Podcast
Dwarkesh Patel's book list: the books mentioned on Dwarkesh Podcast
Books from the latest episodes
Most recommended on Dwarkesh Podcast
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The prince
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, host Dwarkesh Patel and guest Ada Palmer discussed Niccolò Machiavelli's classic work The Prince. Palmer recommended the book when viewed through the context of Machiavelli's deep patriotism and explained that he wrote it during exile as a private job application to the Florentine regime. Throughout the episode, Patel and Palmer examined various aspects of the text, including Machiavelli's dedication to Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici, the political volatility of Renaissance Italy, and common misconceptions surrounding his political philosophy.
Discussed“He writes The Prince.”
Where to get it
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Talent
Talent by Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross was discussed on the Dwarkesh Podcast by host Dwarkesh Patel and guest Jimmy Soni. Patel asked Cowen about insights and disappointments learned from writing a book on talent spotting, comparing its arguments to other works on education. Soni also referenced Cowen's book while discussing the dynamics of identifying exceptional individuals and the historical context of the PayPal mafia.
Discussed“Is there something you've learned about talent spotting through writing the book that um you wish wasn't so that you find it disturbing or you find it disappointing in some way?”
Where to get it
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The Complacent Class
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, host Dwarkesh Patel referenced Tyler Cowen's book The Complacent Class multiple times across different episodes. In October 2021, while speaking with Byrne Hobart, Patel brought up the book to frame a discussion on society's growing preferences for optionality. Earlier, in July 2020 during an episode featuring Tyler Cowen himself, Patel quoted the book regarding predictions of a great reset and questioned Cowen about whether dynamism would return following subsequent crises. Patel also noted a perceived contradiction between the themes in The Complacent Class and Cowen's work on big business.
Discussed“one way of reading tyler accounts complacent class is basically just a way of like our preference we've just our preferences for optionality have grown a lot”
Where to get it
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Open Borders
Bryan Caplan and Zach Weinersmith's Open Borders was featured on the Dwarkesh Podcast in May 2020 and October 2022. Host Dwarkesh Patel praised the graphic novel format as a binge-worthy experience comparable to a Netflix show and noted its role in illustrating pathways to immigration policy changes. Caplan also discussed the book's translation into several Eastern European languages while recounting his travels.
Discussed“What happened actually was that my open borders have been translated into three Eastern European languages, been translated into Polish, Hungarian, and Czech.”
Where to get it
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Stubborn Attachments
On Dwarkesh Podcast, Dwarkesh Patel brought up Tyler Cowen's book Stubborn Attachments across multiple episodes. In an August 2020 episode with Robin Hanson, Patel asked if Hanson agreed with Cowen's argument that promoting continuous economic growth is the best way to care for the long term. Earlier in July 2020, while interviewing Cowen, Patel used the book to highlight a perceived contradiction with Cowen's other work and noted how the book's views aligned with common sense morality.
Discussed“tyler cotton writes and stubborn attachments that if you really care about the long term the best you can do is just promote economic growth uh do you agree with that”
Where to get it
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The Origin of Species
Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species was discussed on the Dwarkesh Podcast in March and April 2026. Dwarkesh Patel and his guests, Michael Nielsen and Terence Tao, analyzed the book alongside Newton's Principia Mathematica, comparing their publication dates, conceptual simplicity, and the historical progression of scientific discovery. Michael Nielsen praised Darwin's work for providing comprehensive evidence connecting natural selection to biology and geology.
Discussed“So Principia Mathematica is released in 1687. The Origin of Species is released in 1859.”
Where to get it
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The Power Broker
On Dwarkesh Podcast, Dwarkesh Patel, Byrne Hobart, and Edward Glaeser discussed Robert A. Caro's biography The Power Broker. Patel referenced a previous episode about Caro's work, Hobart mentioned the book to illustrate the evolving tone and perspective across its chapters, and Glaeser praised it as one of the great biographies of the past century in the context of discussing urban builders like Robert Moses.
Discussed“In the last episode, we go deep into the other biography by Robert Caro, The Power Broker, and talk about why it might be inaccurate in certain respects.”
Where to get it
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The Principia
The Principia by Isaac Newton was referenced across multiple episodes of Dwarkesh Podcast in 2026. Guests Adam Brown and Michael Nielsen, alongside host Dwarkesh Patel, discussed Newton's foundational laws of gravity published in 1687. They used the historic text to examine how science progresses, contrasting Newtonian physics with general relativity and evolutionary theory.
Discussed“The reigning theory of gravity at the time of Einstein stretches all the way back to Newton in the late 17th century, Newton's laws, in his Principia in 1687.”
