A reddit user asks Neil deGrasse Tyson: Which books should be read by every single intelligent person on the planet?
Tyson responded with the following list:
- 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 by Isaac Newton – “to learn that the universe is a knowable place.”
- On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (free) – “to learn of our kinship with all other life on Earth.”
- Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift – “to learn, among other satirical lessons, that most of the time humans are Yahoos.”
- The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine (free) – “to learn how the power of rational thought is the primary source of freedom in the world.”
- The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith (free) – “to learn that capitalism is an economy of greed, a force of nature unto itself.”
- The Art of War by Sun Tsu (free) – “to learn that the act of killing fellow humans can be raised to an art.”
- The Prince by Machiavelli (free) – “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.”
Tyson concludes by saying: “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.”
(H/T Open Cutlure)
