I disagree with Hightower.

What you will find here is: a centrist's view of current events;
a collection of thoughts, arguments, and observations
that I have found appealing and/or amusing over the years;
and, if you choose, your civil contributions which will make it into a conversation.

He not busy bein' born, is busy dyin'. - Bob Dylan

Please refer to participants only by their designated identities.

suggestion for US citizens: When a form asks for your race, write in: -- American

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Reading List

Neil deGrasse Tyson, full-time astrophysicist and part-time actor (usually playing himself) recently held an interview on the news aggregator website Reddit.com starting with “I am Neil deGrasse Tyson -- AMA [Ask Me Anything]”.

Responding to the questions “Which books should be read by every single intelligent person on planet?” he answered:

The Bible, The System of the World (Newton), On the Origin of Species (Darwin), Gulliver's Travels (Swift), The Age of Reason (Paine), The Wealth of Nations (Smith), The Art of War (Sun Tsu), The Prince (Machiavelli).

If read all of the works above, you will have profound insight into most of what has driven the history of the western world.

Any additions? Subtractions? Comments?
I would also recommend reading the entire interview, and his previous interview here, if only for the comments about education and his very simple debunking of the "Ancient Aliens" myth.
Posted by Michael at 3:50 PM

2 comments:

  1. UnknownDecember 29, 2011 at 3:19 PM

    No Plato's Republic? No Aristotle's Politics? No biography of Gandhi? Nothing by Freud or Maslow?

    I like the Bible and the Prince. But some other religions and political perspectives should be included.

    I would not include Swift and I don't know Sun Tzu.

    The Age of Reason I would pair with The Federalist Papers.

    I would think that the originals of scientific works should be replaced by more modern descriptions of them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. TomDecember 29, 2011 at 4:10 PM

    The Art of War is a keeper, as is the Bible. I would take out Gulliver's Travels.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)