Where to get it
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The years of Lyndon Johnson (Volumes 1-3)
On Dwarkesh Podcast, guests Dwarkesh Patel and Byrne Hobart referenced Robert Caro's biographical volumes on Lyndon B. Johnson. Patel used the third volume to compare senate seniority systems, while Hobart discussed the first volume to analyze Johnson's political and financial operational skills, contrasting his background and tactics with those of historical figures like Coke Stevenson.
Discussed“This reminds me of this wonderful biography of LBJ that Robert Caro wrote. In volume three, which is about him taking over the Senate...”
Where to get it
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How Asia Works
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, Dwarkesh Patel referenced Joe Studwell's How Asia Works in multiple episodes to examine economic development strategies. Patel cited specific details from the book regarding post-war Japanese reparations to South Korea, industrial capacity building, and how countries generated internal knowledge to avoid the middle-income trap.
Discussed“a line from How Asia Works where they're talking about the reparations that Korea got after World War Two from Japan and how they're using that to build up their industrial capacity and there's a line from one of the line managers in the factory who goes,”
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Conflict
On Dwarkesh Podcast, Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine by David Petraeus and Andrew Roberts was featured when host Dwarkesh Patel interviewed Andrew Roberts. Patel praised chapters of the book, discussed the four key tenets of strategic leadership outlined within it, and used its points on deterrence and the future of war to guide the conversation, ultimately recommending the book at the end of the episode.
Discussed“I have the pleasure of speaking with Andrew Roberts, who is most recently the author of “Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine.””
Where to get it
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Discourses on Livy
Niccolò Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy was discussed on the Dwarkesh Podcast in June 2026 by host Dwarkesh Patel and guest Ada Palmer. The speakers explored Machiavelli's analysis of the Roman Empire's collapse, institutional stability, checks and balances, and the author's motivations for writing the work as a major scholarly project.
Discussed“This goes back to the thing in The Discourses.”
Where to get it
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1493
On a September 2022 episode of the Dwarkesh Podcast, host Dwarkesh Patel and guest Charles C. Mann discussed Mann's book 1493. Patel referenced specific chapters regarding gender ratios in historical silver mines and listed the book alongside Mann's other works during the conversation and episode outro, while Mann mentioned the book in the context of historical information discovered after its writing.
Discussed“Before Columbus, 1493, Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, and The Wizard and the Prophet.”
Where to get it
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The WEIRDest People in the World
Dwarkesh Patel brought up The WEIRDest People in the World by Joseph Patrick Henrich on the Dwarkesh Podcast in March 2025. Introducing his guest, Joseph Henrich, Dwarkesh highlighted the text as one of his favorite books. Later, he used the shortened title to transition into a new segment and prompted a discussion regarding the book's central thesis, specifically referencing claims about European history and warfare.
Discussed“Today, I have the pleasure of chatting with Joseph Henrich, who is a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University and an author of two of my favorite books, The Weirdest People in the World and before that, The Secret of Our Success.”
Where to get it
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Survival of the City
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, host Dwarkesh Patel discussed Edward Glaeser and David Cutler's book Survival of the City during a November 2022 episode with Edward Glaeser. Patel highly recommended both Survival of the City and its predecessor, Triumph of the City, to his readers. He also cited research from Survival of the City regarding how firms like Microsoft altered their hiring practices during the pandemic.
Discussed“It's the actually part of the story of the Hamilton musical in the room where it happened.”
Where to get it
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1491
On Dwarkesh Podcast, Charles C. Mann and host Dwarkesh Patel discussed the book 1491. Dwarkesh Patel cited it as one of his favorite books, and Charles C. Mann mentioned it while discussing recent historical findings that were omitted from the original publication.
Discussed“Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Charles Man, who is the author of three of my favorite books, including 1491, New Revelations of America”
Where to get it
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The Secret of Our Success
On an episode of Dwarkesh Podcast from March 12, 2025, host Dwarkesh Patel interviewed Harvard professor Joseph Henrich, discussing his book The Secret of Our Success. Patel brought up concepts from the book to explore how prehistoric humans discovered complex food processing and survival techniques compared to lost European explorers. Patel also referenced the book while transitioning into a broader discussion of Henrich's subsequent work, The Weirdest People in the World.
Discussed“Today, I have the pleasure of chatting with Joseph Henrich, who is a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University and an author of two of my favorite books, The Weirdest People in the World and before that, The Secret of Our Success.”
Where to get it
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Dude, Where's My Flying Car?
