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.”
Or, Seek Justice, Love Mercy, and walk humbly before God...
When I was in school we had to read “1984” and “Brave New World”, mainly to demonstrate what could happen if we did not protect our rights and preserve humanity. Sadly I look around and see that these books must have been deleted, for the future we feared is now upon us.
I can’t remember if it was Louis L’Amour or Zane Grey, but I was reading one of their novels recently and came to a part where the animistic spiritism of the indians was held up as superior to Christianity. I put the novel down at that point.
They were even teaching in the schools that the Indian’s government was the basis for our USA government. Really, really pi***** me off.
Critique of Pure Reason, Kant
Not an entirely bad list. I would suggest, however, that you read the books and think for yourself, rather than believing what the good doctor tells you to think about them.
thanks.. posted your list on FB & gave you the HT. I added a few more of my favs
http://ebooksfreedownload.org/2011/04/john-d-macdonald-darker-than-amber.html
just google: ebooks John D MacDonald
several selections came up
Frankly, I had never even heard of this *guy* before. For all I know, he could be the guy who invented a terrific vacuum cleaner or owns a big-big chicken farm down south. Some call him a charlatan, others love him [reddit] ...I’d have to reserve judgement until I know more.
*Lists* can be useful...jumping off points, if you will, to further acquisition of knowledge and info. I don’t know that *his* list is any better than *The Great Books* list. Those of us who were schooled by Jesuits, are very familiar.
FWIW, if you’re not an intelligent person, to begin with, you’re not to get much of anything out of reading the books on his list.
...and Lord of the Flies, in 7th grade.
Case in point: in this comment he states that there are more fractions than there are counting numbers. This is not true in any meaningful sense, and it's pretty clear that he meant to say that there are more real numbers than there are counting numbers. (Which is true, and quite mind-blowing.)
The thing is, nobody who actually understands the idea of different infinities would ever make this mistake.
Because when you study infinities, the very first thing that you learn is that, even though there seem to be far more fractions than counting numbers, a little bit of mathematical cleverness shows that there are there are the same number.
And this is shocking in its own right. The fact that in a strict sense there are multiple infinities is only the second shock you get; the first shock is that the vast majority of the infinite sets we encounter are exactly the same size. Indeed, the second shock is only shocking after you know the first one.
And it would be a massive brainfart for anybody who's felt that first shock to say that the fractions are the same size as the counting numbers. Far more likely is that NDT never felt that first shock because he never really understood the mathematics behind infinity; he just heard or read somewhere that there are different sizes of infinity, recognized that that was the kind of fact that his fans would like if he were appropriately enthusiastic about it, and did his best to sell it to them.
I feel like I see this trope a lot in Neil's writing and interviews.
It seems that what NDT *says* is a bunch of pseudo-intellectualism. People fall for it. That’s why Madison Avenue makes money.
Are you intelligent if you read a book just because a popular physicist tells you to? Does that make you *feel* good.
Puffery.
At least the Koran isn't on his *list*, I'll say that much for him.
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."IOW, he's a horse's ass.
There are only 5 on amazon ... there are 22 books. They just aren’t there.
What would you like me to do?
First of all, I like Tyson; he is the best popularlizer (is that a real word?) of science since Isaac Asimovf. As for his list, I have read much of The Bible, all of the following; On the Origin of Species, The Art of War, The Prince. Found them interesting if not always enlightening.
No, reading this books will not make you intelligent. But if you keep on open mind, you just might learn something.
Ooops. Forgot to include Gulliver’s Travels.
BTW, I should add I am over 70. and read some of these books many years ago.
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