12 Books That Changed the World

NEWTON: PRINCIPIA MATHEMATICA (1687) Isaac Newton’s groundbreaking discoveries, published in the Principia, made him the culminating figure of the scientific revolution of the 17th century. MARIE STOPES: MARRIED LOVE (1918) Stopes always intended that sexual ecstasy should be restricted to marital union, but despite her good intentions, she invited controversy because of her explicit attitudes on the subject and frank advocacy of birth control. Her book, Married Love, changed the way women controlled and enjoyed their bodies. THE FIRST RULE BOOK OF THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (1863) The First Rule Book Of The Football Association was published for the FA by John Lillywhites of Euston Square and sold for a shilling. It gave shape to what has become the greatest game on earth.

DARWIN: THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES (1859) For a book so famous, for a book which nobody doubts helped shape the modern world, for a book which led its author to be dubbed “the most dangerous man in Britain”, it is something of a shock to find that The Origin Of Species deals almost exclusively in the genealogy of several plants and animals. And yet that is precisely why The Origin was so sensational. MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT: A VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN (1792) Published in 1792, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was the first great feminist treatise. WILLIAM WILBERFORCE: SPEECH TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS (12th MAY 1789) On 12th May 1789, William Wilberforce’s speech in the House of Commons calling for the slave trade to be abolished was one of the most significant moments in the history of the abolition movement. But it is in print, as a book, that it has had its greatest influence.

ADAM SMITH: THE WEALTH OF NATIONS (1776) The Scottish philosopher gave birth to the modern belief in the free market. Smith argued that the invisible hand of competition will guide an economic system based on individual self-interest. His influence still steers economic policy through the world today and has massively influenced social policy through the whole of the Western world. THE KING JAMES BIBLE (1611) This "translation to end all translations" was the result of the combined effort of about fifty scholars. They relied most heavily on Tyndale's Old and New Testament and also on The Coverdale Bible, The Matthews Bible, The Great Bible, The Geneva Bible, and even used the Rheims New Testament. The great revision of the Bishop's Bible had begun. From 1605 to 1606 the scholars engaged in private research. From 1607 to 1609 the work was assembled. In 1610 the work went to press, and in 1611 the first of the huge (16 inch tall) pulpit folios known as The King James Bible came off the printing press. MAGNA CARTA (1215) Magna Carta established for the first time a key constitutional principle - that the power of the king could be limited by a written grant. This principle is the cornerstone of the British constitutional and legal system. The royal chancery produced a formal royal grant, which became known as Magna Carta (Latin for the 'Great Charter').

MICHAEL FARADAY: EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH IN ELECTRICITY (1855) Faraday’s work illuminated the connection between magnetism and electrical current. He changed the idea of what electricity was and in doing so made possible its generation and the harnessing of its power, without which modern life would be impossible. Every time we turn on a light we owe a debt of gratitude to Faraday. PATENT SPECIFICATION FOR ARKWRIGHT'S SPINNING MACHINE (1769) In 1769, Richard Arkwright took out a patent on his spinning machine: by law, no-one could copy it and Arkwright was able to reproduce it throughout his own mills, for his own benefit. Arkwright’s spinning machine spearheaded the events of the textile revolution, sparking off a chain of developments that would form the crux of the Industrial Revolution, broadening the horizons of every man and woman in Britain - and subsequently the world. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S FIRST FOLIO (1623) The First Folio edition of the collected plays of William Shakespeare was published in 1623, some seven years after his death. Only 18 of Shakespeare's plays appeared in print during his lifetime, and some of these were in corrupt or pirated editions.