Never before have books been so available as they are today in the modern-day world; keep reading to find out more.
It can be tough to imagine what the world would be like today if the large bulk of people were not able to read, but for the large bulk of history the vast majority of individuals might not, and nor were books accessible even if they could. It was the innovation of the printing press towards the close of the 15th that altered that, making books far more accessible. Obviously, it was still just actually the richest and well-educated that could read or write, but it made it possible for an entire host of breakthroughs in science, art, and thinking to be spread throughout great distances. Consider what would have taken place if the theory of gravity, or of evolution, could not have been distributed across the globe. Human civilisation rests upon a structure of books, and we are fortunate to be able to merely log onto a website 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 understanding.
It is necessary to remember that, although plenty of the best modern books of all time tend to be considered ground-breaking works of fiction, for the majority of mankind's literary history, we did not compose much fiction at all. The majority of stories would have been sung throughout the great majority of history, simply since the large bulk of individuals might not read, suggesting that most books were specialised things meant for those few who could understand them. After a brief boom during the classical age of antiquity, the quantity of literate people dropped drastically throughout the Middle Ages. Books ended up being uncommon treasures, with monks fastidiously copying out the enduring classic texts by hand so as to preserve them, as they were some of the only members of the populace who could read or write. They were the specialist keepers of knowledge like biology and religion that we all have access to in the contemporary world.
With such a rich history of ideas, events, and stories right at our fingertips, it's sometimes easy to forget how incredibly lucky 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 least). The best books of all time can easily change the way that you take a look at the world, which has actually held true throughout all of history also. The contemporary world is built on knowledge that has been passed 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.