Bill Gates Wants You To Read These 17 Books

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People often wonder what the extra-curricular activities and daily routines of the rich and famous are.
Atimes, I also wonder too.

What do they eat?
What fun activities do they indulge in?
Where do they visit for relaxation?
What are their hobbies?
What kind of books do they read?
...And so many more “whats”.

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In the case of the world’s richest mogul, Bill Gates, it is safe to assume that his life is perhaps, an epitome of what success and excellence signifies.

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Being the world’s richest entrepreneur also makes him somewhat of an authority on the tips that can enable one acquire knowledge and attain success.

Having said that, an online publication by Business Insider shows that the famous humanitarian and billionaire entrepreneur, Bill Gates, still finds time out of his “without-a-doubt” busy schedule to read a least a book in a week.

What kind of book does the world’s richest man read? You may ask?

Well, Bill Gates willingly shared 17 books that he recommends everyone to read. His list includes:

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1.) Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2012

• By Carol Loomis

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Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are known to be good friends, especially given the fact that they freely recommend books to each other and also spear-head philanthropic engagements together.

So, when Carol Loomis, a Fortune magazine journalist, published a book which is a compilation of articles and essays by Buffett, it certainly became a favourite of Bill Gates, and he goes on to recommend it to people.

Gates says, reading the book would leave two big impressions on the reader about Warren Buffet - 1.) Warren Buffet is incredibly consistent in applying his vision and investment principles in his career. 2.) Buffet’s analysis and understanding of business and markets till date remains unparalleled.

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2.) Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization

• By Vaclav Smil

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Bill Gates indicated that Vaclav Smil, who is an environmental science professor that writes on history of things like innovation and energy, is his favourite author.

According to Gates, “to know where we are going, we need to know where we have been” – and Vaclav Smil is his source for learning such information.

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3.) The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History

• By Elizabeth Kolbert

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Gates believes that people forget that our present day is a part of world history. He also believes that The Sixth Extinction, the new book by New York writer, Elizabeth Kolbert, helps to correct that notion.

Gates expresses his opinion on human activities and how it affects the environment, and also echoes the position of Elizabeth Kolbert, that uncontrolled human activities and pollution of the environment might be leading to the sixth extinction of the planet.

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4.) Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises

• By Tim Geithner

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Timothy Geithner functioned as the secretary to the U.S Treasury; a critical and sensitive position similar to Bill Gates, as the CEO of Microsoft. In Geithner’s case and as he portrayed in his book “Reflections on Financial Crisis,” he saw the system fall around him, at a time when the entity hinged on a global financial crisis.

Gates believes that Tim Geithners book, gives an insight into what the stress of coping with financial crises, dealing with critics and politics, as well as the guilt of being away from ones family for too long, looks like.

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5.) The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

• By Steven Pinker

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The book by Steven Pinker, a Harvard cognitive scientist, is one of the most important books Bill Gates says he’s ever read. The book hovers around the history of a sensitive subject – Violence.

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6.) The Man Who Fed the World

• By Leon Hesser

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The book by Leon Hesser is based on Norman Borlaug, a man who has probably saved more lives in human history than anyone else, according to Bill Gates. Gates believes that Borlaug is a very practical model of what it means to get important work done in our world.

Late Norman Borlaug was a biologist and humanitarian whose seed varieties saved about a billion people mainly in India and Pakistan, from starvation.

Norman Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal for his Green Revolution efforts — which saved a billion lives. Borlaug is one of only seven people to have received the Congressional Gold Medal honour.

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7.) Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street

• By John Brooks

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Gates said that back in 1991, he asked Warren Buffet what his favourite book was, and as a reply, Buffet sent him the Business Adventures, which is a collection of stories by John Brooks, a New York writer.

Gate maintains that the book remains a favourite for him, and reminds him that the principles for building a successful business remain constant till today.

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8.) The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism

• By Doris Kearns Goodwin

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Bill Gates admired Theodore Roosevelts leadership style and his achievements. In Gates’ review, he says that Goodwin’s biography uses the presidency as a perspective and lens towards understanding the shift of the society and understands what the governing system was like.

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9.) The Rosie Project: A Novel

• By Graeme Simsion

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Gate says his encounter of the Rosie Project came from his wife, Melinda’s recommendation. And even though he doesn’t review lots of fiction, Gates, who says he read the book in one sitting, concludes that The Rosie Project is a clever, funny and moving book.

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10.) On Immunity

• By Eula Biss

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Gates also recommends the book “On Immunity” book by essayist, Eula Biss, which is focused on the debate about whether vaccines are a good idea and whether they are the most important inventions in the history of man, as posited by science in general.

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11.) How Asia Works

• By Joe Studwell

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“How Asia Works” is the first book which offers a deconstruction of success and failure Asia-wide, in economic development, according to The Financial Times.
The author, Joe Studwell, who is a business journalist, is focused on understanding “development.”
According to Bill Gates, the books’ thesis points out the fact that countries who experience development success, create conditions for farmers to thrive and then use proceeds from farm surplus to build manufacturing base with the aim of producing for export.

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12.) How to Lie with Statistics

• By Darrell Huff

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The introductory book to statistics and how stats can be manipulated, “How to lie with Statistics” was published back in 1954. Gates says the book is still as relevant as ever. He further states that a single chapter from the book shows you how charts and visuals can be distorted to depict exaggerated and convoluted trends.

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13.) Epic Measures

• By Jeremy Smith

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“Epic measures” is a biography about a doctor, Chris Murray, whose work and significance, Bill Gates has known for over a decade.
According to Gates, the book reviews Chris Murray’s work which involves creating the Global Burden of Disease, a public website database that gathers info on causes of death and human illnesses from researchers worldwide.
Gates points out that the idea is that we can’t begin to find cure for diseases and health issues if we don’t even know what the issues in question are.

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14.) Stuff Matters

• By Mark Miodownik

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Mark Miodownik is a scientist whose book shows the science behind stuffs like glass cups, steel razors, and paper notepads and how such everyday items matter, especially for people who use them without thinking much about the materials they’re made of.
Gates states that his favourite chapter in the book is on the past, present and future of the atom “carbon”, whose role in human existence cannot be over-emphasized.

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15.) Hyperbole and a Half

• By Allie Brosh

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The book of comic drawings highlights scenes from the author, Allie Brosh’s life - her misadventures and her struggle with depression.
Gates says the book and story is funny and smart, and at some points brutally real. Gates emphasized that he was particularly moved by Brosh’s struggle with depression and her attempts at a suicide note.

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16.) What If?

• By Randall Munroe

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Munroe’s book, “What if” is a collection of cartoon illustrated answers to most hypothetical scientific questions.
Bill Gates suggests that people who intend to indulge further and also investigate their secret scientific fantasies would find the book handy.
Gates points out that Randall Munroe’s approach in the book provides a great way to learn about science, by taking the general idea people have about everyday science and taking those ideas to the limits.

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17.) Should We Eat Meat?

• By Vaclav Smil

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Bill Gates, who unashamedly refers to Vaclav Smil, as his favourite author, and whose books he has regularly recommended before; talks about how Vaclav Smil’s book “Should We Eat Meat”, x-rays the issue of whether humans need to eat meat, from every reasonable perspective.
Gates who in his 20’s was a vegetarian for just a year, liked how Vaclav Smil debunked common misconceptions about consuming meat and raising animals for the purpose of meat in the book.

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Ref: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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