What books does Neil deGrasse Tyson recommend?
As director of the Hayden Planetarium and one of the era's most recognisable science communicators, Neil deGrasse Tyson brings the same clarity to his reading as to the cosmos, and his book recommendations reward the curious. Host of Cosmos and the StarTalk podcast, Tyson has gathered 24 titles here, sourced from a 2011 Reddit AMA, his "6 favorite books" feature in The Week, Goodreads interviews, and forewords and blurbs he has written. Science and technology lead, joined by philosophy, history, and society and politics. His famous AMA list pairs classics with the reasons to read them: Newton's The System of the World, he wrote, teaches "that the universe is a knowable place," while Darwin's On the Origin of Species reveals "our kinship with all other life on Earth." A prolific author himself, Tyson recommends with an educator's insistence on why a book matters.
Last updated February 2026 · Every recommendation cited to its original source.
The System of the World
A Treatise of the System of the World
byIsaac Newton
2021290 Pages“To learn that the universe is a knowable place.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: Reddit AMA (2011)
Read by Karl Marx, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Paul Graham and 1 others
On the Origin of Species
By Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life
byCharles Darwin
2009576 Pages(275,000)
“To learn of our kinship with all other life on Earth.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: Reddit AMA (2011)
Gulliver's Travels
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World
byJonathan Swift
1726336 Pages“To learn, among other satirical lessons, that most of the time humans are Yahoos.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: Reddit AMA (2011)
The Age of Reason
Being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology
byThomas Paine
1794180 Pages“To learn how the power of rational thought is the primary source of freedom in the world.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: Reddit AMA (2011)
Read by Elon Musk, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Noam Chomsky and 1 others
The Wealth of Nations
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
byAdam Smith
17761264 Pages“To learn that capitalism is an economy of greed, a force of nature unto itself.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: Reddit AMA (2011)
Read by Marc Benioff, Phil Knight, Larry Ellison and 7 others
The Art of War
The Essential Translation of the Classic Book of Life
bySun Tzu
2009384 Pages“To learn that the act of killing fellow humans can be raised to an art.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: Reddit AMA (2011)
The Prince
De Principatibus
byNiccolò Machiavelli
2003144 Pages(640,000)
“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.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: Reddit AMA (2011)
The Bible
King James Version
byVarious
16111200 Pages(243,983)
“To learn that it's easier to be told by others what to think and believe than it is to think for yourself.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: Reddit AMA (2011)
One Two Three... Infinity
Facts and Speculations of Science
byGeorge Gamow
1947340 Pages(3,754)
“I read it in ninth grade, and it did what Gamow, a nuclear physicist, designed it to do: It transformed the physics of the universe into an intellectual playground of delight. From then on, studying to become a scientist was no longer a task but a celebration.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: The Week, 'Neil deGrasse Tyson's 6 favorite books'
byEdward Kasner, James Newman
2001400 Pages“Highly influential on my joy of learning math and science.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: Interview with LAPL
The Mismeasure of Man
Revised and Expanded Edition
byStephen Jay Gould
1996448 Pages“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). It highlights all the ways humans in power have measured other humans, with the intent to subjugate, disenfranchise, or exterminate 'undesirables' in society.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: Interview with LAPL
byDarrell Huff
1993144 Pages“A cute little tiny book that tells you all the things people who want to fool you into thinking something that's true, that's not, and how they manipulate statistics in order to accomplish this.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: StarTalk Radio / Multiple Interviews
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
A Romance of Many Dimensions
byEdwin A. Abbott
1998144 Pages“Read it in middle school. It's an entertaining journey into higher dimensional thinking, in which creatures who live only in two dimensions, get a glimpse of those who live in three dimensions, and how it basically freaks them out.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: Interview with LAPL
Sidereus Nuncius
The Sidereal Messenger
byGalileo Galilei
2016152 Pages“This is Galileo's 1610 report on what he saw when he first looked through a telescope — and a reminder that the universe brims with undiscovered truths that lie in plain sight before us.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: The Week, 'Neil deGrasse Tyson's 6 favorite books'
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe
How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake
bySteven Novella, Bob Novella, Cara Santa Maria, Jay Novella, Evan Bernstein
