This is a very important and interesting question. I agree with you and all others who advocate that Books are the carriers of civilization. Books what I understand means the collected information. Internet and new technology also reflects the value of information presented in hardbound form. However, it is also true that the internet and informatics are subtle informatics forms now serving as the carriers of civilization. But the fact is that these are the books whether in hardbound form or softbound form, the major carriers of civilization.

My feeling is that all respected members who responded in above have almost same opinion except they explained in different ways and approaches.

The internet and the book are media of distribution and archiving knowledge. With the internet, the book is not dead but has mutated into electronic books but there is still the place for the physical paper book. The internet has changed the way many things are done, including knowledge sharing but I think the book has not fared badly. It is my contention that the internet has made reading the book easier, faster and more productive. However, like all things technological and unnatural, the availability of the electronic book to different social classes and communities is uneven. The degree of continued usage of the hard book varies from place to place but in all communities and cultures, the hard book is still relevant. As Walter Ong and others have theorized orality and literacy, we are beginning to see the theorization of print and electronic material provision and consumption.

مرحبا دكتورة 

نعم الى حد كبير 

سلمت 

Hi dear 

For the first part of the question , books are absolutely the messengers of civilization since they convey all life details so it is right saying. For the second part l think books and internet are the same as they sometimes used exchangeably since we can see electronic books. 

Liqaa 

It is true that books and other electronic media are 'messengers' of discoveries, new forms, and understanding of living and doing things (my meaning of civilization), yet, there are other informal, traditional means that can be tapped for relaying issues on civilization.

Many local communities I study are not literate groups, yet, they use proverbs, folklores, myths, and storytelling as viable means of learning new ways of living, new and improved agricultural methods and revising the old ways of thinking. However, the fear of extermination of local knowledge through these informal institutions calls for a documentation, thus, employing modern means of relaying information via manual and electronic knowledge storage systems.

Therefore, based on this premise, I would not entirely agree that only the formal means are carriers of knowledge about civilization. Anthropologists must assist in helping with advocating the usage of the informal systems for propagating the gems of civilization for the local communities. It is possible!

Thanks

Dickson Adom

 Thanks a lot dear Adewale Ajayi for adding your answer, but I am  still encourage my students to read  "physical books" as you called them.

Regards

Dr.Mazin Alsalman  شكري الجزيل 

Well dearest Liqaa Habeb, I still belive and feel that real books must not be replaced by electronic ones. Nothing can equal the moment when you sit  on a chair reading an authentic book with a cup of tea on the other hand.

Warm regards

Yea, you are right Dickson Adom. Thanks a lot.

Regards

Books are store house of knowledge whether it is hard copy book or e book. They are the enroute to civilization.

Anirbid Sircar ·, You are utterly right .

What do you say about this quote"Books are the carriers of civilization".

Think Barbara Tuchman (1912-1989) might agreed there are alternatives i.e. digital contents, electronic archives, cloud repositories, computer means etc. to replace books as carriers of civilization especially in nowadays the era of Internet.  May be during her time Internet / IT was not that prevalent vs current era.  Regardless the technologies, the concept still hold true i.e. any sound documented means are the carriers of civilization.

 Your answer "any sound documented means are the carriers of civilization" was so convincing. Thanks a lot dear Han Ping Fung.

Regards

Thank you all for your valuable answers.

Regards

Yes, It can not be said absolutely that Internet can replace books or Internet can not replace books. However, Internet has a lead through its more benefits, as it is more organized and contains much more information that is easier to find. It is less expensive and easy to be accessed. Internet has many functions. It is a service available to the masses. It has a huge range of functions. A person can sit at home and be connected to the world by the medium of the Internet. The Internet is a good substitute to knowledge as it can provide a person knowledge from around the globe while the book restricts a persons knowledge only to that of the author. On the other side there is book about it people have almost same opinion in favour but every one who is giving the favour of Internet have almost different opinions so that means it has a lead through its more benefits.

http://www.debate.org/opinions/can-the-internet-replace-books

Thanks a lot Dr. Ahmed Al mayahi. you are absolutely right. The most important point about the internet is that you can easily access any piece of information you need.

Indeed books are carriers of civilization, but not alone.Traces and remnants of ancient building structures, paintings and artworks, archeological findings, museums, cultures and collective behaviors are all carriers of civilizations, besides contemporary electronics and products of technology. 

I agree with the quote "Books are the carriers of civilization". ''Internet and the new world of technology'' tend to replace the book, but, to me, the merit of a book is priceless. In addition, note that the power of habit to read books plays its role.

Regards 

You added a very good point dear Aristidis Matsoukis, that of "the power of habit to read books plays its role". Thanks a lot for your precise answer.

Regards

This phrase needs to be checked

Because books carry facts or information that lead to logic facts while civilizations

It is about a cognitive accumulation of the logic of those facts which are renewable and may be intellectually portable among scientists, thinkers, philosophers, and researchers, not only in books

 Dear colleagues

- First, Sumerians used clay tablets to archive their civilization.

 - Second, ancient Egyptian used papyrus to archive their civilization.

 - Third, ancient Chines used papers to archive their civilization.

