[Vision2020] Book list

[Kenneth Marcy]

On 12/23/2014 5:36 PM, Rosemary Huskey wrote:
>
>
>   I admire Neil deGrasse Tyson enormously so I was interested in his
>   reading list.  I don’t agree with all of his choices, and although I
>   find his one-liners funny I don’t necessarily agree with some of
>   them either.  I am curious what V2020 members would recommend as the
>   five books every intelligent person should read.
>

{[ Luke! Luke! Don't! It's a trap! It's a trap! -- Princess Leia Organa, 
Star Wars V, The Empire Strikes Back, 1980 ]}

As the Princess correctly suggests, questions of this combination of 
specificity applied to such a wide range of recipients are traps for the 
unwary.  The problems with it are multifaceted.  "Every intelligent 
person" suggests a large number of people, from many cultures, speaking 
many languages.  Not only are not all books available in all languages, 
but it may be the case that not all of the selected books are available 
in all languages.  Beyond language abilities, different people likely 
are differently receptive.  Some people don't do various kinds of, or 
perhaps any kind of, logic. Other people are emotionally challenged, and 
may not be able to understand, interpret or respond to moral and ethical 
discussions, even if they are aware of the norms of their local culture. 
Different cultures in different geographic areas suggests the same book 
recommendations may not be optimal.

Another reason the question is a trap is that recommending specific 
books fixes the content of the books to the past, and, depending on the 
selection, perhaps the distant past, while the needs of the readers are 
for the present and the future.  Even classics of the past can be, and 
often have been, updated yielding more satisfactory effects than would 
their predecessors.  A modern comprehensive geometry book may well teach 
the subject better today than Euclid's venerable Elements.  A more 
up-to-date handful of books likely would serve contemporary readers 
better than Darwin's Origin of Species would do for the same range of 
subject matter.  And so on, through the various subjects.  Newer books 
are quite likely going to be better books.

Because of the variability of the readers' characteristics, some 
flexibility in the recommendations is appropriate.  Rather than specific 
titles, several subject matter areas will be suggested, each of which 
may require more than one title to cover not only a suggested range of 
content, but also prerequisites necessary for its comprehension.  For 
example, recommending a text covering partial differential equations of 
the type found in many science books might well require reading and 
mastering several prerequisite math books. Suggesting a contemporary 
volume of ethics readings might entail reading a variety of historical 
precedent setters by way of comparison and contrast.  Etc, etc.

In terms of ranges of subject matter, I am inclined to suggest slight 
generalizations of up-to-date secondary school graduation requirements.  
The reader's native language and rhetoric, including grammar and 
literature, natural science including physics, chemistry and biology, 
mathematics of various descriptions, social sciences including 
psychology, anthropology, and history, and music theory and performance 
instruction for piano and another instrument of choice (guitar if none 
other chosen).  Mastery of at least one foreign language chosen via 
Arguellesian suggestion if the reader is not otherwise well-motivated to 
learn another language would yield suggestions of Spanish, French, 
Italian, and German, in that order, for native English speakers in 
English-speaking cultures, and other language lists in other cultures.  
Not included in most high school curricula, but included here, are 
readings in the history of philosophy, moral and ethical theory, 
political science, and economics, with at least some attention to 
contemporary writings focused on actual activities and events in these 
areas of concern.


Ken

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