2018512 Pages“Thorough, informative, and enlightening... If this book does not become required reading for us all, we may well see modern civilization unravel before our eyes.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: Official Book Blurb
Learning to Die in the Anthropocene
Reflections on the End of a Civilization
byRoy Scranton
2015142 Pages“I will recommend that book by Roy Scranton called Learning to Die in the Anthropocene because ultimately he does have a sort of Zen view...”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: StarTalk Radio
byMichael Crichton
1969350 Pages(271,255)
“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.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: The Week, 'Neil deGrasse Tyson's 6 favorite books'
Read by Charlie Munger, Jeff Bezos, David Sinclair and 2 others
The Blind Watchmaker
Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design
byRichard Dawkins
2015496 Pages(41,795)
“Dawkins is a longtime friend, and a tireless defender of the real story of how we all got here. 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.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: The Week, 'Neil deGrasse Tyson's 6 favorite books'
Read by Wong Kar Wai, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Ralph Lauren and 5 others
byF. Scott Fitzgerald
2004180 Pages(4,896,000)
“I don’t have a favorite novel, but if I did, it would be 'The Great Gatsby.'”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: The New York Times 'By the Book' Interview (2013)
Unstoppable
Harnessing Science to Change the World
byBill Nye
2015352 Pages“Unstoppable is what you get when you melt down Bill Nye the Science Guy and turn him into a book. A must-read for anybody who needs to be scientifically literate in the twenty-first century.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: Official Book Blurb
Read by Barack Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, Tobias Lütke and 3 others
byCixin Liu
2014400 Pages“I'm currently reading 'The Three-Body Problem' by Liu Cixin... Three Body Problem is a good one.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: Goodreads Q&A
An Appetite for Wonder
The Making of a Scientist
byRichard Dawkins
2013320 Pages“Richard Dawkins is one of my intellectual heroes. Why wouldn't I want to know his origin story?”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: Goodreads News Interview
Read by Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Mark Manson and 4 others
The Better Angels of Our Nature
Why Violence Has Declined
bySteven Pinker
2011832 Pages“Delighted to learn that, in spite of the violence duly reported in this world, over the centuries we have actually become a kinder and gentler species.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: Goodreads News Interview
Cosmos
A Personal Voyage
byCarl Sagan
2013432 Pages(159,381)
“Renowned astronomer Carl Sagan's classic bestseller that dives into the past, present, and future of science...”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: Official Foreword
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Frequently asked questions
What books does Neil deGrasse Tyson recommend?
His 24 recommendations include Newton's The System of the World, Darwin's On the Origin of Species, Gulliver's Travels, The Age of Reason, and The Wealth of Nations, a list he assembled with a one-line reason to read each.
What is Neil deGrasse Tyson's top book recommendation?
Newton's The System of the World is among his top picks, chosen, he wrote, so readers can "learn that the universe is a knowable place." He notably says he has no single favourite novel, but if he did it would be The Great Gatsby.
Where do Neil deGrasse Tyson's book recommendations come from?
They come from his 2011 Reddit AMA, his "6 favorite books" list in The Week, Goodreads interviews, the StarTalk podcast, and forewords and blurbs he has written for works like Cosmos and Unstoppable.
Has Neil deGrasse Tyson written any books?
Yes. He has authored 11 books, including Death by Black Hole, Astrophysics for the busy universe reader in Origins, Space Chronicles, Welcome to the Universe, Starry Messenger, and Letters from an Astrophysicist.
What genres does Neil deGrasse Tyson read most?
His recommendations centre on science and technology, then reach into philosophy, history, and society and politics, with occasional fiction such as Flatland and The Three-Body Problem chosen for their scientific imagination.
All 24 Books Neil deGrasse Tyson Has Recommended
- The System of the World · Isaac Newton
- On the Origin of Species · Charles Darwin
- Gulliver's Travels · Jonathan Swift
- The Age of Reason · Thomas Paine
- The Wealth of Nations · Adam Smith
- The Art of War · Sun Tzu
- The Prince · Niccolò Machiavelli
- The Bible · Various
- One Two Three... Infinity · George Gamow
- Mathematics and the Imagination · Edward Kasner
- The Mismeasure of Man · Stephen Jay Gould
- How to Lie with Statistics · Darrell Huff
- Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions · Edwin A. Abbott
- Sidereus Nuncius · Galileo Galilei
- The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe · Steven Novella
- Learning to Die in the Anthropocene · Roy Scranton
- The Andromeda Strain · Michael Crichton
- The Blind Watchmaker · Richard Dawkins
- The Great Gatsby · F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Unstoppable · Bill Nye
- The Three-Body Problem · Cixin Liu
- An Appetite for Wonder · Richard Dawkins
- The Better Angels of Our Nature · Steven Pinker
- Cosmos · Carl Sagan