A study, conducted by YouGov for the UK’s The Folio Society (the maker of those beautiful, crafted editions of great literature), asked 2,044 adults which three books (from a list of 30) they considered the most valuable. Respondents were asked to rate the influence and significance their selected books have had on the modern world.

The Bible scored 37 per cent, closely followed by Darwin’s The Origin of the Species at 35 per cent. Coming in third was Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time (17 per cent).

Editorial Director of The Folio Society, Tom Walker, said one of the first questions he had when looking at the results was whether the similar figures for Darwin and the Bible shows “a continuing polarisation between the realms of science and religion, or whether in fact it reveals a more balanced approach to ideas for the modern reader.”

The ten books voted most valuable to humanity:

1)      The Bible (37%)

2)      The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (35%)

3)      A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (17%)

4)      Relativity by Albert Einstein (15%)

5)      Nineteen-Eighty-Four by George Orwell (14%)

6)      Principia Mathematica by Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell (12%)

7)      To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (10%)

8)      The Qur’an (9%)

9)      The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith (7%)

10)    The Double Helix by James Watson (6%)