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Essential Reading List 2002
Science Fiction
- A Deepness In The Sky, Vernor Vinge
- A Fire Upon The Deep,
- Marooned In Realtime,
- True Names
- Titan, John Varley
- Wizard,
- Demon
- Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
- The Diamond Age
- Zodiac
- Cryptonomicon
- Neuromancer, William Gibson
- Virtual Light
- Idoru
Philosophy of Mathematics
- The Mathematical Experience, Davis & Hersh
- Descartes Dream, Davis and Hersh
- What Is Mathematics Really?, Hersh
- Flatland, Edwinn Abbot
Complexity
- Chaos, James Gleick
- Hidden Order, John Holland
Various Topics
- Adventures Of A Mathematician, S. Ulam
- The Education of a Mathematician, Philip Davis
- My Brain Is Open, Bruce Schechter
- The Revolt of the Angels, Anatole France
- The Discovery Of Heaven, Harry Mulisch
- The Man Who Loved Only Numbers, Paul "I didn't respect Erdos" Hoffman
- Black Holes And Baby Universes, Stephen Hawking
- The Universe In A Nutshell, Stephen Hawking
- The Future of Spacetime, Hawking et al.
- Evil Inside Human Violence And Cruelty, Roy Baumeister
My Essential Reading List 2003
Bertrand Russell
- Common Sense and Nuclear Warfare
- The Scientific Outlook
- Why I Am Not A Christian
- The Conquest of Happiness
- Marriage and Morals
Child Rearing
- Guiding The Gifted Child, Webb, Meckstroth and Tolan
- The Manipulative Child, Swihart and Cotter
- How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk, Faber and Mazlish
Various
- Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond
- Stupid White Men, Michael Moore
- Censored 2001, Philips & Project Censored
- Civil Disobedience and Other Essays, Henry David Thoreau
Biographical
- October Sky, Homer H. Hickam Jr.
- The Prison Diary of Ho Chi Minh, Salisbury (Trans)
Classics
- Faust, Goethe
- Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift
- The Plague, Albert Camus
- Moby Dick, Herman Melville
Science Fiction
- Back to the Moon, Homer H. Hickam Jr.
- We, Yevgeny Zamyatin
- Red Thunder, John Varley
- The Sheep Look Up, John Brunner
- The Shockwave Rider, John Brunner
Essential Reading List 2004
Science Fiction
- Wyrms, Orson Scott Card
- The Stone That Never Came Down, John Brunner
- The Book of Ptath, A. E. van Vogt
- Fallen Angels, Niven, Pournelle & Flynn
- The Mote in Go's Eye, Pournelle & Niven
- Gateway, Frederik Pohl
- The Other End of Time, Frederik Pohl
- Beyond the Blue Event Horizon, Frederik Pohl
- Heechee Rendezvous, Frederik Pohl
- The Annals of the Heechee, Frederik Pohl
- Friday, Robert A. Heinlein
Biographical
- True History of the Kelly Gang, Peter Carey
- An Autobiography, M. K. Gandhi
- The Life of Mahatma Gandhi, Louis Fischer
Various
- Quicksilver, Neal Stephenson
Essential Reading List 2005
Science Fiction and Fantasy
- Iron Sunrise, Charles Stross
- The Family Trade, Charles Stross
- Pattern Recognition, William Gibson
- The Golden Globe, John Varley
- Starship Troopers, Robert Heinlein
- The John Varley Reader, John Varley
- Year's Best Science Fiction 4, Hartwell and Cramer ed
- The World of Null-A, A. E. van Vogt
- The Pawns of Null-A, A. E. van Vogt
- Null-A Three, A. E. van Vogt
- The Weapon Shops of Isher, A. E. van Vogt
- Tyranopolis, A. E. van Vogt
- The Starchild Trilogy, Frederik Pohl and Jack Williamson
Various
- An Anthropologist on Mars, Oliver Sacks
- The Island of the Colorblind, Oliver Sacks
- The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks
- Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer
- One for the Road, Tony Horwitz
Reading List 2006
Historical and Biographical
- A Short History of Ireland, Roger Chauvire
- The Tunnels of Cu Chi, Mangold and Penycate
- Blood on the Wattle, Bruce Elder
- Black Barty, Aubrey Burl
- Genius: Richard Feynman and Modern Physics, James Gleick
- The Missionary Position, Christopher Hitchens
- Lionheart: A Journey of the Human Spirit, Jesse Martin
- Failed States, Noam Chomsky
- Imperial Ambitions, Noam Chomsky
- Marching Powder, Rusty Young
- Why Weren't We Told?, Henry Reynolds
- Razor, Larry Writer
Various
- Bait and Switch, Barbara Ehrenreich
- The Intelligent Australian Investor, Chris Leithner
- Working With Monsters, John Clarke
- How to Lose Friends and Infuriate Your Boss, Jonar Nader
- To the Elephant Graveyard, Tarquin Hall
- Stephen Hawking's Universe: The Cosmos Explained, David Filkin
- The Riemann Hypothesis: The greatest unsolved problem in mathematics., Karl Sabbagh
- The Female Brain, Louann Brizendine
- The Ethical Slut, Easton and Liszt
Fiction
- Count Zero, William Gibson
- Robots, Dann and Dozois ed.
