Experts' Expert: Neil deGrasse Tyson's 8 books every intelligent person should read.

The astrophysicist, director of the Hayden Planetarium and science popularizer was asked by a Reddit.com user: "Which books should be read by every single intelligent person on the planet?"

His response:

1. The Bible

2. The System of the World — Isaac Newton

3. On The Origin of Species — Charles Darwin

4. Gulliver's Travels — Jonathan Swift

5. The Age of Reason — Thomas Paine

6. The Wealth of Nations — Adam Smith

7. The Art of War — Sun Tsu

8. The Prince — Machiavelli

Tyson concluded, "If you read all of the above works you will glean profound insight into most of what has driven the history of the Western world."

He added, "From some of your reflections, it looks like the intent of the list was not as clear as I thought. The one-line comment after each book is not a review but a statement about how the book's content influenced the behavior of people who shaped the Western world. So, for example, it does no good to say what the Bible 'really' meant, if its actual influence on human behavior is something else."

[via Open Culture, wherein you'll find links to free (the way we like it) versions of all eight, and GalleyCat]