The Five Books Every Educated Person Must Have Read

This is one of those lame pretexts that magazines often use to foist some utter drivel on the gullible. They usually assemble a panel of pompous asses to select their candidates, predictably producing a product of the same value as the innumerable episodes of "The Twenty Hottest Teenage Hollywood Bimbos," or "The Ten Most Extreme Preying Mantisses" that populate the slums of cable television.

Maybe you are starting to suspect that I doubt the premise. It seems kind of unlikely to me that anybody could become educated by reading 5, 20, or even a hundred books. On the other hand, Ramamujan is said to have educated himself mathematically with just one book!

In any case, here are "Five Books I Really Like"

The Language Instinct by Steve Pinker. The first, and in my opinion the best, of his evolutionary psychology flavored books. Very clever, very funny, and really explains what's what in language. I particularly enjoyed his takedown of Bill Safire and even more egregious self-appointed language experts.

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. A really wonderful book that really explains how civilization developed as it did, and particularly how the Western Europeans wound up running the world. His answer, which can be briefly summarized as "Geography is Destiny," is brilliantly argued and highly illuminating. It changed my understanding of most aspects of civilization. Among the most interesting conclusions are those concerning the role animal domestication has played in our epidemic diseases, and the paucity of domesticable plant and animal species and their historical consequences.

Tuxedo Park by Jennet Conant. All about the Wall Street tycoon who became one of the last great scientific amateurs, and the lab he created in the eponymous village of the ultra rich. Alfred Lee Loomis made a lot of money but also became a versatile scientist and scientific sponsor, and his lab played a role in the development of radar and the bomb - the two great techno weapons of World War II.

Perfectly Legal by David Cay Johnston. The subtitle tells it - The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super-Rich - and Cheat everybody else. Most of the right wing commentators populating news television are creatures of the real vast right wing conspiracy - a huge network of foundations, magazines and political action groups, funded by a few billionaires whose goal is to reduce their taxes to zero. They have been amazingly successful, producing one of the most dramatic redistributions of wealth in history. Johnston tells how it was done and what.

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. A sword and sorcery version of the War of the Roses, Book 1. Not likely to get you on anybodies best educated list, but a fun read.

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