4.45 avg rating — 319,597 ratings

"There's no arguing against this being the top of this particular list (even for this old agnostic). The global influence of The Bible in general, and its translation into the vernacular in particular, still reaches into most areas of life in western society. "

4.38 avg rating — 72,671 ratings

"Inextricably linked by history and philosophy to both Christianity and Judaism, the global importance of Islamic philosophy has never been greater."

3.92 avg rating — 27,051 ratings

"Why it's only 200 years since someone seriously first asked the question, 'What about the other half of humanity?' is perhaps a question best directed to the writers of some of the other books on this list - the 'great works' of religion and philosophy that confidently asserted that the intellectual, creative and social potential of that 'other' half of humanity could be completely disregarded. As long as a single person still thinks like that, the obvious, reasonable truths of this book will need to be restated. "

4.01 avg rating — 122,309 ratings

"The most important book of the last 500 years. Most educated people now regard themselves differently to how they would have done 200 years ago, thanks mostly to this book. Mankind's smug, arrogant, thoughtless narcissism, based on the belief that we were the pinnacle of creation, made in the image of the creator, was and still is the most dangerous and destructive idea in human history. This book was the start of the fight back against that idea and still remains incredibly important if we are not to slip back into the ignorant barbarity of the dark ages. There are those who are careful to point out that it's 'just a theory', to be presented along with others. One wonders if they are equally wary of Newton and keep themselves tethered to the ground, just in case. "

4.40 avg rating — 159,448 ratings

"In previous ages, thinking about our place in the universe was the almost exclusive preserve of religion and philosophy. In this book, Sagan charted the history of sciences attempts to understand the universe. A lot of the facts and figures we get along the way are truly awe-inspiring. Food for thought on a epic scale."

4.09 avg rating — 995 ratings

"It may seem uncontroversial to us now, but this book changed the way people thought about the universe. The previous, Ptolemaic system had the earth as the center, with the sun, planets and stars orbiting. The Copernican model was heliocentric. His thinking influenced that of Galileo, Kepler and, 200 years later, Newton."

3.85 avg rating — 5,784 ratings

"After Adam Smith's monster had rampaged along unhindered for quite a long time, Keynes suggested putting some reins on it."

3.91 avg rating — 12,284 ratings

"Poor old Marx. All we think of when we hear his name now are the excesses of Stalinism. But Marx, along with Engels, was moved to most of his writing by the appalling conditions he saw among the working class poor of London. Had he seen the horrors of the Gulag he probably wouldn't have bothered."