In the 1960s, researchers began to understand memory as operating under two systems: a short-term one handling information for mere seconds, and a long-term one for managing information indefinitely. Short-term memory, they found, wasn't simply a 'filing cabinet,' but appeared to work on cognitive tasks.

Alasdair MacIntyre's 1981 After Virtue was a ground-breaking contribution to modern moral philosophy. Dissatisfied with the major trends in the moral philosophy of his time, MacIntyre argued that modern moral discourse had no real rational basis.

Much of what we now know about the influence of early childhood environments on delinquency and anti-social behavior can be traced to Bandura's ground-breaking 1973 book. He uses the subject of aggression to demonstrate the usefulness of social learning theory.

Democracy in America, published in 1835 and 1840, challenged conventional thinking about democracy when it first appeared and is still cited today for its in-depth analysis of what makes a successful democracy.

Crosby's landmark 1972 work argues that environmental factors shape our history just as much as-and sometimes more than-human factors.

Sen's 1997 work argues that the success or failure of international development cannot be measured by income alone.

Amartya Sen's Inequality Re-Examined is a seminal text setting out a theory to evaluate social arrangements and inequality. By asking the question, 'equality of what'?, Sen shows that (in)equality should be assessed as human freedom; for people to have the ability to pursue and achieve goals they value or have reason to value.

How many books can claim to be so influential as to inspire the development of a whole school of thought? Metaphysics did exactly that, laying the foundations for a new branch of philosophy concerned with the cause and nature of being.

Politics was one of the first books to investigate the concept of political philosophy and the starting point of political science studies as we know them. Written in the fourth century B.C.E., it explores how best to create political communities that support, serve, and improve citizens.

Modernity at Large is an edited collection of the essays that made Appadurai an influential figure in cultural anthropology. Collectively, these not only present a theory of globalization, but also suggest ways that other researchers can follow up on the author's ideas. .