The way great books influenced human advancement

The way great books influenced human advancement

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The world today is built upon a nearly incomprehensible amount of understanding that has actually been passed down in books.

It is necessary to bear in mind that, although plenty of the best modern books of all time tend to be regarded as ground-breaking works of fiction, for most of humankind's literary history, we did not compose much fiction at all. A lot of stories would have been sung throughout the great bulk of history, merely due to the fact that the huge bulk of individuals might not read, meaning that most books were specialised things meant for those few who could understand them. After a brief boom during the classical era of antiquity, the amount of literate individuals dropped dramatically during the Middle Ages. Books became rare treasures, with monks meticulously copying out the surviving traditional texts by hand so as to preserve them, as they were some of the only members of the populace who were able to read or write. They were the professional keepers of understanding like biology and faith that we all have access to in the modern world.

It can be hard to imagine what the world would be like today if the vast bulk of individuals were unable to read, but for the huge bulk of history the large majority of people could not, and nor were books available even if they could. It was the development of the printing press towards the close of the 15th that altered that, making books far more available. Obviously, it was still only really the richest and well-read that could read or write, however it made it possible for an entire host of advancements in science, art, and thinking to be spread across great distances. Consider what would have taken place if the theory of gravity, or of evolution, could not have actually been dispersed across the globe. Human civilisation rests upon a foundation of books, and we are lucky to be able to merely log onto a site like the one backed by the co-founder of the impact investor with a stake in World of Books, and easily access the totality of human knowledge.

With such an abundant history of concepts, events, and stories right at our fingertips, it's sometimes easy to forget how exceptionally fortunate 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 proportion of all the books that have ever been written (or the good ones at the very least). The best books of all time can quickly change the way that you take a look at the world, which has been true throughout all of history as well. The modern-day world is built upon knowledge that has actually been handed down through books, whether that is philosophy, 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.