Elon Musk, the mastermind behind many cutting-edge technological companies likes SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and OpenAI, is also an avid book reader.
From an early age, Elon would read almost anything he can get his hands on. He mentioned in one of the interviews how as a child he would spend hours and hours reading books. And apparently, many of those books shaped his passion for science, technology, and futuristic thinking. Like the books series Foundation by Isaac Asimov would inspire him to create SpaceX, a company for space exploration, with the main goal to establish a human colony on Mars by the year 2050, and make the human race an interplanetary species.
But getting inspired is one thing, doing it, is another thing. Elon famously became the chief design engineer for SpaceX after failing to find someone willing to take on this duty. You see, becoming a chief designer for a space company is not something you can just start doing without proper knowledge in propulsion engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, just to name a few. So, where did Elon got that knowledge from? Again, books.
Multiple times Elon would mention some book titles on his Twitter or in the interviews, that he recommends to everybody to read. Since Dev & Gear is a website devoted to technology, we created a list of 12 books that Elon recommends on technology, engineering, and science.
Zero to One
Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
in EntrepreneurshipIf you want to build a better future, you must believe in secrets.
Life 3.0
Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
in Machine learningHow will AI affect crime, war, justice, jobs, society and our very sense of being human? The rise of AI has the potential to transform our future more than any other technology.
Deep Learning
Adaptive Computation and Machine Learning series
in Machine learningAn introduction to a broad range of topics in deep learning, covering mathematical and conceptual background, deep learning techniques used in industry, and research perspectives.
Superintelligence
Paths, Dangers, Strategies
in Artificial intelligenceSuperintelligence asks the questions: What happens when machines surpass humans in general intelligence? Will artificial agents save or destroy us? Nick Bostrom lays the foundation for understanding the future of humanity and intelligent life.
Ignition
An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants
in CuriousThe resulting volume is as much a memoir as a work of history, sharing a behind-the-scenes view of an enterprise which eventually took men to the moon, missiles to the planets, and satellites to outer space.
If the Universe Is Teeming with Aliens... Where Is Everybody?
Seventy-Five Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life
in CuriousGiven the fact that there are perhaps 400 billion stars in our Galaxy alone, and perhaps 400 billion galaxies in the Universe, it stands to reason that somewhere out there, in the 14-billion-year-old cosmos, there is or once was a civilization at least as advanced as our own.
Modern Engineering for Design of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines
in CuriousFrom the component design, to the subsystem design, to the engine systems design, engine development and flight-vehicle application, this how-to text bridges the gap between basic physical and design principles and actual rocket-engine design as it's done in industry.
Our Final Invention
Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era
in Artificial intelligenceCan we coexist with beings whose intelligence dwarfs our own? And will they allow us to?
Human Compatible
Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control
in Artificial intelligenceA leading artificial intelligence researcher lays out a new approach to AI that will enable us to coexist successfully with increasingly intelligent machines
Merchants of Doubt
How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Climate Change
in CuriousMerchants of Doubt has been praised―and attacked―around the world, for reasons easy to understand.
Einstein
His Life and Universe
in CuriousHow did his mind work? What made him a genius? Isaacson's biography shows how the imagination that distinguished his science sprang from the rebellious nature of his personality.
Structures
Or Why Things Don't Fall Down
in CuriousOr Why Things Don't Fall Down is an informal explanation of the basic forces that hold together the ordinary and essential things of this world--from buildings and bodies to flying aircraft and eggshells.
