Scholars Select Most Influential Books

[Under Construction]

The following table lists the selections by the following:
"Savants Select Most Influential Volumes," English Journal 25 (1936). [25 selections each by Edward Weeks, editor of the Atlantic Monthly Press; Charles A. Beard, historian; John Dewey, philosopher]
Malcolm Cowley and Bernard Smith, Books That Changed Our Minds (1939). [12 selections]
Horace Shipp, Books That Moved the World (1945). [10 selections]
Robert B. Downs, Books That Changed the World (1956) [16 selections]

Note: Some of these lists were compiled with restrictions. Dewey, Weeks, and Beard were asked to "select the twenty-five most influential books published in the last fifty years." This means between 1874 and 1936. Downs, on the other hand, writes, "For practical reasons, it was arbitrarily decided to restrict the discussion to books in science and the social sciences, omitting such vastly important fields as religion, philosophy, and literature."

Author Dates for Author Title Date of pub. Type of Work Search in Google Dewey Weeks Beard Downs Cowley and Smith Shipp
Adams, Henry 1838-1918 Education of Henry Adams, The 1907 Novelized biography Search X X     X  
Angell, Sir Norman 1872-1967 Great Illusion, The 1910 Economic and political treatise Search     X      
Augustine, Saint 354-430 City of God, The c.413-426 Theology Search           X
Beard, Charles A. 1874-1948 Rise of American Civilization, The 1927 Economic and social history Search X          
Beard, Charles A. 1874-1948 Economic Interpretation of the Constitution 1913 Economic and social history Search         X  
Beard, Mary Ritter 1876-1958 Rise of American Civilization, The 1927 Economic and social history Search X          
Bellamy, Edward 1850-1898 Looking Backward 1888 Novel Search X X X      
Boas, Franz 1858-1942 Mind of Primitive Man, The 1911 Anthropological study Search X          
Bohr, Neils 1885-1962 Atomic Theory and the Description of Nature 1934 Physics Search X          
Bunyan, John 1628-1688 Pilgrim's Progress, The 1678 Novel Search           X
Butler, Samuel 1835-1902 Way of All Flesh, The 1903 Novel Search X          
Copernicus 1473-1543 On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres (De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium) 1543 Astronomy Search       X    
Dante Alighieri 1265-1321 Divine Comedy, The c.1307 Poem Search           X
Darwin, Charles 1809-1882 On the Origin of Species 1859 Biological study Search       X X  
Dewey, John 1859-1951 School and Society, The 1907 Education Search   X        
Dewey, John 1859-1952 Studies in Logical Theory 1910 Logic, epistemology Search         X  
Doyle, Arthur Conan 1859-1930 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes 1892 Novel Search   X        
Eddington, Sir Arthur 1882-1944 Inernal Constitution of the Stars, The 1920 Astrophysics Search   X X      
Einstein, Albert 1879-1955 Relativity: The Special and the General Theory 1916 Physics Search X X   X    
Ellis, Havelock 1859–1939 Psychology of Sex, The 1897-1928 Psychology Search   X        
Fay, Sidney Bradshaw 1876–1967 Origins of the World War 1928 History Search     X      
Frazer, Sir James George 1854-1941 Golden Bough, The 1890, 1900, 1907-1915 Anthropology Search X X X      
Freud, Sigmund 1856-1939 Interpretation of Dreams, The 1900 Psychological study Search X X   X X  
Gibbs, Sir Philip Hamilton   Now It Can Be Told 1920 History Search     X      
Hardy, Thomas 1840-1928 Tess of the d'Urbervilles 1891 Novel Search X          
Harvey, William 1578-1657 On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals (De Motu Cordis) 1628 Biology Search       X    
Hitler, Adolf 1889-1945 My Battle (Mein Kampf) 1925-27 Autobiography Search     X X    
Hobson, John Atkinson 1858-1940 Imperialism 1902 Economics/history Search     X      
Ibsen, Henrik 1828-1906 Hedda Gabler 1852 Drama Search X          
James, Henry 1843-1916 Golden Bowl, The 1904 Novel Search X          
James, William 1842-1910 Principles of Psychology 1890 Psychology Search X X        
