Over at IFLS they have posted a list of books that Neil deGrasse Tyson thinks everyone should read.
“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 Origins of Species” by Charles Darwin: “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: “To learn how the power of rational thought is the primary source of freedom in the world.”
“The Wealth of Nations” by Adam Smith: “To learn that capitalism is an economy of greed, a force of nature unto itself.”
“The Art of War” by Sun Tzu: “To learn that the act of killing fellow humans can be raised to an art.”
“The Prince” by Niccolo 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.”
All based off a reddit post from 2011.
Followed by interesting titles by other scientist you may know and love:
Jane Goodall: “Animal Liberation” by Peter Singer
Michio Kaku: “The Foundation Trilogy” by Isaac Asimov
Oliver Sacks: “The Mind of a Mnemonist” by Aleksandr R. Luria
Steven Pinker: “1984” by George Orwell , “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins
Sean Carroll: “One, Two, Three…Infinity” by George Gamow
Steve Jones: “Farthest North” by Fridjtof Nansen
Jared Diamond: “Child of the Jungle” by Sabine Kuegler
Max Tegmark: “Permutation City” by Greg Egan
Adam Riess: “Contact” by Carl Sagan , “The Fountains of Paradise” by Arthur C. Clarke
Steven Strogatz: “The Andromeda Strain” by Michael Crichton
Ainissa Ramirez: “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia E. Butler
Sarah Blaffer Hrdy: “The Beak of the Finch” by Jonathan Weiner , “Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters” by Matt Ridley
Melvin Konner: “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers” by Robert M. Sapolsky , “Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain” by Anthony Damasio
Keith Thomson: “The Fly in the Cathedral” by Brian Cathcart