Tim Jackson's book Dude, Where's My Flying Car? was discussed by Byrne Hobart on the Dwarkesh Podcast in October 2021. Hobart described the book as a detailed, thoughtful, and well-footnoted rant exploring the history and regulatory hurdles surrounding flying cars. He also referenced having read the book a couple of months prior while discussing recent developments, such as United Airlines placing orders for flying vehicles.
Recommended“where's my flying car which is um it's basically this extended um very detailed very thoughtful very well footnoted rant from someone who really wants to have a flying car and he's interested in them”
Where to get it
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How to Read a Book
In the July 12, 2023 episode of Dwarkesh Podcast titled Andy Matuschak — The reason most learning tools fail, host Dwarkesh Patel brought up How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Lincoln Van Doren as a great guide on serious reading to explain why individuals struggle with difficult texts. Guest Andy Matuschak then referenced the book to discuss active reading and the necessity of asking questions.
Recommended“To explain this, I will reference Mortimer Adler and Van Doren's How to Read a Book, which is a great guide on serious reading.”
Where to get it
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The Founders
On the Dwarkesh Podcast episode "Jimmy Soni - Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and the Paypal Mafia" (2022-04-16), Dwarkesh Patel mentioned Jimmy Soni's book "The Founders" at the beginning of the episode while introducing the author's work about PayPal and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. At the end of the episode, Patel returned to the book to highly recommend it to listeners.
Discussed“and most recently he's the author of the founders the story of paypal and the entrepreneurs who shaped silicon valley”
Where to get it
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Against the Grain
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, Dwarkesh Patel and Charles C. Mann discussed Against the Grain by James C. Scott during an episode in September 2022. Patel referenced the book to draw parallels regarding agricultural history, noting instances where people chose to run away and live as foragers outside of state control. Charles C. Mann also mentioned the book to examine historical perspectives on state civilization and the concept of barbarians.
Discussed“It sounds it reminds me of um James Scott's thing in against the grain where he pointed out there were if you look at the history of agriculture there's many examples where people just like choose to run away and live as foragers in the forest”
Where to get it
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Cell Biology by the Numbers
On the Dwarkesh Podcast on July 12, 2023, Andy Matuschak brought up Cell Biology by the Numbers by Ron Milo and Rob Phillips as an example of learning specific trivia and quantitative facts using memory systems. Matuschak referenced the book again to illustrate how rote memorization can be transformed into solving interesting Fermi problems, such as calculating the volume of a nucleotide.
Discussed“For instance, a thing that I and some people I know have done is, we’ve gone through a book called Cell Biology by the Numbers, which says all of these things like,”
Where to get it
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The Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes
Imre Lakatos's book, The Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes, was discussed on the Dwarkesh Podcast in an episode titled Michael Nielsen – How science actually progresses in April 2026. Michael Nielsen referenced the work while examining how scientific progress and theories of the ether are evaluated. Host Dwarkesh Patel also discussed the book, highlighting Lakatos's interesting examples of extremely long-lasting, hostile verification loops and historical anomalies in science.
Discussed“Also from Imre Lakatos, The Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes.”
Where to get it
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The Wizard and the Prophet
During an episode of the Dwarkesh Podcast featuring guest Charles C. Mann, host Dwarkesh Patel mentioned The Wizard and the Prophet. Patel brought up the title as part of a discussion highlighting the various books authored by Mann, and he referenced the book again during the episode's closing recap for interested listeners.
Discussed“Before Columbus, 1493, Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, and The Wizard and the Prophet.”
Where to get it
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Aztec Warfare
During the Dwarkesh Podcast episode on September 14, 2022, Charles C. Mann recommended Aztec Warfare by Ross Hassig. Mann praised the publication as an amazing military history book focusing on the Aztecs.
Recommended“There's a wonderful book by Ross Hess called um Aztec warfare in which he it's an amazing um book which is like a military history of the Aztecs.”
Where to get it
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Democracy and Education
During the Dwarkesh Podcast episode Andy Matuschak — The reason most learning tools fail, Andy Matuschak referenced John Dewey's educational philosophy and mentioned his later book Experience and Education. Matuschak discussed the book while evaluating educational reform movements and the ongoing pedagogical debate surrounding student freedom and appropriate adult guidance.
Recommended“One of the heroes of the reform school movement is this philosopher named John Dewey, and he has a lovely book called Experience and Education, sort of written near the end of his time, looking back on all of his efforts to reform schooling in a kind of unschooling-ish direction.”
Where to get it
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Experience And Education
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, Andy Matuschak recommended John Dewey's Experience and Education while discussing educational reform and the balance of freedom and guidance for children. Matuschak described the text as a lovely book written near the end of Dewey's career, looking back on his efforts to reform schooling in an unschooling-ish direction.