So, books are a stage started before and now we see it's end.

Best wishes foe all. 

 Hi,

I don't agree with you Salam Jassim Hmood. Nothing wrong in this phrase, How can we know the history, civilization ,poems and heritage of countries all over the world without books?

HI ,Mohannad Husain Al-Sherrawi,

You are right about the points you listed of the way previous civilizations had been documented. But do you really feel that it is the end of books?!!!

Dear Arwa Abdulrasoul Salman, with my respect, what I meant in my answer

Is that civilization is not confined to books only because some historical events are counterfeit for certain purposes and interests, civilization is an accumulation of knowledge in the minds of scientists, researchers, civilization also exist within the values and beliefs of the peoples who own that civilization

Yes, you are right Salam Jassim Hmood. But the phrase altogether doesn't mean that civilization is confined to books, it simply means that books are the carriers of civilization and they are really carriers.

Regards

I agree with this, because the civilizations that were built from thousands of years if there were no books to chronicle what has reached us at the present time. For example the law of Hammurabi if not written and preserved it will not  arrived to modern generations and we know who is Hammurabi form these ancient books.. 

Yes I agree with Suzan, because books reflective mirror conveyor for civilizations existed thousands of years ago and give us the governance and lessons and the pros and cons of ancient civilizations...including the history of the old human and how to learn agriculture and established houses and raised animals.

Hi dear Israa Essa, and I agree with you and with Suzan. Thanks a lot for adding your answer.

Regards

Are paper books really disappearing?

By Rachel Nuwer

When Peter James published his novel Host on two floppy disks in 1993, he was ill-prepared for the “venomous backlash” that would follow. Journalists and fellow writers berated and condemned him; one reporter even dragged a PC and a generator out to the beach to demonstrate the ridiculousness of this new form of reading. “I was front-page news of many newspapers around the world, accused of killing the novel,”James told pop.edit.lit. “[But] I pointed out that the novel was already dying at an alarming rate without my assistance.”

Shortly after Host’s debut, James also issued a prediction: that e-books would spike in popularity once they became as easy and enjoyable to read as printed books. What was a novelty in the 90s, in other words, would eventually mature to the point that it threatened traditional books with extinction. Two decades later, James’ vision is well on its way to being realised.

.....

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160124-are-paper-books-really-disappearing

The Beginning of the End... of Paper Books

 By Andrew Zack

Also, keep in mind that no one believes that the days of paper books aren’t numbered. It will take a couple of generations for kids to be fully separated from paper books and adults ready to read everything on a tablet of some kind, but I wouldn’t recommend anyone more than a decade from retirement invest in starting a bookstore. We are experiencing the beginning of the end of paper books right now. The brick-and-mortar store and the paper book will disappear faster than you might imagine.

.....

Will Books Become Obsolete?

 By Sharon Bellissimo 

Will Books Disappear?

Books becoming obsolete and disappearing altogether seems rather far fetched, but is it? I have loved books all my life. Since I was a small child I always had a book in my hand. As I grew older I still enjoyed reading although the amount of time I could dedicate to this pleasure became infringed upon with work and children etc. etc. You know the story.

......

https://letterpile.com/misc/books-obsolete-books-disappear

 Thanks Mohannad Husain Al-Sherrawi for adding your answer, but I think that books will never ever disappear.

Regards

This is a very important and interesting question. I agree with you and all others who advocate that Books are the carriers of civilization. Books what I understand means the collected information. Internet and new technology also reflects the value of information presented in hardbound form. However, it is also true that the internet and informatics are subtle informatics forms now serving as the carriers of civilization. But the fact is that these are the books whether in hardbound form or softbound form, the major carriers of civilization.

My feeling is that all respected members who responded in above have almost same opinion except they explained in different ways and approaches.

Thanks a lot dear Dr.Zahir Hussain for always adding your valuable answers. I really enjoy reading your answers.

Regards

Dear Arwa,

This quote expresses indeed the tremendous role of books in our civilization. I fully agree with all specific statements of Barbara Tuchman. As far as the internet is concerned it is evident that we still do not have access to many valuable and essential books. Just one example from the area related to my work: "Methods of theoretical physics" by Morse and Feshbach; this book is available only in the commendable and high quality hard cover form.

Furthermore we see also the resurgence of actual printed books; they will continue to coexist with the internet in the foreseeable future in the same way as the fountain pen and paper coexist with the computer typesetting using TeX/LaTeX system.

Kind regards,

Janusz

You are utterly right dear Janusz Pudykiewicz.

Regards

Dear Colleagues,

Good Day,

Books are the way people record info. Write thoughts... Save stories.... Without books, we wouldn't know anything because we would have nothing to learn.

You are absolutely right dear Hazim Hashim Tahir

No, there are many many factors that affect civilization especially in the presence of E-services or E-living, but the main parameter is the man (Male and Female).

Civilization is behavior rather than records.

Emad

Thanks a lot dear Emad Kamil Hussein, you are right.

https://www.researchgate.net/deref/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Ffuture%2Fstory%2F20160124-are-paper-books-really-disappearing

Thanks a lot Ali hadi Ghawi