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