Jeans, Sir James Hopwood 1877-1946 Mathematical Theory of Electricity and Magnetism, The 1925 Physics Search   X X      
Joyce, James 1882-1941 Ulysses 1922 Novel Search X X        
Jung, Carl G. 1875-1961 Psychology of the Unconscious, The   Psychological monographs Search X          
Keynes, John Maynard   Economic Consequences of the Peace, The 1919 Economics/history Search   X X      
Kipling, Rudyard 1865-1936 Barrack-Room Ballads 1892 Ballads Search   X X      
Lenin, Vladimir Ilich 1870-1924 Imperialism, The State and Revolution 1918 Political treatise Search   X X   X  
Lewis, Sinclair 1885-1951 Babbitt 1922 Novel Search X   X      
Lewis, Sinclair 1885-1951 Main Street 1920 Novel Search   X X      
Machiavelli, Niccolo 1469-1527 Prince, The 1532 Political philosophy Search       X    
Mackinder, Sir Halford J. 1861-1947 Geographical Pivot of History, The 1904 History and Geography Search       X    
Mahan, Alfred 1840-1914 Influence of Seapower on History, The 1890 History Search   X X X    
Malthus, Thomas 1766-1834 Essay on the Principle of Population 1789 Social science Search       X    
Mann, Thomas 1875-1955 Magic Mountain, The 1924 Novel Search X          
Marx, Karl 1818-1883 Kapital (Capital), Das 1867, 1885-1894 Political economy Search X X X X X  
Milton, John 1608-1674 Areopagitica 1644 Philosophic address Search           X
Newton, Sir Isaac 1642-1727 Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica) 1687 Scientific and philosophical treatise Search       X    
Paine, Thomas 1735-1809 Common Sense 1776 Political treatise Search       X    
Pareto, Vilfredo 1848-1923 Treatise on General Sociology 1916 Sociology Search     X      
Parrington, Vernon Lewis 1871-1929 Main Currents in American Thoughts 1927-1930 History of ideas Search         X  
Planck, Max 1859-1947 Lectures on the Theory of Heat Radiation 1906 Physics Search X          
Plato 427-347 B.C. Republic middle Political philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology Search           X
Proust, Marcel 1871-1922 Remembrance of Things Past 1913-1927 Novel Search X          
Remarque, Erich Maria 1897- All Quiet on the Western Front 1928 Novel Search   X X      
Richards, I.A. 1893- Principles of Literary Criticism 1924 Critical treatise Search         X  
Rolland, Romain 1866-1944 Jean-Christophe 1904-1912 Novel Search   X        
Russell, Bertrand 1872-1970 Principia Mathematica 1910, 1912, 1913 Philosophy of mathematics Search X          
Shakespeare, William 1564-1616 Plays   Drama Search           X
Shaw, Bernard 1859-1950 Man and Superman 1905 Drama Search X          
Shaw, Bernard 1859-1950 Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant 1898 Drama Search   X        
Sinclair, Upton 1878- Jungle, The 1906 Novel Search     X      
Smith, Adam 1723-1790 Wealth of Nations, The 1776 Economic treatise Search       X    
Spengler, Oswald 1880-1936 Decline of the West, The 1922 History Search X X X   X  
Stopes, Marie Carmichael 1880-1958 Married Love and Wise Parenthood 1918 Sex manual Search   X X      
Stowe, Harriet Beecher 1811-1896 Uncle Tom's Cabin 1852 Novel Search       X    
Sumner, William Graham 1840-1910 Folkways 1907 Political, sociological, and anthropological theory Search         X  
Tarbell, Ida M. 1857-1944 History of the Standard Oil Company 1904 History Search   X        
Thoreau, Henry David 1817-1862 Civil Disobedience 1849 Political essay Search       X    
Tolstoy, Count Leo 1828-1910 Kreutzer Sonata, The 1889 Novel Search   X        
Trotsky, Leon 1879-1940 History of the Russian Revolution 1930 History Search     X      
Turner, Frederick Jackson 1861-1932 Frontier in American History, The 1920 History Search     X   X  
Veblen, Thorsten 1857-1929 Theory of the Leisure Class, The 1899 Sociological essay Search X   X      
Veblen, Thorsten 1857-1929 Business Enterprise 1904 Sociological essay Search         X  
Wells, H.G. 1866-1946 Outline of History 1920 History Search X   X      
Whitehead, Alfred North 1861-1947 Principia Mathematica 1910, 1912, 1913 Philsosophy of mathematics Search X          
    Bible, The   Religion Search           X
    Koran, The   Religion Search           X