Person
Every book Brian Greene recommended on podcasts
Across 4 podcasts. Every show Brian Greene appears on, in one place — not just one.
Brian Greene’s most recommended books
- The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker
- The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James
- Gravitation by Charles W. Misner
- Lonely hearts of the cosmos by Dennis Overbye
- Mr. Tompkins in Wonderland by George Gamow
- The Principles of Psychology by William James
- WHAT IS LIFE?. by I. SCHROEDINGER
Brian Greene appeared on various podcasts, including The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett, The Joe Rogan Experience, Lex Fridman Podcast, and StarTalk Radio, to discuss physics, consciousness, and the human condition. During these appearances, Greene highlighted several influential books. He recommended his own work, Until the End of Time, on The Diary Of A CEO as his personal favorite for readers interested in exploring the philosophical ideas he examined. On multiple episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience, Greene recommended William James's Varieties of Religious Experience, expressing a wish that more people would read the 1902 text to understand rational approaches to religion and spiritual states. He also credited Ernest Becker's The Denial of Death as a profound influence in his twenties regarding human motivation and mortality, a book he discussed on both the Lex Fridman Podcast and The Diary Of A CEO. Additionally, Greene talked about his other writings, such as The Hidden Reality on StarTalk Radio to touch on multiple universes. During the same StarTalk Radio episode, he shared his deep fondness for the classic physics textbook Gravitation by Charles W. Misner, Kip S. Thorne, and John Archibald Wheeler, mentioning that he keeps two copies in his office. Through these discussions, Greene connected complex scientific concepts with foundational philosophical and historical texts that shaped his intellectual perspective.
Books recommended by Brian Greene
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The Denial of Death
The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning psychological and philosophical study arguing that human civilization is ultimately driven by an unconscious terror of mortality.
Discussed“I read a book I was about in my 20s called The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker. He was a social psychologist”
Where to get it
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The Varieties of Religious Experience
William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience is a foundational exploration of human spirituality, religious sentiment, and psychological states of consciousness.
Recommended“there's a book that I think everybody should read it maybe you've read it William James's book varieties of religious experience it's old written back in 1902 William James great psychologist he gave some lectures in Scotland I think it was at the turn of the century and and he interviewed a whole host of people in order to get”
Where to get it
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Until the End of Time
Until the End of Time by Brian Greene is a sweeping exploration of mind, matter, and humanity's search for meaning in an evolving universe through the lens of theoretical physics.
Recommended“Well, my favorite, if you sort of frame it in that flat-footed way, is Until the End of Time because it's the more philosophical and the more the kind of ideas that we spoke about here today.”
Where to get it
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Gravitation
Gravitation by Charles W.
Discussed“therefore I loved it when I was a kid wa with the misner thorn wheeler yes I have two copies of that in my office two copies”
Where to get it
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Lonely hearts of the cosmos
Discussed“i think he wrote a book the lonely hearts of the cosmos which was about um two astronomers trying to find the scale of the universe”
Where to get it
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Mr. Tompkins in Wonderland
Mr.
Discussed“- Oh you mean "Mr. Tompkins Wonderland." - Yeah, "Mr. Tompkins Wonderland."”
Where to get it
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The elegant universe
The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene is a bestselling exploration of string theory, quantum mechanics, and the quest for the ultimate physical theory of reality.
Discussed“my early books were all focused on trying to bring scientific ideas out to the general public now the elegant universe was about string theory that but the cosmos space and time hidden realities about multiple universes”
Where to get it
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The fabric of the cosmos
The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene and Javier García Sanz is a popular-level exploration of space, time, and the fundamental nature of reality.
Discussed“my early books were all focused on trying to bring scientific ideas out to the general public now the elegant universe was about string theory that but the cosmos space and time hidden realities about multiple universes”
Where to get it
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The Hidden Reality
The Hidden Reality by Brian Greene is a popular science exploration delving into the mind-bending concepts of parallel universes, the multiverse hypothesis, and the cutting edges of theoretical physics.
Discussed“hidden reality yeah that was about multiple universes”
Where to get it
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The Principles of Psychology
The Principles of Psychology by William James is an 1890 foundational classic in the field of psychology that explores human consciousness, habit, and emotion.
Discussed“and from that I went to read you know William James's book a varieties of religious experience”
Where to get it
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WHAT IS LIFE?.
Discussed“i mean so i have to ask as you described in your book once again uh schroedinger wrote the book what is life based on the few lectures he gave in 1944”
Where to get it
Books Brian Greene wrote
Appearances
Other mentions (11: passing, ad reads, own books)
“As you know, I'm pretty esoteric in the book Until the End of Time, I I tried to give the reader a sense of how we got here, but I also then turned to the future and tried to give them a sense of what we'll be if we go arbitrarily far into the future.”
“the fabric of the cosmos”
“yeah the paperback of until the end of time is out today”
“what have we been around for what 300,000 years 400,000 years it depends how you define the species but yeah that's not a bad number some people will go back to a million or so if you go back to early human species but yeah and compared to the length of time scales that compose reality from the beginning to”
“and really that's in some sense what what my book until the end the time is all about”
“uh-oh so one of the things i describe in the book is that in the far future and that's where the book ends the thought is”
“and in many ways in my own book the one was coming out actually today until the end of time”
“I was in the middle of a big project in fact I describe this and toward the end of the book so you'll you'll get to this little anecdote if you choose to carry on reading”
“but the funny thing is in writing this book for the very first time I found that there were passages that I couldn't write if it was quiet”
“i I feel like I've moved in a significantly different direction through this book because yes there's science you know entropy evolution”
“- "The Hidden Reality." - "The Hidden Reality," thank you, thank you.”