"Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries&

[Big Papa Goat]

Coming of Age in Samoa was one of the most important books in modern anthropology, in that it established the claim that human nature is entirely malleable and based on culture alone.
It was also very poorly researched considering how relied upon it was. Supposedly Mead didn't even speak to or live with any Samoan adults and based her account of an idyllic, sexually and socially liberated Samoan culture on the statements of a few adolescent Samoan girls who were probably just exaggerating their sex lives and making fun of her.
Regardless, the book is pretty much entirely wrong about Samoan culture, and more importantly, about the broader sociological and psychological claims it makes.