Here are all the books Bill Gates has recommended over the last eight years
From leadership to graphic novels, Gates releases his list of top books of recommendation. Image: REUTERS/Robert Galbraith (UNITED STATES)
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Bill Gates has become a powerful influence on publishing. An endorsement from the philanthropist and Microsoft cofounder can cause tangible sales spikes, reminiscent of the golden ticket that once came with being picked for Oprah’s book club.
So just what does Gates read? Quartz manually compiled all 186 of the books recommended on his blog, which dates back to January 2010, and organized them by topic. We’ve included all titles, even those of which Gates was mostly critical, like Matt Ridley’s The Rational Optimist. But this is relatively rare; Gates usually only blogs about books he recommends.
We haven’t included books Gates has recommended in interviews but not on his blog, like the two books he thinks are essential to understanding AI: Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom and The Master Algorithm, by Pedro Domingos.
Gates reads little fiction, as he readily admits, but will dabble in YA, comedic memoir, and graphic novels on occasion. As the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, he is wont to recommend books on development, poverty, disease, and education on his blog.
Gates, of course, reads books on scientific topics like biology and physics, but he’s also a big fan of books that offer a scientific or mathematical framework for seeing the world, like What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, by xkcd’s Randall Munroe. Many of the books Gates endorses, especially those that focus on the long arc of human civilization, both its past and future, argue for an optimistic outlook. Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong about the World—and Why Things Are Better than You Think, a book by the late Hans Rosling, his son, and his daughter-in-law, does both: It argues for an optimism about the world through principles of sound scientific thinking, and it got a strong endorsement from Gates this year.
Vaclav Smil is the author Gates has mentioned the most on his blog. Smil is a highly prolific academic emeritus from the University of Manitoba in Canada, who writes about energy and public policy, among other things. Over the years Gates has recommended so many books by Smil that they warrant their own category.
In the scheme of things, Gates surprisingly does not frequently recommend books about business success or digital technology.
Here are all the books, with classification by Quartz:
Political history and biography
Human evolution and civilization
Big technology and invention
Math and science thinking
Business
Biography
Memoir
Fiction
Books by Vaclav Smil
Development and foreign aid
Education
Science
Climate change and energy
Economics and wealth inequality
Disease and public health
Leadership and management
Happiness, psychology, and purpose
Tennis
Misc
Political history and biography
A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety, by Jimmy Carter
Being Nixon: A Man Divided, by Evan Thomas
The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt and the Golden Age of Journalism, by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China, by Ezra Vogel
A Nation of Wusses: How America’s Leaders Lost the Guts to Make Us Great, by Ed Rendell
Titan II: A History of a Cold War Missile Program, by David K. Stumpf
Human evolution and civilization
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, by Yuval Noah Harari
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari
The Vital Question: Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life, by Nick Lane
Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, by Steven Pinker
The Better Angels of Our Nature, by Steven Pinker
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, by Elizabeth Kolbert
The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?, by Jared Diamond
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, by Jared Diamond
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond
Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think, by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler
Big History: From the Big Bang to the Present, by Cynthia Brown
Origin Story: A Big History of Everything, by David Christian
Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update, by Donella Meadows, Jorgen Randers, and Dennis Meadows
Big technology and invention
The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and our Energy Future, by Gretchen Bakke
Sustainable Materials with both Eyes Open, by Julian M. Allwood and Jonathan M. Cullen
The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A Story of Steam, Industry and Invention, by William Rosen
The Grid: A Journey Through the Heart of our Electrified World, by Phillip F. Schewe
The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914, by David McCullough
The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, by Marc Levinson
Math and science thinking
How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking, by Jordan Ellenberg
The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s really True, by Richard Dawkins
What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, by Randall Munroe
