{"id":28091,"date":"2025-02-12T05:06:37","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T04:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inzaken.eu\/?p=26678"},"modified":"2026-05-11T12:16:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T10:16:20","slug":"16-books-that-changed-the-world-according-to-robert-b-downs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inzaken.eu\/index.php\/2025\/02\/12\/16-books-that-changed-the-world-according-to-robert-b-downs\/","title":{"rendered":"16 books that changed the world (according to Robert B. Downs)\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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  1. THE PRINCE (1517) by NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    In its 26 chapters, this political treatise studies power \u2013 how to get it and how to keep it. Rulers of the past are used as examples and Cesare Borgio is cited as a model prince. A realist, Machiavelli tells his reader that it is more impotant to retain power than tob e loved, that virtue is commendable but it may not be practical. In sum, the end justifies the means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     2. DE REVOLUTIONIBUS ORBIUM COELESTIUM (1530,  1543) by NICOLAUS COPERNICUS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      The Polish astronomer laid the groundwork for modern astronomy when he upset the Ptolemaic teachings. On the Revolution of Heavenly Bodies<\/em> \u2013 finished in 1530, but not published until 1543 \u2013 theorized that the earth was not<\/em> the center of the universe. In fact, the earth and all the other planet revolved around the sun in separate orbits, meanwhile rotating on thei axes, said Copernicus. Theologic opposition tot his theory was immediate and violent since man could then no longer be viewed as the ultimate creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      3. DE MOTU CORDIS (1628) by WILLIAM HARVEY <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Published in 1628, this treatise explained a discovery that Harvey had made in 1616: that the blood in animals circulates. This was a major step forward in the study of physiology and anatomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      4. PRINCIPIA (1687) by SIR ISAAC NEWTON <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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        Newton divided his work into three parts: \u2018The Motion of Bodies\u2019, \u2018The Motion of Bodies in Resisting Media\u2019, and \u2018The System of the World\u2019. He advocated reasoning by use of physical events, and he also proposed a new law of gravitation. Hence the book marked the start of scientific exploration and experimentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        5. COMMON SENSE (1776) by THOMAS PAINE <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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          This outspoken pamphlet \u2013 bought by over 100.000 colonists in the first few months following its publication \u2013 advocated separation from England and helped set the scene for the Declaration of Independence. Tried in absentia for treason by the English, made an honorary citizen by the republicn government of France, British-born Paine died in the newly formed U.S. in poverty and obscurity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          6. WEALTH OF NATIONS (1776) by ADAM SMITH<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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            In this important work on economics, Smith proposed the laissez-faire system, one embracing a totally free economy, for modern governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            7. ESSAY ON THE PRINCIPLE OF POPULATION (1798) by THOMAS ROBERT MALTHUS <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The same year that he became a curate of the Church of England, Malthus put forth his now famous doctrine that population increases in a geometric ratio while food supplies, etc, increase arithmetically. Also he suggested that the evils of society \u2013 crime, pestilence, war \u2013 are needed to hold down the increas in population. In 1803, as an afterthought, Malthus proposed moral restraint as an additional check for population growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            8. CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE (1849) by HENRY DAVID THOREAU <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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              This essay is the source of the familiar statement: \u2018That government is best which governs least.\u2019 Thoreau also put being true to onseself above being loyal to a man-made government. Among his famous followers was Mohandas K. Gandhi, whoese version of civil disobedience became known as \u2018passive resitance\u2019 and was reimported into the US as \u2018sit-ins\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              9. UNCLE TOM\u2019S CABIN by HARRIET BEECHER STOWE <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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                Subtitled Life Among the Lowly<\/em>, the book is remembered today for the Yankee overseer Simon Legree, the death of Little Eva, and the flight of Eliza over the ice.\u00a0 \u00a0Actually, the book was a fairly balanced treatment of the southern slave problem. Mrs. Stowe expressed admiration in it fort he humane slaveholder, and her villain is a displaced northerner form Vermont. Although the book was not <\/em>written by God \u2013 despite Mrs, Stowe\u2019s claim \u2013 it contributed substantially to the abolitionist movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                10. ORIGIN OF SPECIES by CHARLES DARWIN <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                A revolutionary theory in ist day, the theory of evolution is now accpeted by most people. Darwin proposed that species evolve form earlier species, and that evolution is controlled or determined by natural selection. That is, the plant or animal that adapts through positive mutation to its surroundings is the one most likely to survive and reproduce its kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                11. DAS KAPITAL (1867-1895) by KARL MARX <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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                1. