curated list
books recommended by scientists
What working physicists, biologists, and researchers actually read — Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Sabine Hossenfelder, Brian Greene, Sean Carroll, and dozens more. Drawn from interviews, podcasts, and academic citations.
Aggregated across 17 people we track · 60 books ranked by how many on this list have publicly recommended each one.
most recommended books on this list
- 2 people
An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist
Richard Dawkins · 2013
2 recommenders
- 2 people
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
Neil de Grasse Tyson · 2017
2 recommenders
- 2 people
Lifespan: Why We Age―and Why We Don't Have To
David A. Sinclair · 2019
2 recommenders
- 2 people
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Yuval Noah Harari · 2015
2 recommenders
- 2 people
The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself
Sean M Carroll · 2016
2 recommenders
- 1 person
“Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!”: Adventures of a Curious Character
Richard P. Feynman · 2018
1 recommender
- 1 person
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die
James Mustich · 2018
1 recommender
- 1 person
A Plea for the Animals: The Moral, Philosophical, and Evolutionary Imperative to Treat All Beings with Compassion
Matthieu Ricard · 2016
1 recommender
- 1 person
Age of Reason: The Definitive Edition
Thomas Paine · 2007
1 recommender
- 1 person
AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order
Kai-Fu Lee · 2018
1 recommender
- 1 person
Altered Genes, Twisted Truth: How the Venture to Genetically Engineer Our Food Has Subverted Science, Corrupted Government, and Systematically Deceived the Public
Steven Druker · 2015
1 recommender
- 1 person
An Atlas of Atherosclerosis Progression and Regression
Herbert C. Stary · 2003
1 recommender
- 1 person
An Introduction to Transfer Entropy
Terry Bossomaier, Lionel Barnett, Michael Harré, Joseph T. Lizier · 2016
1 recommender
- 1 person
Animal Liberation Now: The Definitive Classic Renewed
Peter Singer · 2023
1 recommender
- 1 person
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder (Incerto)
Nassim Nicholas Taleb · 2012
1 recommender
- 1 person
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?
Frans de Waal · 2017
1 recommender
- 1 person
Ayrton Senna's Principles of Race Driving
Ayrton Senna · 1993
1 recommender
- 1 person
Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader
Brent Schlender · 2015
1 recommender
- 1 person
Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies
Reid Hoffman · 2018
1 recommender
- 1 person
Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society
Nicholas A. Christakis MD PhD · 2019
1 recommender
- 1 person
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art
James Nestor · 2020
1 recommender
- 1 person
Chimpanzee: Lessons from our Sister Species
Kevin D. Hunt · 2020
1 recommender
- 1 person
Creativity, Inc. (The Expanded Edition): Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
Ed Catmull · 2014
1 recommender
- 1 person
Decoherence and the Quantum-to-Classical Transition
Maximilian A. Schlosshauer · 2007
1 recommender
- 1 person
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
Cal Newport · 2016
1 recommender
- 1 person
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
Ashlee Vance · 2015
1 recommender
- 1 person
Emergent Multiverse Quantum Theory Accor
David Wallace · 2012
1 recommender
- 1 person
Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
Steven Pinker · 2018
1 recommender
- 1 person
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
Merlin Sheldrake · 2020
1 recommender
- 1 person
Exhalation
and Stories Of Your Life by Ted Chiang · 2019
1 recommender
- 1 person
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World — And Why Things Are Better Than You Think
Hans Rosling · 2018
1 recommender
- 1 person
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
Edwin A. Abbott · 1992
1 recommender
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