# Damn. The world ends tomorrow. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 17, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-the-world-ends-tomorrow/229700 "2004-02-17T20:41:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Malice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/278dde/32.png) [@Malice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malice)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-the-world-ends-tomorrow/229700/1 "2004-02-17T20:41:26Z")
The world will end tomorrow (uh, hypothetically… yeah, that’s the ticket!) and I would like to be duly prepared for the eventual rebuilding of humanity. Assume a planet-wide catastrophe that leaves only small bands of humans in an otherwise iron-age existence, but with 100 percent literacy. Only five [non-religious] texts survive and they just so happen to be the most practical and most useful in the long-term restoration of today’s store of human knowledge. Specifically, what are the five books? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-the-world-ends-tomorrow/229700/2 "2004-02-17T20:58:13Z")
I’m busy tomorrow. In fact I’m kind of booked for the rest of the month. Is it okay if your disaster waits until March? Sorry to be a bother. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-the-world-ends-tomorrow/229700/3 "2004-02-17T20:58:49Z")
1. “How Things Work, Volumes 1 - whatever” 2. “The New York Public Library Desk Reference” 3. “Gray’s Anatomy” or some other general anatomy/physiology book 4. “Five Acres and Independence” or “The Owner-Built Homestead” 5. “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare” because what good is surviving without culture ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-the-world-ends-tomorrow/229700/4 "2004-02-17T21:02:16Z")
Would an encyclopedia set count as one book? If so, that’s a must-include in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Malice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/278dde/32.png) [@Malice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malice)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-the-world-ends-tomorrow/229700/5 "2004-02-17T21:15:56Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Would an encyclopedia set count as one book? If so, that’s a must-include in my opinion. Rule of thumb: It counts as a single book if it comes in a single tome from, say, [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com). Silenus: I didn’t want to bias the responses, but these two were definitely in my list. 1. “How Things Work” (well, before I realized there were so many volumes now, which violates my rule above) 2. “Gray’s Anatomy” ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-the-world-ends-tomorrow/229700/6 "2004-02-17T21:26:51Z")
Don’t forget the _Handbook of Chemistry and Physics_ - I suspect it’d be more than helpful in terms of reference. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-the-world-ends-tomorrow/229700/7 "2004-02-17T23:42:32Z")
_The Dummies Guide To The Apocolypse_ might come in useful… ---
**Author:** ![Uncivil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ccd318/32.png) [@Uncivil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncivil)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-the-world-ends-tomorrow/229700/8 "2004-02-18T00:15:13Z")
> [@Malice](#): > > The world will end tomorrow… And they tell me this on a damn message board? I knew I was right not to trust the press. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-the-world-ends-tomorrow/229700/9 "2004-02-18T05:30:14Z")
> [@Malice](#): > > The world will end tomorrow Again 😕