If you could only preserve 5 books, what would they be?

Exonerate · Post by **Exonerate** » 2003-04-13 07:19pm

Please write them down, and why you'd want to preserve it...
If it's not too much trouble, could you post or PM me your real name along with your age? I need it for a school survey...

Since I'm asking for a favor, I'll start

1. 1984 by George Orwell. Shows the possible consequences of government censorship and provides an incentive for people to not do so.
2. Any of the His Dark Material series by Philip Pullman. Good read, with lots of blasphemy in it to boot.
3. To Kill a Mockingbird. Shows the racism and prejudice that once existed.
4. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. Good book, funny too... Then there's that part on the Babel fish and God.
5. The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe. Not really a book, but good literature. Plus, its creepy.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-04-13 07:22pm

1) 1984 - for obvious reasons.

2) The Law (Frederic Bastiat) - kickass economic treatise.

3) The Wealth of Nations - being one of the only five books left, people would be more likely to follow it.

4) The Lord of the Rings (the whole book)

5) A Book of Shakespeare's complete works.

My real name is Joe Estes, and I'm 19.

Post by **Colonel Olrik** » 2003-04-13 07:31pm

The Feynman lectures on physics, by Richard Feynman.

Calculus, Apostol. (or similar)

One edition of the Medical Encyclopedia.

The Wealth of Nations

Demons in the Dark

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2003-04-13 07:35pm

1984 by George Orwell

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

Something by Tom Clancy

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolken

Some other book by some other author

BrYaN19kc · Post by **BrYaN19kc** » 2003-04-13 07:45pm

The Stories of John Cheever
John Cheever

Cheever’s writing does an excellent job of presenting suburban life in America. He also does not sugarcoat his views of the “decay of the American suburbs”.

O Pioneers!
Willa Cather

This book cuts no corners and is a wonderful representation of life on the prairie and how the immigrant pioneers brought beauty and productivity to the barren high planes.

One of Ours
Willa Cather

An excellent novel because of Cather’s unique style of a woman writing from a male perspective about experiences during WWI.

The Sound and The Fury
William Faulkner
(The Norton Critical Edition – highly recommended for those new to Faulkner’s writing)

An excellent portrayal of life in the south with viewpoints coming from the eyes of many unique characters.

The Journals of Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand

A must have book for anyone diving into Rand’s works.

Straha · Post by **Straha** » 2003-04-13 07:53pm

Atlas Shrugged- Ayn Rand

The Fountainhead- Ayn Rand

Anthem- Ayn Rand (I would probably remove this book if a better book showed up)

Dune- Frank Herbert

The Delta of Venus- Anais Nin (If all books/magazines are being burned I would need something to wank off to)

Post by **weemadando** » 2003-04-13 08:42pm

1 Copy of a Medical Encyclopedia.

1 Copy of a rather comprehensive Engineering text.

1 Copy of the collected works of Plato.

1 Copy of a Physics Almanac.

1 Copy of "A Communist Manifesto" by Marx/Engels (hell if only these books are surviving, then we might be able to establish a wonderful socialist paradise afterwards!).

alternatively save

1 Copy of the "Fallout" manuals.

theski · Post by **theski** » 2003-04-13 09:06pm

1. Copy of "How Things Work"

2. Copy of S.A.S. Survival Guide

3. Copy of Lastest Medical Ency

4. Copy of The Wealth of Nations

5. Copy of The Stand S King

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-04-13 09:09pm

Ayn Rand? How pathetic.

Alex Moon · Post by **Alex Moon** » 2003-04-13 09:13pm

A medical encyclopia
The Wealth of Nations
A basic mathmatics textbook up to calculus
A basic calculus textbook
A copy of the US constitution

EDIT:
Why I picked this books? Well, they're pretty useful in rebuilding society. Most philosophical stuff will be rewritten in one form or another in time. It's better to focus on the stuff that you can use now.
My name is Alex Moon and I'm 20.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-04-13 09:23pm

The Lord of the Rings

1984

Fahrenheit 451

Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer

And a volume of Lovecraft's work.

Exonerate · Post by **Exonerate** » 2003-04-13 09:37pm

Is everybody too lazy to put why they selected the book?

Doesn't have to some complex thing, you could just put because you liked it.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-04-13 09:40pm

Mine are because I like them and because they're importent.

Utsanomiko · Post by **Utsanomiko** » 2003-04-13 09:45pm

Ironically, my only vote (right now, anyway), is Fahrenheit 451.

Because everyone should read that book.Maybe people just don't feel like writing down a reason. If they list it, it's gotta be important. Don't be so pushy.

