Neil deGrasse Tyson

Author, Celebrity, Interviewer, Podcaster, Scientist, Writer

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. He became director of New York's Hayden Planetarium in 1996, has hosted the StarTalk podcast since 2009, and hosted the 2014 TV series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.

Neil deGrasse Tyson's 71 Book Recommendations

The Age of Reason
The System of the World
The Art of War
The Wealth of Nations
Gulliver's Travels
The Prince
The Origin of Species
The Almagest
How to Lie with Statistics
The Great Gatsby
The Bible: “The Bible (to learn that it's easier to be told by others what to think, than to think for yourself)”
Cosmos: “If I am forced to pick one, it would be Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" (1980). Not for the science it taught, but for how effectively the book shared why science matters”
One Two Three . . . Infinity: Facts and Speculations of Science: “I have aspired to write a book as influential to others as this book was to me. I read it in ninth grade”
Mathematics and the Imagination: “George Gamow's "One, Two, Three . . . Infinity" (1947) and Edward Kasner and James Newman's "Mathematics and the Imagination" (1940) ... turned math and science into an intellectual playground that I never wanted to leave”
On the Day You Were Born: “Early on, my favorite children's book is "On the Day You Were Born" (1991), written and illustrated by Debra Frasier”
There's No Place Like Space: All About Our Solar System: “I remain impressed how fast the Dr. Seuss "Cat in the Hat's Learning Library" series updated Tish Rabe's book "There's No Place Like Space"”
Physics for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines: “If you could require the president to read one book... "Physics for Future Presidents," by Richard A. Muller (2009) is, of course, already conceived for this purpose”
The Adventures of Pinocchio: “The last book that I read to both of my kids, at the same time, was Carlo Collodi's "The Adventures of Pinocchio" (1883)”
An Enemy of the People: “I'd be Thomas Stockmann, the medical doctor in the 1882 Henrik Ibsen play "An Enemy of the People."”
The Mismeasure of Man: “If I were to recommend a book that everyone in modern society should read, it's Stephen Jay Gould's The Mismeasure of Man (1981)”
Flatland: “Edwin Abbott's Flatland (1884). Read it in middle school. It's an entertaining journey into higher-dimensional thinking”
The Andromeda Strain: “A reminder that space is dangerous — not only because of what we know can kill us, but especially because of all that we have yet to learn can kill us.”
Sidereus Nuncius, or The Sidereal Messenger: “A reminder that the universe brims with undiscovered truths that lie in plain sight before us.”
The Blind Watchmaker: “This 1986 book is a reminder that the laws of evolution and natural selection, given billions of years, have no trouble generating stupefying complexity among life-forms on Earth.”
The Principia: “In later life, I can't get enough of Issac Newton. "Principia", in particular. The most influential book ever on what we call modern civilization.”
Einstein's Unfinished Symphony: The Story of a Gamble, Two Black Holes, and a New Age of Astronomy: “Gravity waves have not yet been detected. Subject of Marcia Bartusiak's book "Einstein's Unfinished Symphony"”
Carl Sagan's Cosmic Connection: An Extraterrestrial Perspective: “During my Cornell visit in High School, Sagan signed and gave me a copy of his then-recent book "Cosmic Connection."”
Newton's Philosophy of Nature: Selections from His Writings: “Like Newton? Try to read his original writings. Next best thing: HSThayer "Newton's Philosophy of Nature"”
From the Earth to the Moon: “In Jules Verne's 1865 novel "From Earth to the Moon", the subtitle is "in 97 hours and 20 minutes". Close enough.”
Why Does E=mc2? (And Why Should We Care?): “@ProfBrianCox "Why Does E=mc2?: (And Why Should We Care?)" ... Then buy his book.”
The Science of Interstellar: “In #Interstellar, if you didn't understand the physics, try Kip Thorne's highly readable Book "The Science of Interstellar"”
Stonehenge Decoded: “This book, Stonehenge Decoded, paperback, is the same book I've had for now 50 years.”
Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science: “I took interest in this book written by Martin Gardner... Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science.”
The Encyclopaedia of Ignorance: “This was a highly influential book on me, The Encyclopedia of Ignorance... I couldn't get enough of this.”
Sport Science: Physical Laws and Optimum Performance: “I couldn't resist sports science. Peter Brancazio... Physical Laws and Optimum Performance... I greatly enjoyed this.”
The Flying Circus of Physics: “I love this one. Got this one when I was in college... The Flying Circus of Physics”
The Throwing Madonna: Essays on the Brain: “Here's one I especially enjoyed, The Throwing Madonna by William H. Calvin.”
Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History: “Ever Since Darwin, Stephen J. Gould... Noticing Gould's writing style, his access to the history of science greatly influenced me.”
