Posted on 12/21/2011 9:53:55 PM PST by 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.”
My neighbors 21 year-old son posted this on Facebook, and said all he wanted for Christmas was books. I thought that was pretty cool. I plan to go through some of our old books and pick out some classics for him (like atlas shrugged) and I bought him “David Copperfield” at the half priced book store for $2.50.
Yes, a damn good book. Thanks for reminding me of it. Will dig it out of storage while back in CONUS.
I think he does very well on those shows. I'm glad he is is very visible because black kids need all the good role-models they can get. Isn't it a horrible shame that the first black president is such a putz :-( Why couldnt it have been someone like Thomas Sowell instead!
None of Shakespeare’s plays made the list?
Isn’t it a horrible shame that the first black president is such a putz
For laffs, you must read:
“And To My Nephew Albert, I Leave The Island That I Won Off Of Fatty Hagen In a Poker Game ...” *
* The title is supposed to be from a will ...
The premise is that an English movie theater projectionist [Albert] inherits a small rocky island off of the English coast outside of the territorial limits. It has absolutely no value, as it is covered with rocks.
Albert takes a girl there [in order to get laid] and is about to succeed - when a Russian spy trawler runs aground on the island.
The Russians quickly realize that this is the perfect spot for a spy listening post and lease one-half of the island from Albert. Not to be out-done, the United States leases the other half of the island. Then, the barbed wire boundary goes up - instant Berlin Wall ...
Albert, as landlord has free run of both sides of the island.
Hilarious book !!!
I’d say any Louis L’Amour books...
“Free to Choose” by Milton & Rose Friedman
For true conservatives,
of the classical liberal definition
Anyone who can sum up the Bible in a single sentence, and then dismiss it as being contrary to reason, isn't worth the time listening to, let alone be considered one who is a teacher.
Darwin? Hmmm, may pass on that one.
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.”
I think that about sums up this garbage list don’t you think folks...?
Candy by Terry Southern is good too.
I would add “Witness” and “The Gulag Archipelago”. Those are two books that are so full of memorable quotes that I had to buy the ebook versions just to catalogue them all.
And they both say much about human nature.
Hah! Now THAT sounds funny! I’ll check it out...
I think that most of these are available free online and thus meet the definition.
25 Books Every Christian Should Read:
1. On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius
2. Confessions by St. Augustine
3. The Sayings of the Desert Fathers
4. The Rule of St. Benedict by St. Benedict
5. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
6. The Cloud of Unknowing by Anonymous
7. Revelations of Divine Love (Showings) by Julian of Norwich
8. The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
9. The Philokalia
10. Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin
11. The Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila
12. Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross
13. Pensées by Blaise Pascal
14. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
15. The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
16. A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life by William Law
17. The Way of a Pilgrim by Unknown Author
18. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
19. Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton
20. The Poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins
21. The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
22. A Testament of Devotion by Thomas R. Kelly
23. The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
24. Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
25. The Return of the Prodigal Son
Aw, isn’t he special? He’s written an angry little book list.
btt
Curious his statement about the Bible. I think many of us had approached it as “being told what to think” only to find that after thinking on our own (for decades perhaps) we finally conclude that having done so we discover that in the end it is true. The Heavens declare His Glory. His law is written on our hearts. Undeniable.
(Off Topic) ... but I though you folks might know. Is there a source for John D MacDonald’s books that could get into a Kindle somewhere? (Shhh, thanks!)
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