WEALTH OF NATIONS April 29, 2006
Posted by wmmbb in Category to be ascribed.trackback
Melvyn Bragg identified “Twelve Books that Changed the World”. It strikes me as an odd list, although I have no idea what ten or twenty books I would suggest. The Independent lists Bragg’s selections, which with one exception excludes any book written in the twentieth century. Bragg’s list is:
1.Charles Darwin, The Origin of the Species (1859). 2. Marie Stopes, Married Love (1918). 3. William Wilberforce, Speech to the House of Commons (1789). 4. Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792). 5. Magna Carta (1215). 6. The King James Bible (1611). 7. Michael Faraday, Experimental Research in Electricity (1855). 8. The First Rulebook of the Football Association (1863). 9. Patent Specifications for Arkwright’s Spinning Machine (1769). 10. William Shakespeare, First Folio (1623). 11. Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776). 12. Issac Newton, Principia Mathmatica (1687).
I have to say I have read none of the above, but the world changed anyway, or part of it did. Obviously it is a very English list, and somewhat eccentric. It ignores the Ancient World (Plato) and the Medieval World (St Augustine). Some books listed are stand outs. For example those written by Charles Darwin and Adam Smith.
To show how very influenced I am in these matters, on Friday, I bought Wealth of Nations, and I hope to read it. This may be another mistake based on a good intention. It is not the type of book that I will be given to read obsessively because of the basis of a quick scan I find very quickly I have not followed what is written.
Postscript:
Of course, Adam Smith was part of the Scottish Enligthenment.
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