阿契美尼德帝国和古希腊城之间爆发的波希战争。希罗多德广泛地游历了远古世界，进行访谈并著书收集故事。
改变世界的理由：在穆勒的大多数作品中都注入了现代民主的思想——尤其是呼吁要保护个人的权利。
由十九世纪英国哲学家约翰·斯图亚特·穆勒编著的《论自由》是一部哲学著作，于1859年首次出版。问世与维多利亚时代，此书因主张国家里每个公民都应该拥有道德和经济自由而被视为激进主义派的作品。在穆勒的这部作品中，最值得记住，同时也是自由论的基础观点的是“个人对自己，自己的身体和思想都有自主权”。穆勒用这一观点去反对所谓的“专横和绝对”，其中，在礼节和道德上被控制的非民主社会可以做出可怕的事。
改变世界的理由：柏拉图在有瑕疵的俗世和完美的不朽灵魂之间做了对比。总的说来，这一对比对基督教、伊斯兰教和希望哲学家都产生了广泛深远的影响。
大约在公元前380年，柏拉图以苏格拉底为主角用对话体所写成《理想国》。《理想国》是柏拉图的代表作，其是一部极有影响力的哲学大全和政治理论。在柏拉图虚构的对话中，书中人物苏格拉底、形形色色的雅典人和外国人讨论着正义和自制的重要性：在一个由哲学王统治的理想之城中，正义之人是否比非正义之人要快乐。
改变世界的理由：此书的出版如石破惊天立刻遭到查封，但在多年后最终通过审查得以公开出版。
劳伦斯于1928年著成小说《查泰莱夫人的情人》。先后秘密地在佛罗伦萨和意大利出版，直到1960年才得以在英国公开出版（此外还于1929年被Inky Stephensen’s Mandrake出版社秘密发行）。劳伦斯曾考虑将此书的命名为《款款柔情》，但做了重大的改变决定忠于原文内容以迎合读者。《查泰莱夫人的情人》共有三个不同的版本。由于此书对性爱的露骨描写，其发行曾一度招来公愤，人们甚至使用此前被禁止使用的粗话斥责作品。也许这是因为这段恋情的男主人公是工人阶级，而女主人公却是个贵族。
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《坎特伯雷故事集》
改变世界的理由：第一部用英语（而不是用当时普遍使用的拉丁语和法语）创作的文学巨作——《坎特伯雷故事》为后来的英国文学创作制订了标准。
杰弗里·乔叟于十四世纪创作了《坎特伯雷故事》，这是一本故事集（故事集中有两篇散文其余的都是诗文）。在故事集中，乔叟凭借朝圣者之口，讲述了一行来自英格兰南华克大伦敦朝圣者去朝拜圣拖马斯的故事。书中所有小故事构成了一个框套故事，当中一些故事属实，而一些则是虚构的。《坎特伯雷故事》写于英国的中世纪，虽然其被认为是乔叟的代表作，但是一些人认为故事集的写作结构是受到了《十日谈》的影响。据乔叟所说，他曾在早年游历意大利时阅读了《十日谈》。
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《地理学指南》
克罗狄斯·托勒密
改变世界的理由：《地理学指南》在地理学上奠定下的实用标准，其影响力延续了一千五百年，同时它对二世纪的地理学研究程度做了最好的记载。
《地理学指南》或《地理学》是继《天文学大成》后，托勒密的又一主要作品。作品中收录了在二世纪罗马帝国统治时期，世界的地理形态。一位早期的地理学家——Marinos of Tyre的研究及古罗马和古波斯帝国的地名词典是托勒密编著的主要资料来源。但是他所收集的关于帝国周边的地理资料大多不太可靠。《地理学指南》的原创稿还附有地图，但由于很难手工复制这些地图，在复制原稿时就将这些地图省略了。此书问世后，曾在多个时期被世界各地的名人使用。此外，托勒密还为绘制整个已知世界和古罗马地图发明提供了操作指南。同时，托勒密也意识到自己知道的只不过是世界的一角。
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提供者：Jfrater