Books that Changed the World is actually cobbled together from three other books and some essays. The first half of the book treats books from ancient Greece and Rome as well as medieval Europe, and was taken from Famous Books, Ancient and Medieval. The rest of the chapters are from Molders of the Modern Mind, Books that Changed America, and the first edition of Books that Changed the World. All of these essays were written in the 1950s and 1960s.
Of the 76 works summarized in this book, I have read all of nine and excerpts from another eleven. I liked reading summaries of all these works, along with a discussion of how they were received in their time and afterwards. I don't know if I'll ever read Summa Theologica, Principia Mathematica, or Plato's Republic in their entirety, but I can definitely appreciate them more after reading this book.
The author treats in succession the Bible; Homer's epics; works by Plato and Aristotle; Greek plays; Greek and Roman histories (Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophone, Polybius, Sallust, Livy, Plutarch, Tacitus); Greek and Roman scientists (Hippocrates, Theophrastus, Archimedes, Lucretius, Pliny the Elder); medieval theologians (Augustine, Aquinas); Renaissance scientists (Copernicus, Vesalius, and Harvey) and theorists (Machiavelli); industrial scientists (Newton, Jenner, Darwin), politcal theorists (Paine, Wollstonecraft), and economists (Smith, Malthus, Marx); and, finally, modern military theorists (Mahan, Mackinder), a megalomaniac (Hitler), psychology (Freund), and ecology.
Most of these works are famous enough to be familiar to many. There were a few that were new to me that I found very interesting. Mahan's The Influence of Sea Power on History was an essay that jumpstarted the naval arms race before WWI. Mackinder's "The Geographical Pivot of History" was a centerpiece of Axis and Soviet strategy in WWII and beyond.
The final work treated in this book was Silent Spring, an ecological book warning of the dangers of pesticides. Just this week there was big news in Oregon about thousands of bees dying under trees improperly sprayed with pesticides. More than 50,000 bees died a few miles south of where I live, then several thousand more in the town where I live. The Oregon Department of Agriculture responded by putting a moratorium on the specific pesticide. This kind of attitude is due to the consciousness of Silent Spring. Much of responsible ecology can be attributed to her book.
Since many of the works treated in this book are scientific treatises, it is easy to see how they have "changed the world". Copernicus' heliocentric description of the solar system or Jenner's discourse on vaccination have had a huge impact.
Other books with discredited theories are also on this list. Some of Aristotle's incorrect theories on the world were literally accepted as gospel for hundreds of years, and those who postulated different ideas were branded heretics and punished. Additionally, nearly all of Karl Marx' ideas in Das Kapital have been discredited (except in Marxist nations), and yet no one can dispute the huge effect that his work has had on the world. Freund is in a bit of a no man's land, since there are still arguments over his work, but there is no doubt that his work opened up the field of psychology from mystery to science. Finally, Hitler was a complete megalomaniac, but the influence of his book was immense.
In nearly every case, the author makes a solid argument for inclusion in his book. I didn't see much of an argument for the Greek and Roman histories. They most certainly belong on the "famous books" list from which they came, but mostly the author lauded the characterization ability of these ancient authors. There wasn't really an argument for how these histories changed the world. I wouldn't be surprised if they did, but I'd like to know how.
Every work in this book is from the Western tradition. Some might discount this list entirely because it is not inclusive of all nations. This is foolish politcal correctness. The Western tradition has had a huge influence on all nations, especially since WWII. And yet, I think there should be some Eastern works included in a list of books that changed the world. Perhaps because this book was written in the 50s and 60s, some of these influences weren't as strongly felt then. I think that anyone compiling a list today would surely put the Koran on the list. Its influence is certainly worldwide and molds many events in our world today. I'm not sure if there is another Eastern book that fits the bill. Perhaps the I Ching, the Bhagavad Gita, or a Buddhist text. Maybe some Japanese book on management or quality.
I appreciated my exposure to many great works in this book. The summaries were concise and, for the most part, the arguments for inclusion on the list were very persuasive. I hope to read some of these works in the future. If not, at least I have a better understanding of their contents and impact now.