Interpreting "Books" Liberally

Okay, I need to take a little liberty with the word "books." In that, I will include significant works if there is not one "book" by a particular author.

But enough hedging:

1. The Bible/Koran. Not that these are interchangable, but each are the foundation of the two religions representing >50% of the world's population. (The next largest category is "non-religious.") There were two other religious works that I considered. The first, "Summa Theologica" by Saint Thomas Aquinas, which compiles the rationale for Christian thought, and "The 95 Theses" by Martin Luther, which represented the founding of Protestantism.

2. "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu. Like several other works, I also considered "successor" works like "On War" by von Clausewitz, which is a more complete work of strategy, but it all begins with Sun Tzu.

3. "The Dialogues" by Plato. These formed the basis of the Socratic Method. 'Nuff said.

4. "Discourse on the Method" by Rene Descartes. WTF? Cogito Ergo Sum, I think therefore I am. Okay, this is a shout out to three individuals who founded the Scientific Revolution: Galileo, Copernicus and Descartes. While I would suggest that Galileo and Copernicus were more influential, though not through a book per se, Descartes has an extraordinarily impressive resume.

5. The Works of Shakespeare. If pressed, I would choose Hamlet, but it terms of influential fiction, I don't think anyone comes close.

6. "The Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin. "Evolution" and "natural selection" represented a colossal conflict with the religious establishment.

7. "The Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith. By an "invisible hand," pin makers have never been more important.

8. "The Communist Manifesto" by Marx and Engels. I had considered "The Social Contract" by Rousseau because it is a broader statement of political philosophy and is the philosophical foundation of socialism and communism, but, unlike von Clausewitz and Sun Tzu, I do not believe Marx or Engels gave much credit to Rousseau. Of course, I do not believe any single work has resulted in more deaths the TCM. Between Stalin, Mao, the Khmer Rouge and their comrades we are talking, according to one estimate, something like 95 million people.

9. "The Interpretation of Dreams" by Sigmund Freud. Much of what Freud thought was true has been questioned, but The Interpretation of Dreams is the groundbreaking work in the field of psychoanalysis.

10. "Free to Choose" by Milton & Rose Friedman. While Wealth of Nations introduced modern capitalism as a force for mutual benefit, Free to Choose expands the free market principle to all aspects of life. In particular, the Friedmans point out that government fixes often exacerbate the problem rather then solve it. I expect this will be considered as seminal a work as Wealth of Nations 50 years hence.

There are several other books that nearly made the list, including books like Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (inadvertently led to 1 million unnecessary child deaths) and Unsafe at Any Speed by Ralph Nader as the ancestors of environmental or safety activism. Further, works of fiction such as War and Peace, The Great Gatsby and even Valley of the Dolls warranted serious consideration for various reasons. The sex genre (Kama Sutra and The Joy of Sex) seemed a little too trite for me, but I think there is a strong argument for SOMETHING like that.

Anyway, have at it Thew.