How to Lie With Statistics, by Darrell Huff
Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words, by Randall Munroe
13 Things that Don’t Make Sense, by Michael Brooks
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World—and Why Things Are Better than You Think, by Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund, and Ola Rosling
The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail—but Some Don’t, by Nate Silver
Business
Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street, by John Brooks
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike, by Phil Knight
Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, by Carol J. Loomis
Poor Charlie’s Almanack, by Peter D. Kaufman and Ed Wexler
Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone, by Satya Nadella
Science Business: The Promise, the Reality, and the Future of Biotech, by Gary P. Pisano
Biography
Einstein, by Walter Isaacson
Broken Genius, by Joel Shurkin
Leonardo da Vinci, by Walter Isaacson
Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson
Memoir
Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah
The Best We Could Do, by Thi Bui
Believe Me, by Eddie Izzard
Hyperbole and a Half, by Allie Brosh
On Immunity: An Inoculation, by Eula Biss
When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi
Everything Happens for a Reason and other Lies I’ve Loved, by Kate Bowler
The Cost of Hope, by Amanda Bennett
Fiction
The Heart, by Maylis de Kerangal
The Sympathizer, by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Seveneves, by Neal Stephenson
The Rosie Effect, by Graeme Simsion
The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion
Patriot and Assassin, by Robert Cook
Turtles All the Way Down, by John Green
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
The Cat’s Table, by Michael Ondaatje
The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger
A Separate Peace, by John Knowles
Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders
Books by Vaclav Smil
Energy and Civilization: A History, by Vaclav Smil
Should We Eat Meat?, by Vaclav Smil
Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization, by Vaclav Smil
Harvesting the Biosphere, by Vaclav Smil
Energy Myths and Realities, by Vaclav Smil
Japan’s Dietary Transition and Its Impacts, by Vaclav Smil and Kazuhiko Kobayashi
Made in the USA: The Rise and Retreat of American Manufacturing, by Vaclav Smil
Prime Movers of Globalization, by Vaclav Smil
The Earth’s Biosphere, by Vaclav Smil
Energy at the Crossroads, by Vaclav Smil
Energies: An Illustrated Guide to the Biosphere and Civilization, by Vaclav Smil
Global Catastrophes and Trends, by Vaclav Smil
Enriching the Earth, by Vaclav Smil
Why America is Not a New Rome, by Vaclav Smil
Transforming the Twentieth Century, by Vaclav Smil
Energy Transitions: History, Requirements, Prospects, by Vaclav Smil
Creating the Twentieth Century, by Vaclav Smil
Development and foreign aid
Poor Numbers: How We are Misled by African Development Statistics and What to Do About it, by Morten Jerven
Getting Better: Why Global Development is Succeeding—and How We Can Improve the World Even More, by Charles Kenny
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, by Katherine Boo
The Man Who Fed the World: Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug and His Battle to End World Hunger, by Leon Hesser
The Last Hunger Season: A Year in an African Farm Community on the Brink of Change, by Roger Thurow
However Long the Night: Molly Melching’s Journey to Help Millions of African Women and Girls Triumph, by Aimee Molloy
In the Company of the Poor, by Paul Farmer and Gustavo Gutierrez
Mighty be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War, by Leymah Gbowee
One Billion Hungry: Can We Feed the World?, by Gordon Conway
Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty , by Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee and Esther Duflo
How to Spend $50 Billion to Make the World a Better Place, by Bjørn Lomborg
The Foundation: How Private Wealth Is Changing the World, by Joel L. Fleishman
Give Smart: Philanthropy that Gets Results, by Thomas J. Tierney and Joel L. Fleishman
Jim Grant—UNICEF Visionary, by Richard Jolly (Ed.)
Tomorrow’s Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food, by Pamela Ronald and Raoul Adamchak
The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality, by Angus Deaton
The Idealist: Jeffrey Sachs and the Quest to End Poverty, by Nina Munk
Interventions: A Life in War and Peace, by Kofi Annan
Education
Why Does College Cost So Much?, by Robert B. Archibald and David H. Feldman
A World-Class Education: Learning from International Models of Excellence and Innovation, by Vivien Stewart
Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, by Richard Arum and Joshipa Roksa
Why Don’t Students Like School? A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions about how the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom, by Dan T. Willingham
Change.edu: Rebooting for the New Talent Economy, by Andrew Rosen
Unlocking the Gates, by Taylor Walsh
Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America’s Schools, by Steven Brill
Who’s Teaching your Children?, by Vivian Troen and Katherine C. Boles
Stretching the School Dollar: How Schools and Districts Can Save Money while Serving Students Best, by Frederick M. Hess and Eric Osberg (Eds.)
