Astrophysicist Discovers Reading Rainbow

My friend Rob South posted a link in Facebook to a list of eight books that noted astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson thinks “every intelligent person should read.”

According to Tyson, if you read all the books on his list, you’ll “glean profound insight into most of what has driven the history of the western world.”

Okay, so I didn’t earn a bachelor’s from Harvard, a master’s from the University of Texas at Austin or a doctorate from Columbia. Maybe I didn’t win the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal and haven’t published books on astronomy or hosted a miniseries on PBS’s NOVA. I still love to read and am happy to share my recommendations although no one asked.

I’m currently reading God is not Great by Christopher Hitchens, The End of Faith by Sam Harris and Reefer Madness by Eric Schlosser. I just finished Smells Like Dead Elephants by Matt Taibbi, Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich and Sex, Art and American Culture by Camille Paglia.

Other books I found fascinating or learned something from include Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Persig, Fast Food Nation by Schlosser, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast, What’s the Matter with Kansas? by Thomas Frank, Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam and The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken.

I’d also recommend Seven Theories of Human Nature by Leslie Stevenson, Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line by Ben Hamper, Asphalt Nation by Jane Holtz Kay, Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins, and George Orwell’s 1984 if you’re one of two people in this country who hasn’t read it.

If that’s not enough, I suggest you pick of copies of On the Brink: The Great Lakes in the 21st Century and Ruin & Recovery: Michigan’s Rise as a Conservation Leader, both by my friend Dave Dempsey. Dave’s name is at the top of my “People I Dig” list; I learned a lot about writing, and life, from him.

If you’re more impressed by guys who head planetariums, appear on “The Colbert Report” and “The Daily Show,” receive honorary doctorates from 14 institutions of higher education and are named People magazine’s Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive, then you probably want to know what made Tyson’s list:

Neil deGrasse Tyson

1.) The Bible
2.) The System of the World by Isaac Newton
3.) On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
4.) Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
5.) The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine
6.) The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
7.) The Art of War by Sun Tsu
8.) The Prince by Machiavelli

I can proudly say that I own three of these, have read one completely, skimmed two others and have heard of every last one of ‘em. It hasn’t gone to my head though.