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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><h1><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";font-weight:normal'>I admire Neil deGrasse Tyson enormously so I was interested in his reading list. I don’t agree with all of his choices, and although I find his one-liners funny I don’t necessarily agree with some of them either. I am curious what V2020 members would recommend as the five books every intelligent person should read.<o:p></o:p></span></h1><h1><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";font-weight:normal'>Rose Huskey<o:p></o:p></span></h1><h1><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";font-weight:normal'><a href="http://www.openculture.com/2011/12/neil_degrasse_tyson_8_books_every_intelligent_person_should_read.html" title="Permanent Link to Neil deGrasse Tyson Lists 8 (Free) Books Every Intelligent Person Should Read">Neil deGrasse Tyson Lists 8 (Free) Books Every Intelligent Person Should Read</a><o:p></o:p></span></h1><p class=byline><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>in <em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><a href="http://www.openculture.com/category/audio_books">Audio Books</a>, <a href="http://www.openculture.com/category/books">Books</a>, <a href="http://www.openculture.com/category/e-books">e-books</a>, <a href="http://www.openculture.com/category/physics">Physics</a></span></em> | December 21st, 2011 <a href="http://www.openculture.com/2011/12/neil_degrasse_tyson_8_books_every_intelligent_person_should_read.html#comments" title="Comment on Neil deGrasse Tyson Lists 8 (Free) Books Every Intelligent Person Should Read">390 Comments</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ngd5e/i_am_neil_degrasse_tyson_ama/c38vowu?context=2"><span style='font-size:13.0pt;color:blue;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=474 height=313 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D01ED6.E8E48770" alt="http://cdn.openculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/ndgt.jpg"></span></a><span style='font-size:13.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>A Reddit.com user <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ngd5e/i_am_neil_degrasse_tyson_ama/c38vowu?context=2">posed the question to Neil deGrasse Tyson</a>: “Which books should be read by every single intelligent person on the planet?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>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 <a href="http://www.openculture.com/freeaudiobooks">Free Audio Books</a> and <a href="http://www.openculture.com/free_ebooks">Free eBooks</a> collections. Or you can always download a professionally-narrated book for <u>free</u> from Audible.com. <a href="http://www.openculture.com/audible">Details here</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>If you’re looking for a more extensive list of essential works, don’t miss <em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><a href="http://www.openculture.com/2011/07/the_harvard_classics_a_free_digital_collection.html">The Harvard Classics</a></span></em>, a 51 volume series that you can now download online.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>1.) <em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>The Bible </span></em>(<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10">eBook</a>) – “to learn that it’s easier to be told by others what to think and believe than it is to think for yourself.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>2.) <em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>The System of the World</span></em> by Isaac Newton (<a href="http://www.archive.org/stream/newtonspmathema00newtrich/newtonspmathema00newtrich_djvu.txt">eBook</a>) – “to learn that the universe is a knowable place.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>3.) <em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>On the Origin of Species</span></em> by Charles Darwin (<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2009">eBook</a> – <a href="http://librivox.org/the-origin-of-species-by-charles-darwin/">Audio Book</a>) – “to learn of our kinship with all other life on Earth.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>4.) <em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Gulliver’s Travels</span></em> by Jonathan Swift (<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/829">eBook</a> – <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/gulliver_ld_librivox">Audio Book</a>) – “to learn, among other satirical lessons, that most of the time humans are Yahoos.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>5.) <em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>The Age of Reason </span></em>by Thomas Paine (<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3743">eBook</a> – <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/age_reason_0910_librivox">Audio Book</a>) – “to learn how the power of rational thought is the primary source of freedom in the world.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>6.) <em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>The Wealth of Nations</span></em> by Adam Smith (<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3300">eBook</a> – <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/wealth_nations01_se">Audio Book</a>) – “to learn that capitalism is an economy of greed, a force of nature unto itself.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>7.) <em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>The Art of War</span></em> by Sun Tsu (<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/132">eBook</a> – <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/art_of_war_librivox">Audio Book</a>) – “to learn that the act of killing fellow humans can be raised to an art.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>8.) <em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>The Prince </span></em>by Machiavelli (<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1232">eBook</a> – <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/prince_pa_librivox">Audio Book</a>) – “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.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>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.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>He has also added some more thoughts in the comments section below, saying:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Thanks for this ongoing interest in my book suggestions. From some of your reflections, it looks like the intent of the list was not as clear as I thought. The one-line comment after each book is not a review but a statement about how the book’s content influenced the behavior of people who shaped the western world. So, for example, it does no good to say what the Bible “really” meant, if its actual influence on human behavior is something else. Again, thanks for your collective interest. -NDTyson<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt'><a href="http://www.openculture.com/2011/12/neil_degrasse_tyson_8_books_every_intelligent_person_should_read.html">http://www.openculture.com/2011/12/neil_degrasse_tyson_8_books_every_intelligent_person_should_read.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>