The way great books influenced human advancement

The way great books influenced human advancement

Blog Article

Our capability to access and read books has actually been definitely important to our ability to comprehend the world around us.

It can be difficult to imagine what the world would be like today if the huge majority of people were unable to read, but for the large majority of history the vast bulk of individuals could not, and nor were books accessible even if they could. It was the development of the printing press towards the close of the 15th that altered that, making books a lot more accessible. Naturally, it was still only really the wealthiest and well-educated that could read or write, but it made it possible for an entire host of breakthroughs in science, art, and thinking to be spread out throughout great distances. Consider what would have occurred if the theory of gravity, or of evolution, could not have been dispersed across the globe. Human civilisation rests upon a foundation of books, and we are fortunate to be able to simply log onto a site like the one backed by the co-founder of the impact investor with a stake in World of Books, and quickly access the totality of human understanding.

It is very important to remember that, although a lot of the best modern books of all time tend to be considered ground-breaking works of fiction, for most of mankind's literary history, we did not write much fiction at all. The majority of stories would have been sung throughout the great majority of history, simply since the vast bulk of people might not read, implying that the majority of books were specialised things meant for those few who might understand them. After a short boom during the classical period of antiquity, the amount of literate people dropped dramatically throughout the Middle Ages. Books became uncommon treasures, with monks painstakingly copying out the enduring classic texts by hand so as to maintain them, as they were some of the only members of the population who could read or write. They were the expert keepers of knowledge like biology and religious beliefs that we all have access to in the contemporary world.

With such an abundant history of ideas, occasions, and stories right at our fingertips, it's sometimes simple to forget how incredibly lucky we are to have the likes of the founder of the hedge fund that owns Waterstones or the CEO of the asset manager with a stake in Amazon books supporting access to a big percentage of all the books that have ever been composed (or the good ones at least). The best books of all time can easily alter the way that you look at the world, which has been true throughout all of history too. The modern world is built on understanding that has been handed down through books, whether that is ideology, science, or history, and human civilisation would not be anywhere near as advanced as it is today if it had not been for the books that changed minds throughout the ages.