Cal Wright · Post by **Cal Wright** » 2003-04-13 09:52pm

Playboy Jaime Pressly edition
My drawing notebook
Star Wars Trilogy novel
Cask of Amontillado, because revenge can be so sweet.

Post by **Dalton** » 2003-04-13 09:56pm

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein (both a good book and one that helped kick off the 60s counterculture movement)

The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. Pretty much the definition of fantasy and very mind-expanding.

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. What happens when corporations take over and monopolies run rampant

A good warning.

A copy of the US Constitution. Still the groundwork of our freedoms, despite how much politicians and the government have mangled it to suit their purposes.

Night Watch by Terry Pratchett. Though silly at times, it still has a lot of good ideas about justice and morality.

You know my name, and I'm 22.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-04-13 09:58pm

Cal Wright wrote:Playboy Jaime Pressly edition
My drawing notebook
Star Wars Trilogy novel
Cask of Amontillado, because revenge can be so sweet.

Jaime Pressly didn't pose nude for Playboy, did she?

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-04-13 10:03pm

Bah, with a notebook you can draw your own porn!!

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-04-13 10:11pm

Definately a current copy of the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. Beyond that, it becomes harder.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2003-04-13 10:13pm

Lord of the Rings - Because in my opinion it's one of the best fantasy novels every.

Dune - A really good book that works a lot of different levels.

Beowulf - Because it's one of the best damn fantasy/adventure novels

The Iliad - The best mythologocal story/war story ever told

Julius Cesear - my favorite William Shakespeare and it's about one of the most interesting men in history

20 and you can get my name over PM.

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2003-04-13 10:35pm

The origin of species

1984

A brief history of time

Lord of the Rings

A highly detailed volume covering all of science

Skelron · Post by **Skelron** » 2003-04-13 11:22pm

1984 For reasons already mentioned
War of the worlds. Okay fantatstic book responsible for so much of Sci-Fi today and more. Think about it if we don't have War of The worlds in years to come people are going to miss out on all the stories that go with it, The Radio Drama, and people's reactions. The Audio Version, The Movie all useless without the book. NO this book has to remain.
Lord of the Rings. Erm Fantasy needs and demands this book.
Dune... Sci-Fi demands this book
Enclyopedia Britanica. HAy we need a record of the as much as possible. The Enclyopedia Britanica covers this nicely, Do they still have the section on Guerilla Warfare, by Lawrence of Arabia? (think it was him anyway)

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2003-04-13 11:38pm

Calculus: Concepts and Contexts (with solution manual)
This is a no-brainer. Everything from cars to computers owes its existence and current efficiency levels to calculus. Can serve as a spring-board for differential equations without too much effort.

Physics for Scientists and Engineers I
Physics for Scientists and Engineers II
Another no-brainer. These two books contain the concepts responsible for the industrial revolution and virtually every scientific advancement of the past 500 years. These two volumes go from simple mechanics to electricity, magnetism and particle physics.

Fortran 90 for Scientists and Engineers
If all books are to be destroyed, computers are still around. Therefore, scientists will need an easy reference for Fortran 90. Sorry, all you C and C++ people, Fortran 90 solves complex differential equations and is being used in intense laser physics research simulations. It needs to stay.

Feynmann's Physics Lectures
Feynmann was a genius whose work on relativity led to astounding breakthroughs, one of which being the atomic bomb. His stuff has to stay.

You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned any medical science books. That's because professionals in those fields know their stuff cold. Physicists, while being extremely important to the world and ongoing research, are forgetful and lazy people. We make colorful books with little pictures and stuff for a reason: to entertain short attention spans. We can't live without our books.

My name is Damien Sorresso, and I'm a student.

What, this isn't an Apple Switch commercial?

Shit, okay, my name is Damien Sorresso, and I'm 20 in 11 days.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2003-04-13 11:40pm

Alyrium Denryle wrote:TA highly detailed volume covering all of science

Such a volume would consist of all journals ever published in the fields of physics, biology and chemistry. It'd be preposterously large. If we let the wannabe sciences in, as well (psychology, sociology and the rest of the social "sciences"), then it gets even bigger.

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2003-04-13 11:48pm

physics, biology and chemistry will go in... But lets keep the outdated stuff out. We dont need anything on geocentric theory or any of that outdated stuff. Only the most accurate info(or the stuff that is esier to apply)

We only need 1 copy...if comps stay well...we can scan all the pages(over the time span of a few months/years) and put them on disk/currently used media storage