The nine books deemed less valuable to humanity than the Bible

A Folio Society survey conducted by YouGov has asked members of the British public to name the books of most significance for the modern world.

The Bible came out top with 27 per cent of the vote, pipping Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species, which explains natural selection, while Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time, which tries to tackle some of the universe's biggest questions, came third.

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 Isaac Newton (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 D Watson (6%)

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