The world today is built on an almost incomprehensible quantity of understanding that has been handed down in books.
It is essential to keep in mind that, although lots 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 bulk of history, merely due to the fact that the huge bulk of individuals might not read, suggesting that most books were specialised things meant for those few who could understand them. After a quick boom during the classical era of antiquity, the amount of literate individuals dropped dramatically during the Middle Ages. Books ended up being rare treasures, with monks painstakingly copying out the surviving classic texts by hand so as to maintain them, as they were a few of the only members of the population who were able to read or write. They were the expert keepers of understanding like biology and religious beliefs that we all have access to in the contemporary world.
It can be hard to imagine what the world would be like today if the vast bulk of individuals were unable to read, but for the large majority of history the large majority of people might not, and nor were books available even if they could. It was the creation of the printing press towards the close of the 15th that altered that, making books a lot more accessible. Of course, it was still only actually the wealthiest and well-read that could read or write, but it enabled a whole host of developments in science, art, and thinking to be spread out throughout great distances. Consider what would have occurred if the theory of gravity, or of evolution, could not have actually been distributed across the globe. Human civilisation rests upon a foundation of books, and we are fortunate to be able to merely log onto a site 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.
With such an abundant history of ideas, events, and stories right at our fingertips, it's sometimes simple to forget how exceptionally 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 huge percentage of all the books that have actually ever been written (or the good ones at least). The best books of all time can easily alter the manner in which you look at the world, which has actually been true throughout all of history as well. The modern-day world is built on knowledge that has actually been handed 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 actually not been for the books that changed minds throughout the ages.