If you knew beforehand...what books to take with you

[Gawen]

Ironically, I read this question yesterday in a fantasy book I'm reading. The modern world killed itself 2500 years ago. Our heroes of the day (basically a time not much more than our iron age) come across a buried installation that has been rumoured to have all the knowledge of the old world. The problem is that the old world library was all electronic and AI and engineered to last as long as it could until the creators of the installation came back (and they never did). Our heroes could not access any of the information and their world will just have to chug allong as it has done since the Great War. But our hero ponders, if they had only been books....


The scenario can be whatever you think. But if you knew beforehand that you would be shut away or stranded (not necessarily alone), or maybe one of the few to survive some cataclysm and had room for five books....what would they be?

Honestly, at this time I can't answer the question. The choices are seemingly endless; a physics book? Math? Structural engineering?  A classic novel? Porn? Recipe book?

[xSilverPhinx]

Is there a limnit to the number of books one can choose? If not, then I'd keep them all.

[Traveler]

I would choose books that teach basic survival skills. Building homes by hand, hunting and gathering, basket weaving, that kind of thing. Exact titles TBD.

[Asmodean]

I'd want a fat psychology book to help me be a better manipulator, chemistry (Illustrated geology to help find the correct minerals for chemistry), a guide to ancient metallurgy and pharmacology/medicine for the rest of my pocket space.

[Wessik]

Damn, I don't know... The problem being that in a world directly inherited from a cataclysmic apocalypse, the time it would take to read said book and apply whatever principles contained therein would probably be too long. Furthermore, immediate needs such as hunger and the like would probably prevent one from fully utilizing knowledge contained therein. Not to mention the fact that the amount of knowledge and fields required to re-create civilization far expands beyond the scope of simply five books. I don't think using such books to recreate civilization would be helpful.

On the other side of the garden, however, lies a written record, in condensed form, of who we as a people are, where we come from, how to live life etc. Perhaps a modern version of the holy books of old might be in order. Of course, one shouldn't expect such reading material to be practically useful. Its use would come more from the sense of solidarity, solace, and heritage that it gives to humanity. I hear many of the holy books we have today started out like this in ancient times.

[Gawen]

Interesting answers to what I feel is an interesting hypothetical question. I still couldn't answer it.

[Sandra Craft]

Well, definitely a copy of "How to build things for idiots" and "How to survive in the wild for idiots" books, or something like that.  I'd also recommend any book by Carl Sagan and Chet Raymo, just to bend the twig of yearning for "something greater than ourselves" toward science and nature rather than make-believe supermen.  It's worth a shot.

[xSilverPhinx]

I think I would also lean more toawrds more immediate and practicle knowledge. If you're talking about a dystopian future, extra knowledge is not what's the most important. People usually tend to get to that once they're better off.

Maybe books on mathematics, survival skills, basic physics (for energy), and low tech food production.

[Wessik]

Hmmm... good point phoenix. I like your suggestion.

[Amicale]

1. The Ultimate Survival Shelters: Construction Manual by Michael Pugliese - detailed step by step instructions for making, you guessed it, shelters. Out of nearly any material you can imagine.

2. The Survival Chemist by David Howard - basically, how to make stuff, use stuff, purify water, find food, store meat, and similar useful tips.

3. Medical Specialist - author unknown aside from the US government, standard medical encyclopedia on human systems, diseases, treatments, etc. Most docs have this one on a shelf somewhere, and having it would be handy!

4. The Essential Wild Food Survival Guide by Linda Runyon - basically how to identify anything edible, prepare it, etc. Invaluable, no doubt.

5. My all-in-one-volume copy of C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia... because as practical as I hope I'd be in taking the other four, I'd need something creative, playful, interesting, fun and well-cherished to keep me both sane and human.