Stewart Brand Recommended Books
Stewart Brand has recommended 102 books. Browse the complete reading list with quotes and sources below.
Stewart Brand is an American writer, best known as editor of the Whole Earth Catalog.
(Read more on Wikipedia)102 Books Recommended
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A History of Civilizations
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Way Life Works
The Science Lover's Illustrated Guide to How Life Grows, Develops, Reproduces, and Gets Along
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Finite and Infinite Games
"A fundamental interest is gamification – thinking of things in game terms and designing things in gaming terms is one of the profound things that civilization has done for a very long time." - Stewart Brand (Source)
Also recommended by:
Tristan Harris, Kevin Kelly, Simon Sinek, Graham Duncan, Jane McGonigal, Tobi Lütke, Daniel Gross, Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Ryan Shea
Dune (6 books)
Stewart Brand recommended this series on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Adam Savage, Andrew Chen, Elon Musk, Ev Williams, Jeff Bezos, Kelly Starrett, Kyle Maynard, Laird Hamilton, Seth Godin, Tim Draper, Tim Ferriss, Tim O’Reilly, Zooko Wilcox, Cameron Winklevoss, Sahil Lavingia, Paulo Coelho
The Pattern On The Stone
The Simple Ideas That Make Computers Work
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
A Pattern Language
Towns, Buildings, Construction
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Patrick Collison, Naval Ravikant, Sam Altman, Gretchen Rubin, Liz Lambert
Imagined Worlds
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Culture (11 books)
Stewart Brand recommended this series on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Turing's Cathedral
The Origins of the Digital Universe
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Map Book
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Homo Ludens
A Study of the Play-Element in Culture
"Games are basically what we do." - Stewart Brand (Source)
Foundation (7 books)
Stewart Brand recommended this series on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Adam Gazzaley, Demis Hassabis, Elon Musk, Lex Fridman, Naval Ravikant, Ryan Shea, Sam Altman, Austen Allred, Cameron Winklevoss, Sahil Lavingia
Scale
The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life in Organisms, Cities, Economies, and Companies
"Particularly fantastic." - Stewart Brand (Source)
Also recommended by:
Medieval Civilization
400-1500
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Better Angels of Our Nature
Why Violence Has Declined
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Bill Gates, Lex Fridman, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Kornfield, Eric Schmidt, A.J. Jacobs, Ben Silbermann, Chris Anderson, John Arnold, Anthony Pompliano, Penn Jillette, Mark Manson
The Long Summer
How Climate Changed Civilization
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Bill Gates, Ray Dalio, Scott Adams, Naval Ravikant, Ev Williams, Marc Andreessen, Bryan Johnson, Derek Sivers, Sam Altman, Ron Conway, Jason Fried, Nassim Taleb, Sahil Lavingia, Mark Manson, Jay Shetty, Michiko Kakutani, Preston Pysh, Ben Greenfield
Time Travel
A History
"Some of the most cogent thinking about time that I think we’ve seen in a long time." - Stewart Brand (Source)
Tao Te Ching
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Rick Rubin, Naval Ravikant, Michael Gervais, Josh Waitzkin, Brian MacKenzie, Jason Nemer, Soman Chainani, Jack Dorsey, Jack Ma
The Art of the Long View
Planning for the Future in an Uncertain World
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Coming Population Crash
and Our Planet's Surprising Future
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Future of Life
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Oxford Shakespeare
The Complete Works
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Shah Rukh Khan, J.K. Rowling, Barack Obama, Ricardo Semler, Christopher Hitchens, Fred Wilson, Mark Twain
The Sleepwalkers
A History of Man's Changing Vision of the Universe
Stewart Brand mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast. (Source)
Powers of Ten
About the Relative Size of Things in the Universe
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Gift
Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
What Technology Wants
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Across Realtime
Across Realtime, Book 3
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Conceptual Physics
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Infinite in All Directions
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Thinking in Time
The Uses of History for Decision-Makers
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Triumph of the City
How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Adventures of a Bystander
"[The author]'s early memoir." - Stewart Brand (Source)
A History of the World in 100 Objects
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Warren Buffett, Shah Rukh Khan, Amanda Palmer, Jamie Dimon, Dominic D'Agostino
Beowulf
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Brave New World
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Jordan Peterson, Yuval Noah Harari, Tristan Harris, Matt Mullenweg, Sam Altman, Christopher Hitchens, Sahil Lavingia, Winston Churchill, PewDiePie
Governing the Commons
The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Meditations
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Eternal Frontier
An Ecological History of North America and Its Peoples
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The King and the Corpse
Tales of the Soul's Conquest of Evil
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Landmark Thucydides
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Prince
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Neil deGrasse Tyson, Ryan Holiday, Eric Ripert, Fred Wilson, Garry Tan, Ryan Shea, Patrick Bet-David
Venice
A Maritime Republic
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Why the West Rules--for Now
The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal About the Future
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Dirt
The Erosion of Civilizations
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Grand Design
The Earth from Above
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
On the Nature of Things
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Star Maker
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Story of Writing
Alphabets, Hieroglyphs & Pictograms
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Collapse
How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
"Has some interesting stuff to propose." - Stewart Brand (Source)
Also recommended by:
Guns, Germs, and Steel
The Fates of Human Societies
"The main [book by this author]." - Stewart Brand (Source)
Also recommended by:
Joe Rogan, Bill Gates, Charlie Munger, Simon Sinek, Daniel Ek, Jesse Williams, Patrick Arnold, Jamie Dimon, Margaret Atwood, Mark Manson, James Clear
Machines of Loving Grace
The Quest for Common Ground Between Humans and Robots
"Basically spells out the ongoing debate between artificial intelligence and intelligence augmentation – I.A. and A.I." - Stewart Brand (Source)
Gaia
A New Look at Life on Earth
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Idea of Decline in Western History
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Merck Manual Home Health Handbook
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Past From Above
Aerial Photographs of Archaeological Sites
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Rise of the West
A History of the Human Community; with a Retrospective Essay
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Singularity Is Near
When Humans Transcend Biology
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Peter Diamandis, Steve Aoki, Jason Silva, Brian Armstrong, Marc Goodman, Mark Manson
The Western Canon
The Books and School of the Ages
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Learning to Breathe Fire
The Rise of CrossFit and the Primal Future of Fitness
"Tells the story of how CrossFit came about." - Stewart Brand (Source)
Our Bodies, Ourselves
A Book by and for Women
"Wonderful book by women on women’s health." - Stewart Brand (Source)
The Good Ancestor
How to Think Long-Term in a Short-Term World
"A very good book." - Stewart Brand (Source)
The Elements
A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Memory of the World
The Treasures that Record Our History from 1700 BC to the Present Day
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Military Misfortunes
The Anatomy of Failure in War
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
One True God
Historical Consequences of Monotheism
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Causes of War
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Civilization of the Middle Ages
A Completely Revised and Expanded Edition of Medieval History, the Life and Death of a Civilization
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
The Complete Greek Tragedies
4 Volumes
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Complete Guide to Trail Building and Maintenance
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Discoverers
A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
The Encyclopedia of Earth
A Complete Visual Guide
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
The Iliad
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
The Landmark Herodotus
The Histories
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
The Odyssey
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Tim O’Reilly, Walter Isaacson, Michael Pollan, Caterina Fake, Jay-Z
The Water Will Come
Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World
"Do read." - Stewart Brand (Source)
Also recommended by:
Connectography
Mapping the Future of Global Civilization
"About humanity's infrastructure." - Stewart Brand (Source)
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Other Recommenders
Edited by
Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.
Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.
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