Mr Tompkins in Paperback: “George Gamow, physicist, wrote a book called Mr. Tompkins in Wonderland. And it's a series... very clever educational tooling there.”
Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space: “And also one of my favorites, the Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space.”
How the Universe Got Its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space: “Author of How the Universe Got Its Spots, one of my favorites.”
Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space: “So in that vein there's a paragraph I want to read from Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot.”
The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI: “The Singularity Is Nearer, something that I only mildly appreciated, but after reading it I was all in, in the Ray camp.”
Fire and Ice: The Volcanoes of the Solar System: “You've written two of my favorite books that are out there: Fire and Ice: The Volcanoes of the Solar System.”
Catching Stardust: Comets, Asteroids and the Birth of the Solar System: “You've written two of my favorite books that are out there... And a book a few years before that, back in 2018, Catching Stardust.”
How to Make White People Laugh: “Your book is still one of my favorites. It's How to Make White People Laugh... Really good.”
The Handy Quantum Physics Answer Book: “You finished a book recently. I loved it. The Handy Quantum Physics Answer Book.”
Our Mathematical Universe: “One of my favorites is Our Mathematical Universe... I've enjoyed both of those books.”
Life 3.0: “And of course Life 3.0, where you're exploring the future of what we even think of as life. And I've enjoyed both of those books.”
The Blank Slate: “I got you down here for a dozen books, several of them are some of my favorite books. You know, The Blank Slate”
The Cosmic Cocktail: Three Parts Dark Matter: “Oh, and I love this, back now 10 years ago, the Cosmic Cocktail. Can you get a better title than that?”
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures: “Your book just came out in paperback... this will be anyone's chance to pick this up. If you love mushrooms, even if you don't love mushrooms... Entangled Life.”
A Survival Guide to the Misinformation Age: Scientific Habits of Mind: “Hence my blurb: read it now, the future of civilization may depend on it.”
Outlive: “What we will do is go out and buy Peter's book Outlive: The Science of Longevity”
A Universe from Nothing: “Krauss, a physicist, a friend and colleague, wrote a book called A Universe from Nothing, where he gives a more detailed account”
The First Three Minutes: “There's an excellent book written by Steve Weinberg, brilliant physicist, won the Nobel Prize. He wrote a very successful physics book, small, called The First Three Minutes.”
Slaughterhouse-Five: “In Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse-Five... what I was most intrigued by is the time travel that goes on in that.”
Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery: “Scott Kelly's book is A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery. Definitely check it out.”
The Five Ages of the Universe: Inside the Physics of Eternity: “There's a colleague of mine who wrote a book, The Five Ages of the Universe.”
Gödel, Escher, Bach: “In Gödel, Escher, Bach, do you remember, Douglas Hofstadter? In that book, which I think won a Pulitzer Prize, very thick, very fascinating book”
Flowers for Algernon: “As a kid, I remembered reading Flowers for Algernon.”
Opticks: “Isaac Newton in his book Opticks, published 1704... At the end of his book, he has a section called queries. By the way, that's where I get the word cosmic queries.”
The Selfish Gene: “I haven't read all 30... I've read The Selfish Gene, I've read The Blind Watchmaker, I've read The God Delusion”
The God Delusion: “I've read The Selfish Gene, I've read The Blind Watchmaker, I've read The God Delusion”
Superintelligence: “For me also I remembered your book Superintelligence, which got people thinking, as any good philosopher should do”
Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live: “So, Nicholas, in your book Apollo's Arrow, in the preface, you describe the fact that this pandemic and the social reaction to it is playing out as you'd expect.”
Light: The Visible Spectrum and Beyond: “This is just a stunning book, Light: The Visible Spectrum and Beyond... it's an expensively produced book, so congratulations on that and that effort.”
A Christmas Carol: “Today we're going to be talking about time travel inspired by Dickens' classic novel A Christmas Carol.”
Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational: “everybody who hears this better go get this book The Conspiracy and the subtitle why the rational believe the irrational”
1984: “I saw the movie 1984 recently. Not a very good movie. The book is better than the movie”
The Jazz of Physics: The Secret Link Between Music and the Structure of the Universe: “among those books the one I remember most is from now six years ago seven years ago The Jazz of Physics”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson's 71 Book Recommendations

Books written by Neil deGrasse Tyson