10 Books Recommended by Elon Musk

Elon Musk is one of the most influential people in the world at this age. In one of his interviews, one of his successes is how much he reads books. After that, people began to ask what books recommended by Elon Musk? Here, we will give you a list of 10 books Elon Musk reads. He recommended those books either in his interviews or from his Twitter account.

1. Merchants of Doubt (2010)

Merchants of Doubts is a book about science, history, environment, and human. A book that contains systematic research about how in history every industry is a science playground. Trade between the scientific community and media in the making of the public’s view in everyday danger.

Throughout history, scientists have been researching the dangers the world faced. They are pressing issues such as global warming, tobacco, environmental pollution, etc. But at the same time, a tiny part of the community also denies those dangers as real threats.

Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway wrote this book as coverage of those communities how scientists are also showing their attention in industries and with the help of the media making public’s attention either showing concern or numbness to the world’s problems.

2. Screw Business as Usual (2011)

The word capitalism has brought so many meanings to people. Most of them feel that capitalism has eaten out our life with consumerism and hedonism—a reasonable opinion, to be honest.

But in Screw Business as Usual, Richard Branson tries to change that paradigm into a better one. He thinks that the idea of evil capitalism is over. There is so much good capitalism can offer, not just making a lot of money.

With a variety of examples, this book did show that the change is near. That everyone can be a pioneer of change, no matter how small their business is. This book is on the list of Elon Musk’s must-read books today.

3. Superintelligence (2014)

Nick Bostrom is Director of Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford. This book gives us his view on how in the future human fate may not be in our hands after all.

The big question in this book is what if artificial intelligence is the one that decides the continuity of the human species. But, for that to happen, essentially, humans need to make ‘the seed.’ An initiation project to build the new entity.

His book is about his view and some of the most influential people in the AI industry. Names such as Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Demis Hassabis make this book more scientific, not just an opinion of the writer.

4. Acts of Love (2016)

Who said Elon is reading boring scientific books only? Acts of Love is not a boring scientific book. It was fiction books recommended by Elon Musk, a romantic-fiction one to be precise.

Bernadette is a classic love story, a strong journalist, and a woman who likes to show dominance. She conquers every powerful man around her just to make them feel inferior by her skills and capability.

But Radley Blake, a simple man with wisdom, could see her through and through. He knows that Bernadette just put up an act to protect something inside her. Something that Blake will try to heal.

Talulah Riley wrote this as her debut novel. With so many compliments, including Elon’s, she proved her stand-in, romance fiction to make a familiar love story into a heart-pounding journey.

5. Zero To One (2014)

In a world full of invention, right now, humans are ironically stagnant from any new technology. The mentality right now is how to do better than someone at something they are good at or add something to something that already exists.

When we add something, it will be one plus n. But if we make something, it will be 0 plus 1. We need to change our paradigm. The world could be a better place. Make something new.

Not just in technological advancement, but also in every aspect we could improve. Because the invention is not about making something better, but it’s about creating something new. Peter Thiel and Blake Master write this book to make that view more common.

6. A Woman Makes a Plan (2019)

One day Elon Musk shared a photo on his Twitter account with the caption, “My mom wrote a book.” Maye Musk then published a book titled A Woman Makes a Plan.

Despite the title exclusively having women’s words, this book is every gender book to read. A story of how Maye grew up in an adventurous and intelligent family, to her life as a parent herself. This book is her take on how people, especially women, should take charge when needed.

She also describes her way of parenting as a form of giving freedom to her kids without ignoring them. Also, how in the hell does she still maintain her modeling career at the age of 71.

7. Ignition! (1972)

So many readers categorized this book as a serious scientific book and as one of the chemistry and engineering books recommended by Elon Musk. In reality, Ignition! is a rare, fun science book published—a take on how scientists in the cold war era tried to find the best rocket fuel. Humorously, John Drury Clark writes what he witnessed as a step toward space exploration.

Even though this book discusses such specific topics, readers still could enjoy this book as entertainment, almost like a sci-fi novel but in t=documentary form.

8. Atlas Shrugged (1999)

Elon Musk read another fiction book known as a classic takeaway on the rebirth of a man’s soul in his spare time. Ayn Rand writes this book with so much philosophical meaning to humans.

In this book, every person is debating their actions with himself. He tried to make sense of his decision to stop the world’s motors. A man starts as an intelligent and honorable man into a jerk. Another became a pirate after giving up his philosophical career.

This book shows every aspect of humanity as a fragile concept. Something that will break and corrode if humans don’t understand themself to the molecular point.

9. The Big Picture (2016)

Sean Carroll is a humanist who brings a new wave of understanding from molecular physics into anecdote. He writes many meaningful books such as From Eternity to Here (2009), The Higgs Boson and Beyond (2015), and his 2016 masterpiece The Big Picture.

Carroll brings us into the quest to understand our universe. He formulated the most complex to offer into the most simple narrative but still with the appendix for people who want more scientific details.

This book became a physics book recommended by Elon Musk since it was first published. To be fair, Elon does suggest everything by Sean Carroll.

10. Life 3.0 (2017)

If you are into computer science, go on and read this Mag Tegmark’s book. If not, well, you could still read it. This book is an AI book recommended by Elon Musk.

In the world of the computer brain, the world becomes so much easier in completing every task. Producing toothpaste is almost as easy as pressing a button. Making mass-produced food is as easy as clicking a mouse.

But, with so many machines and AI replacing human work, a new problem arises. How could human labor be maintained? Is there a need for human workers in this era? Those questions bring us to the big reveal at the end of the book.

Being a significant figure in the 21st century, Elon Musk became a symbol of freedom in upper industry. His take on how a company should work made a substantial impact on the technology and engineering industry.

So many people want to know how he makes every idea for his companies. For starters, he always recommends every book he reads to formulate ideas. Because he said, he learned to build rockets by reading books.

All in all, what books you read is what shapes your vision and purpose in learning. We hope this list of books recommended by Elon Musk could be your starter in making progress.