Neil deGrasse Tyson Lists 8 (Free) Books Every Intelligent Person Should Read

OpenSource.com ^ | December 22, 2011 | unknown

[Daffynition]

A Reddit.com user posed the question to Neil deGrasse Tyson: “Which books should be read by every single intelligent person on the planet?”

Below, you will find the book list offered up by the astrophysicist, director of the Hayden Planetarium, and popularizer of science. Where possible, we have included links to free versions of the books, all taken from our Free Audio Books and Free eBooks collections. Or you can always download a professionally-narrated book for free from Audible.com. Details here.

If you’re looking for a more extensive list of essential works, don’t miss The Harvard Classics, a 51 volume series that you can now download online.

1.) The Bible (eBook) - “to learn that it’s easier to be told by others what to think and believe than it is to think for yourself.”

2.) The System of the World by Isaac Newton (eBook) – “to learn that the universe is a knowable place.”

3.) On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (eBook – Audio Book) - “to learn of our kinship with all other life on Earth.”

4.) Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift (eBook – Audio Book) – “to learn, among other satirical lessons, that most of the time humans are Yahoos.”

5.) The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine (eBook – Audio Book) – “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 (eBook – Audio Book) - “to learn that capitalism is an economy of greed, a force of nature unto itself.”

7.) The Art of War by Sun Tsu (eBook – Audio Book) - “to learn that the act of killing fellow humans can be raised to an art.”

8.) The Prince by Machiavelli (eBook – Audio Book) - “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.”

[Daffynition]

Makin' a list...checkin' it twice.

[Sprite518]

Thanks!

[varmintman]

Origin of the Species????? I mean there were a couple of items on the list you might could make a case for...

[running_dog_lackey]

——1.) The Bible (eBook) - “to learn that it’s easier to be told by others what to think and believe than it is to think for yourself.”——
This guy had to read the whole Bible to figure that out?

[Daffynition]

Dry and boring, is how I remember it.

[Daffynition]

From the comments:

Thanks for this ongoing interest in my book suggestions. From some of your reflections, it looks like the intent of the list was not as clear as I thought. The one-line comment after each book is not a review but a statement about how the book's content influenced the behavior of people who shaped the western world. So, for example, it does no good to say what the Bible "really" meant, if its actual influence on human behavior is something else. Again, thanks for your collective interest. -NDTyson

[Nailbiter]

bfl

[bobby.223]

Best book? ‘The Glory of Their Times’. Lawrence S. Ritter, 1966. The story of MLB, circa 1900-1930. As was once said “If you want to know America, you must know Baseball” (or close to that quote).

[golux]

I might add THE GULAG ARCHIPELAGO or another out-of-print gem on the same subject, COMING OUT OF THE ICE by Victor Herman. The latter is an absolute treasure.

[golux]

I might add THE GULAG ARCHIPELAGO or another out-of-print gem on the same subject, COMING OUT OF THE ICE by Victor Herman. The latter is an absolute treasure.

[shibumi]

Not so much by his list, but rather his comments on it, it is apparent that Tyson is agenda driven which, in itself, disqualifies his as the objective scientist he claims to be.

A revealing quote from Tyson can be found here:

"Every account of a higher power that I've seen described, of all religions that I've seen, include many statements with regard to the benevolence of that power. When I look at the universe and all the ways the universe wants to kill us, I find it hard to reconcile that with statements of beneficence."

Although he uses the self description "agnostic" that is clearly a cop out. No intellectually honest person can state that they believe in the existence of something they cannot describe or attribute qualities to.

If in fact the universe is the hostile place Tyson characterizes, then our continued existence in spite of the enormous odds against our even being in the first place is proof enough of a beneficent God.

I agree that these eight books (especially the Bible) are important reading (even if in some cases they serve to let you know your enemy) but Tyson's raising them to the level of IQ qualifiers reeks of an elitist arrogance beyond the pale.

It's a shame that Tyson did not receive the benefit of a truly Liberal education (in the classic sense) instead of frittering away his time in a graduate level shop class before he learned how to read and think critically.

[dragonblustar]

How about Atlas Shug?

[dsthompson]

The hallmark of a truly ignorant person is that they on telling everyone how intelligent they are.

So some assclown from Reddit wants to know what "intelligent" people should read. I guess normal people shouldn't read these books eh?

Anytime someone says to me, during the course of normal conversation, that they are intelligent, highly educated, etc. I just away because they just proved they are actually an ignorant jerk.

[Williams]

Such a list cannot be complete w/o Decline And Fall of the Roman Empire.

[Revolting cat!]

[dsthompson]

"The hallmark of a truly ignorant person is that they insist on telling everyone how intelligent they are."

Of course intelligent people don't make grammar mistakes either. So I guess that means I can't read those books.

[Revolting cat!]

[dragonblustar]

Funny, he goes after the bible but yet he and many other sheeple voted for Obama. Looks like he let the DNC do his thinking.

[dragonblustar]

DeGrasse gets high on himself. I can’t stand watching those shows about the universe when he’s on it.

[Bobalu]

Yup!

Do not blow your own horn! If you don’t realize this.. then how intelligent can you really be??

No matter who you are there is someone smarter, prettier, richer, healthier, better liked, more interesting...etc etc.

So be humble and pleasant... it will win you friends and influence people :-)