When a reader on Reddit’sAsk Me Anything series asked “Which books should be read by every single intelligent person on the planet?” this is what Neil deGrasse Tyson posted [edited to fit a list format]:
- “The Bible – to learn that it’s easier to be told by others what to think and believe than it is to think for yourself.
- The System of the World (Newton) – to learn that the universe is a knowable place.
- On the Origin of Species (Darwin) – to learn of our kinship with all other life on Earth.
- Gulliver’s Travels (Swift) – to learn, among other satirical lessons, that most of the time humans are Yahoos.
- The Age of Reason (Paine) – to learn how the power of rational thought is the primary source of freedom in the world.
- The Wealth of Nations (Smith) – to learn that capitalism is an economy of greed, a force of nature unto itself.
- The Art of War (Sun Tsu) – to learn that the act of killing fellow humans can be raised to an art.
- The Prince (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.
If you read all of the above works you will glean profound insight into most of what has driven the history of the western world.”