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                  Written in London, Volume I of Das Kapital<\/em>, was Marx\u2019s major work. (Volumes II and III were completed by Friedrich Engels form Marx\u2019s notes). A study of capitalistic society, the book went on to espouse dialectical materialism. Marx believed in class struggle as the basic force in shaping history, and that the world\u2019s increasing industrialization \u2013 controlled by the capitalists \u2013 would inevitably lead to over revolution of the proletariat and a classless society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                  12. THE INFLUENCE OF SEA POWER UPON HISTORY (1890) by ALFRED THAYER MAHAN <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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                  1. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                    Written by an American naval officer\/historian, this book thought to prove the importance of naval power in a nation\u2019s defenses. Mahan was a lecturer in naval tactics at Newport War College. His ideas were influential in shaping naval policy in the U.S., England, and Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                    13. THE INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS (1900) by Sigmund Freud <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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                    1. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                      An early report on Freud\u2019s findings, after his long study of the subconcious. Dream interpretation was one of the tools Freud used in analysis. A patient recounted his dreams and they were explored fort heir symbolic meanings. Freud thought that these dreams reflected repressed emotions, which in turn caused neuroses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      14. THE GEOGRAPHICAL PIVOT OF HISTORY (1904) by HALFORD J. MACKINDER <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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                      1. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                        Mackinder, a geopolitician in later life, encouraged the revival of interest in geographical learning in Britain while he was still at Oxford. After establishing geography as an academic subject when he taught at the University of London, he became director of the London School of Economics. \u2018The Geographical Pivot of History\u2019 was a 24-page paper later developed into a book, Democratic Ideals and Reality<\/em> (1919), which viewed Eurasia as the \u2018geographical pivot\u2019 and the \u2018heartland\u2019of history. The U.S. and Great Britain ignored this theory before WW II, but Germany used it to support Nazi geopolitics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        15. RELATIVITY: THE SPECIAL AND GENERAL THEORIES (1905, 1916) by ALBERT EINSTEIN<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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                          A German-Swiss-U.S. physicist, Einstein proposed his special theory of relativity in 1905, his general theory of relativity in 1916. While these complicated theories made possible the splitting of the atom and the atomic bomb, they did not win a Nobel prize for Einstein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                          16. MEIN KAMPF (1925) by ADOLF HITLER<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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                            This autobiographywas dictated to Rudolf Hess while Hitler and Hess were imprisoned following the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. The unsuccesful uprising in Munich had thought to overthrow the Bavarian goverment. In addition to being an autobiography, Mein Kampf (My Struggle) outlined Hitler\u2019s plan to achive political control of Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                            Robert Bingham Downs<\/strong> (May 25, 1903 \u2013 February 24, 1991) was an American author and librarian. Downs was an advocate for intellectual  freedom as well. Downs spent the majority of his career working against, and voicing opposition to, literary censorship. Downs authored many books and publications regarding the topics of censorship, and on the topics of responsible and efficient leadership in the library context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                            The Book of Lists, 1978<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                            <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                            In its 26 chapters, this political treatise studies power \u2013 how to get it and how to keep it. Rulers of the past are used as examples and Cesare Borgio […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30053,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[923,2177,4610],"class_list":["post-28091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meerdere-landen","tag-boeken","tag-english","tag-mind"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inzaken.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/16-books-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inzaken.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inzaken.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inzaken.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inzaken.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inzaken.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28091"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/inzaken.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44614,"href":"https:\/\/inzaken.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28091\/revisions\/44614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inzaken.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inzaken.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inzaken.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inzaken.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}