- All Tomorrow's Parties, William Gibson
- The Child Garden, Geof Ryman
- Accelerando, Charles Stross
- The Hidden Family, Charles Stross
- Turing's Delirium, Edmundo Paz Soldán
- Rainbow's End, Vernor Vinge
- Red Lightning, John Varley
Reading List 2007
Historical and Biographical
- The Trial of Henry Kissinger, Christopher Hitchens
- The Music of the Primes, Marcus du Sautoy
- The Salmon of Doubt, Douglas Adams
Various
- The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins
- God is Not Great, Christopher Hitchens
- The Large, the Small and the Human Mind, Roger Penrose
- Not Even Wrong, Peter Woit
Fiction
- Burning Chrome, William Gibson
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a trilogy in four parts, Douglas Adams
- Glasshouse, Charles Stross
- My Uncle Oswald, Roald Dahl
- Mammoth, John Varley
- Switch Bitch, Roald Dahl
- The Road, Cormac McCarthy
- Trading in Danger, Elizabeth Moon
- Old Man's War, John Scalzi
- Ophiuchi Hotline, John Varley
- Omega, Jack McDevitt
- Over to You, Roald Dahl
- Idlewild, Nick Sagan
- The Algebraist, Iain Banks
- The Jennifer Morgue, Charles Stross
- The Atrocity Archives, Charles Stross
Reading List 2008
Historical and Biographical
- Between Worlds, Bill Richardson
Various
- Musicophilia, Oliver Sacks
- Black Holes and Time Warps, Kip Thorne
- The Future of Success, Robert Reich
- Nemesis, Chalmers Johnson
- Blowback, Chalmers Johnson
- Life, Interrupted, James McConnel
- The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein
- Driving Force: The Natural Magic of Magnets, James Livingston
Fiction
- Starfish, Peter Watts
- Spook Country, William Gibson
- Halting State, Charles Stross
- Hominids, Robert Sawyer
- Humans, Robert Sawyer
- Look to Windward, Iain Banks
- The Clan Corporate, Charles Stross
- PopCo, Scarlett Thomas
- Bridge of Birds, Barry Hughart
Reading List 2009
Fiction
- Under Milk Wood, Dylan Thomas
- Gentlemen of the Road, Michael Chabon
- The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Michael Chabon
- McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales, ed. Michael Chabon
- The Last Colony, John Scalzi
- The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge, Vernor Vinge
- Little Brother, Cory Doctorow
- Dark Space, Marianne de Pierres
- Peace and War, Joe Haldeman
Historical and Biographical
- The Unfinished Game, Keith Devlin
- Open Veins of Latin America, Eduardo Galeano
Various
- Drinking, Smoking & Screwing, Sara Nickles ed.
- Happier, Tal Ben-Shahar
- Authentic Happiness, Martin Seligman
- Escape From Cubicle Nation, Pamela Slim
- Distracted, Maggie Jackson
- The 4-Hour Work Week, Timothy Ferriss
- The Magic of Thinking Big, David
- Vagabonding, Rolf Potts
Last Modified August 2009