In no particular order, and some of these being more "highly underrated" as opposed to "unknown", with the notable exception of Smith's Wealth of Nations which is disturbingly un- and mis-read:

1. Grammatical Man, by Jeremy Campbell (1982)

https://www.worldcat.org/title/grammatical-man-information-e...

My introduction to information theory and its diverse set of interrelated applications and phenomena.

2. Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity, by William Ophuls (1977)

https://www.worldcat.org/title/ecology-and-the-politics-of-s...

Distills the Limits to Growth issue to its essence, and looks at the political implications, with a set of estimates of political developments which have played out closely.

3. An Inquiry to the Nature and Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith (1776)

https://www.worldcat.org/title/inquiry-into-the-nature-and-c...

The best-known, but least-read, and most mis-read book on this list. Smith isn't perfect and has flaws. But his message is extraordinarily misunderstood and misrepresented. Even where he is wrong, he is instructive.

4. Commercialism and Journalism, by Hamilton Holt (1909)

https://www.worldcat.org/title/commercialism-and-journalism/...

A short but extraordinarily illuminating read on the influence of money and advertising on the press, coming near the beginning of the era of mass media.

5. Unix Power Tools, by Mike Loukides et al (1997)

https://www.worldcat.org/title/unix-power-tools/oclc/2584502...

The book that really got me "over the hump" in understanding the Unix environment and tools. Now somewhat dated, though still highly useful.

6. A Short History of Progress, by Ronald Wright (2004)

https://www.worldcat.org/title/short-history-of-progress/ocl...

An exploration of the story, question, and future, of progress.

7. Entropy and the Economic Process, by Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen (1971)

https://www.worldcat.org/title/entropy-law-and-the-economic-...

A re-thinking of economics taking thermodynamics into account. Famously difficult to read, but well worth the effort.

8. On the Damned Human Race, by Mark Twain (1962)

https://www.worldcat.org/title/mark-twain-on-the-damned-huma...

A darker, angrier, more bitter side of Twain, cracking open the sanitised version those familiar with Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn will know, and giving an insight to the darker side of late 19th and early 20th century America.

9. Energy and Civilization, by Vaclav Smil (2017)

https://www.worldcat.org/title/energy-and-civilization-a-his...

A re-casting of history, not according to spiritual or cultural progress, Great Men, or social dynamics, but the access to and utilisation of energy sources.

10. Resistances to the Adoption of Technological Innovations, by Bernhard J. Stern (1937)

https://archive.org/details/technologicaltre1937unitrich/pag...

A fascinating exploration of the organised opposition to numerous significant technological innovations through the ages, contrary to the conventional story told by mainstream economic and innovation models and stories. Stern's research assistant at the time he was working on this topic went on to become known as a science fiction author, and based one of his first works on this notion: Isaac Asimov.

On the question of compiling such lists: I've recently started keeping a research journal in which I'm trying to capture works of significance that I've read, vaguely inspired by both index-card methods (such as Zettelkasten or POIC) and bullet journals.

The organisation is "BOTI" -- best of the interval.

I will start a two-page spread, dated, of a specific class of entries -- works, videos, authors, ideas, etc. -- and when that closes, start another. Periodically (about every month, for now) I'll select the best of those works for a BOTM list, and at the end of a year, a BOTY list.

Or at least that's the idea.

This may address the question of keeping track of the most significant works (or authors, concepts, ideas, etc.) over time, which otherwise tend to become a bit of a jumble.

The BOTI list and periodic aggregations themselves resemble round-robin databases, or ring or circular buffers or files, though without actually rewriting each specific list. The initial capture levels remain accessible (in the journal) for revisiting, should something prove to have been more significant on subsequent reflection than initially appeared.