“The Folio Society”, a UK publisher recently listed the “Top 10 Most Important and Influential Books in the World” and the interesting aspect about the list is number of scientific books included! A total of 2,000 members of “The Folio Society” participated in the survey and were asked to select three titles from a pre-selected list of 30 books which have had the greatest influence on the world! Here is the list of the most important and influential books:

10th Place – Double Helix (James Watson) 6%

9th Place – Wealth of Nations (Adam Smith) 7%

8th Place – The Koran 9%

7th Place – To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) 10%

6th Place – Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (Isaac Newton) 12%

5th Place – 1984 (George Orwell) 14%

4th Place – The Theory of Relativity (Albert Einstein) 15%

3rd Place – Hawking Talks About the Universe（Stephen Hawking) 17%

2nd Place – The Origin of Species (Charles Darwin) 35%

1st Place – The Bible 37%

What did you think of the results?

More than 30% of voters listed “The Bible” and “The Origin of Species” as influential and important. Moreover, two novels were selected on the list, “1984” by George Orwell and “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee.

The most glaring omission is the works of William Shakespeare but perhaps that will be the top of another list in the future!

source: The Folio Society