Neil deGrasse Tyson's 8 Books Every Intelligent Person Should Read

[Bill]

Someone recently asked Tyson what should be read by every intelligent person on the planet. He came up with these 8 books, which he said that by reading a person would gain "profound insight" into most of what has driven the history of Western Civilization.

The quotes after each book are his reasoning for inclusion on this list.

1) The Bible - "to learn that it's easier to be told by others what to think & believe than it is to think for yourself."

2) The System of the World by Isaac Newton - "to learn that the universe is a knowable place."

3) On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin - "to learn of our kinship with all other life on Earth."

4) Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift - "to learn, among other satirical lessons, that most of the time humans are Yahoos."

5) The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine - "to learn how the power of rational thought is the primary source of freedom in the world."

6) The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith - "to learn that capitalism is an economy of greed, a force of nature unto itself."

7) The Art of War by Sun Tsu - "to learn that the act of killing fellow human beings can be raised to an art."

8) The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli - "to learn that people not in power will do all they can to acquire it, and people in power will do all they can to keep it.


I read The Prince in college and hated it.
I also read The Bible in college, from cover to cover, New American Version. I admit I do own a King James Version which I periodically will read a few chapters of, not out of faith so much. To me the KJV, along with Shakespeare, are among the most beautiful examples of the English language in writing.

I'm adding Gulliver's Travels to my "To Read" list here. The others I will probably never read.