Where Do School Funds Go?, by Marguerite Roza
Liberating Learning: Technology, Politics, and the Future of American Education, by Terry M. Moe and John E. Chubb
Work Hard. Be Nice: How Two Inspired Teachers Created the Most Promising Schools in America, by Jay Mathews
Value-Added Measures in Education: What Every Educator Needs to Know, by Douglas N. Harris
Science
The Gene: An Intimate History, by Siddhartha Mukherjee
For the Love of Physics: From the End of the Rainbow to the Edge of Time, a Journey through the Wonders of Physics, by Walter Lewin
Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. 1: Mainly Mechanics, Radiation, and Heat, by Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, and Matthew Sands
Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol 2: Mainly Electromagnetism and Matter, by Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, and Matthew Sands
Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol 3: Quantum Mechanics, by Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, and Matthew Sands
The New Science of Strong Materials, by J.E. Gordon
The Hair of the Dog and Other Scientific Surprises, by Karl Sabbagh
13 Things that Don’t Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of our Time, by Michael Brooks
Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking, by Nathan Myhrvold
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, by Siddhartha Mukherjee
I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes within Us and a Grander View of Life, by Ed Yong
Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials that Shape our Man-Made World, by Mark Miodownik
Climate change and energy
The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World, by Daniel Yergin
Sustainable Energy—without the Hot Air, by David J.C. MacKay
Unlocking Energy Innovation, by Richard K. Lester and David M. Hart
World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse, by Lester R. Brown
Global Warming: The Complete Briefing, by John Houghton
Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: Climate Change and Energy in the 21st Century, by Burton Richter
Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution—and How it Can Renew America, by Thomas Friedman
Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era, by Amory B. Lovins and Rocky Mountain Institute
Economics and wealth inequality
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, by J.D. Vance
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, by Matthew Desmond
The Power to Compete: An Economist and an Entrepreneur on Revitalizing Japan in the Global Economy, by Hiroshi Mikitani and Ryoichi Mikitani
The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War, by Robert Gordon
How Asia Works: Success and Failure in the World’s Most Dynamic Region, by Joe Studwell
Capital in the Twenty-First Century, by Thomas Piketty
Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises, by Timothy F. Geithner
The Bet: Paul Ehrlich, Julian Simon, and our Gamble over Earth’s Future, by Paul Sabin
The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers our Future, by Joseph E. Stiglitz
Why Nations Fail, by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson
This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly, by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff
Beyond the Crash: Overcoming the First Crisis of Globalization, by Gordon Brown
Too Big to Fail, by Andrew Ross Sorkin
The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century, by Thomas Friedman
That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World it Invented and How We Can Come Back, by Thomas Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum
The End of Poverty, by Jeffrey Sachs
In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke’s War on the Great Panic, by David Wessel
SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance, by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves, by Matt Ridley
Disease and public health
Eradication: Ridding the World of Diseases Forever?, by Nancy Leys Stepan
The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years, by Sonia Shah
House on Fire: The Fight to Eradicate Smallpox, by William H. Foege
Smallpox: The Death of a Disease, by D.A. Henderson
Infections and Inequalities: The Modern Plagues, by Paul Farmer
Reinventing American Health Care: How the Affordable Care Act Will Improve our Terribly Complex, Blatantly Unjust, Outrageously Expensive, Grossly Inefficient, Error Prone System, by Ezekiel Emanuel
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, by Atul Gawande
Global Health: An Introductory Textbook, by A. Lindstrand, et al.
Health Care Will Not Reform Itself, by George Halvorson
Dirt and Disease: Polio before FDR, by Naomi Rogers
The Making of a Tropical Disease: A Short History of Malaria, by Randall M. Packard
Priorities in Health, by Dean T. Jamison and Joel G. Breman
Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver, by Arthur Allen
Tropical Infectious Diseases, by Richard L. Guerrant and David H. Walker
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man who Would Cure the World, by Tracy Kidder
Polio: An American Story, by David Oshinsky
Epic Measures: One Doctor. Seven Billion Patients, by Jeremy Smith
Leadership and management
The Myth of the Strong Leader, by Archie Brown
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck
How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, by Paul Tough
The Art of Being Unreasonable: Lessons in Unconventional Thinking, by Eli Broad
Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World With OKRs, by John Doerr
Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation, by Tim Brown
Happiness, psychology, and purpose
The Road to Character, by David Brooks
Where Good Ideas Come from, by Steven Johnson
Awakening Joy, by James Baraz and Shoshana Alexander
Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do, by Claude Steele
Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell
Showing up for Life, by Bill Gates Sr.
Life Is What You Make It, by Peter Buffett
Tennis
String Theory, by David Foster Wallace
A Champion’s Mind, by Pete Sampras
Open, by Andre Agassi
Misc
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, by Joshua Foer
The City that Became Safe: New York’s Lessons for Urban Crime and Its Control, by Franklin Zimring
Frank Stewart’s Bridge Club, by Frank Stewart
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