12 Publications that changed mankind

He left out Playboy Magazine 1953.

i can truthfully say that i have never read any of that....

i have read passages from some, the bible, the faraday book and principa mathematica...

if he is talking about documents then playboy is all images and no words, at least i never pay any attention to the words but it has peobably had a very profound effect on a lot of teenage boys life. For me it was Razzle, the big [censored] May 1983 Special.

Dead Sea Scrolls (ahem)😄

I would argue to put on as a start the first sumerian laws, plus Marx and Einstein.

Marx is second only to the bible in readership.

limerickman said:

British broadcaster and critic, Melvyn Bragg, wrote about the 12 documents which he says changed mankind.

The documents author, title, and publication date are :

CHARLES DARWIN, THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES, 1859

MARIE STOPES, MARRIED LOVE, 1918

WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, SPEECH TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, 1789

MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT, A VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN, 1792

MAGNA CARTA, 1215

THE KING JAMES BIBLE, 1611

MICHAEL FARADAY, EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH IN ELECTRICITY, 1855

THE FIRST RULE BOOK OF THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION, 1863

PATENT SPECIFICATION FOR ARKWRIGHT'S SPINNING MACHINE, 1769

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, FIRST FOLIO, 1623

ADAM SMITH, THE WEALTH OF NATIONS, 1776

ISAAC NEWTON, PRINCIPIA MATHEMATICA, 1687

A very interesting list of documents.
Most of us will have come in to contact with the ideas put forward by the respective authors above.

11ring said:

I would argue to put on as a start the first sumerian laws, plus Marx and Einstein.

Marx is second only to the bible in readership.

Sounds okay to me; I'd even throw Freud into the stew.

Interesting answers : I don't know if JH was being funny or serious but Playboy would have been a "first" in terms of it's content and that did change mankind (although Playboy was only unbanned in this country in 1995!)

Agree about Marx.

Mein Kampf ..... But in a way we don't need to remember.

wolfix said:

Mein Kampf ..... But in a way we don't need to remember.

I would respectufully disagree. We always need to remember lest we commit our mistakes again.

Oprah had a show on yesterday that was really interesting on Aushwitz[?}

wolfix said:

Oprah had a show on yesterday that was really interesting on Aushwitz[?}

Oprah and Auschwitz.

I'm almost afraid to ask this - but what was she blabbing on about in relation to Auschwitz?

I can understand what people might think..... But it was the best inside look at the camp I have ever seen...... She went there with a survivor/author..just the 2 of them...... {And hidden cameramen} Not your typical Oprah.

wolfix said:

I can understand what people might think..... But it was the best inside look at the camp I have ever seen...... She went there with a survivor/author..just the 2 of them...... {And hidden cameramen} Not your typical Oprah.

She wasn't doing her "let's live a dream" or whatever other [censored] she comes out with, then?

I have to say the very notion of an entertainer like her and her show going to Auschwitz under any circumstances is appalling, regardless of reason for being there.

Just my personal view.

I would agree with you on that ...... except this show was different..... It may rank as one of my all time "respectable shows." Her approach was different. The author and her just walked through and he discussed what his experiences were like being there. She rarely spoke , and when she did it was just one word sentences .... It was a first class documentary. I just hope her typical audience watched closely. The photo's and archived film was stunning..... I might be wrong, and I should know this, but I think the entire thing was filmed in black and white.

And there was me thinking it was yet another "weight loss" plan.

How about Einstein's Theory of Relativity?
If you accept that Einstein's theory led to the development of "nukular" weapons then human history itself becomes irrelevant.

stevebaby said:

How about Einstein's Theory of Relativity?
If you accept that Einstein's theory led to the development of "nukular" weapons then human history itself becomes irrelevant.

😕 😕 You lost me somewhere!

for me "bicycle road racing" by eddie b. must be #14 then.
www.biblio.com/books/82602344.html

jhuskey said:

He left out Playboy Magazine 1953.

limerickman said:

British broadcaster and critic, Melvyn Bragg, wrote about the 12 documents which he says changed mankind.

A very interesting list of documents.
Most of us will have come in to contact with the ideas put forward by the respective authors above.

Like most of us here, I am familiar with most of the documents mentioned in the list.

I would like to add the writings of works of Leonardo Da Vinci. To me, no one before or since his time has a body of work that impresses me more... Not close.

I actually use my resting pulse to time objects in motion when I don't have my watch. I call it my Da Vinci watch.

lw

Yeah, agree with 11ring, Marx Das Kapital has to be on there.

Not a book, but the Declaration of Independence certainly is important (not to toot the U.S.'s own horn, but as a break from colonialism and as a statement of liberal republican government, it is distinctly important).

Lot of interesting stuff on that list.