Recommended“One of the heroes of the reform school movement is this philosopher named John Dewey, and he has a lovely book called Experience and Education, sort of written near the end of his time, looking back on all of his efforts to reform schooling in a kind of unschooling-ish direction.”
Where to get it
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Failure to Disrupt
Grant Sanderson brought up Justin Reich's book Failure to Disrupt on the Grant Sanderson (@3blue1brown) — Past, present, & future of mathematics episode of Dwarkesh Podcast. Sanderson mentioned the book as relevant to the discussion, noting that it covers the history of educational technology.
Recommended“There's a really good book that's actually kind of relevant to some of your early questions called Failure to Disrupt that goes over the history of educational technology.”
Where to get it
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How to Win Friends and Influence People
On an episode of the Dwarkesh Podcast released on April 12, 2022, Bryan Caplan expressed his admiration for Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People." Caplan cited specific management and positive reinforcement advice from the book, such as giving everyone a good reputation to live up to rather than criticizing them.
Recommended“I'm a big fan of Dale Carnegy's How to Win Friends and Influence People. And a lot of what he says is, you know, for example, he says, "Give everyone a good reputation to live up to. Don't go and tell people you are a terrible late person.”
Where to get it
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Labor Econ Versus the World
Dwarkesh Patel introduced Labor Econ Versus the World by Bryan Douglas Caplan on an April 2022 episode of the Dwarkesh Podcast. At the very start of the episode featuring Caplan, Patel recommended the book to listeners, describing it as a collection of the author's essays spanning across the years.
Recommended“So, uh, today we're talking about your book, Labor, Econ Versus the World, and it's a collection of your essays throughout the years, and I highly recommend it.”
Where to get it
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Making Common Sense of Japan
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, Patrick McKenzie recommended Steven R. Reed's book Making Common Sense of Japan. McKenzie brought up the title to support his argument that cultural differences are frequently used as an error term when observers fail to understand underlying incentives.
Recommended“There's a great book, Making Common Sense of Japan. The author makes this persuasive argument at length.”
Where to get it
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Palaces for the People
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, Dwarkesh Patel recommended Eric Klinenberg's book 'Palaces for the People'. Patel mentioned the title to ask a guest about the important and varied functions that public libraries have historically played in communities.
Recommended“My friend, Eric Kleinberg has written a great book about, you know, I think they're called it's called Palaces for the People about, you know, the all the different functions that libraries have played.”
Where to get it
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Promises I Can Keep
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, Bryan Caplan recommended Promises I Can Keep by Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas during an episode discussing poverty, discrimination, and mental illness. Caplan highlighted the work as one of his favorite books on poverty, noting that it examines the problems single mothers face and explains that they are often unhappy with the fathers of their children.
Recommended“you like there's uh one of my favorite books on poverty which is promises I can keep talks about the problems of single moms and one of the main things that it talks about is they're not happy with the fathers of their kids”
Where to get it
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Termination Shock
During an episode of the Dwarkesh Podcast, Charles C. Mann offered a recommendation for the novel Termination Shock by his friend Neal Stephenson. Mann described the book as a fun novel centered on a wealthy individual taking geoengineering into their own hands.
Recommended“So, let me give a plug here for a fun novel by my friend Neil Stevenson called Termination Shock, which is about some rich person just do just doing it and just doing geoengineering”
Where to get it
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The Specter of Skepticism in the Age of Enlightenment
Ada Palmer cited Anton M. Matytsin's book The Specter of Skepticism in the Age of Enlightenment on the Dwarkesh Podcast to provide historical details regarding raids on clandestine bookshops.
Recommended“There's a brilliant analysis in Anton Matytsin's book, The Specter of Skepticism in the Age of Enlightenment.”
Where to get it
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Triumph of the City
On the Dwarkesh Podcast episode featuring Edward Glaeser on November 28, 2022, host Dwarkesh Patel recommended Edward L. Glaeser's book Triumph of the City to listeners at the end of the interview alongside Glaeser's other work, Survival of the City.
Recommended“Your re most recent book is Survival of the City and Before That Triumph of the City. Both of those I highly recommend to readers.”
Where to get it
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Vital Question
On the October 10, 2025 episode of Dwarkesh Podcast, Dwarkesh Patel recommended Nick Lane's book The Vital Question to the audience. Patel suggested that listeners read the book to better follow the chemical and evolutionary arguments presented during the conversation.
Recommended“For the audience, this conversation has been most coupled with Nick’s book, The Vital Question. I would recommend getting that if you want to better follow the argument here.”
Where to get it
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“The” History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
On the Dwarkesh Podcast episode titled 'Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all time,' released on June 16, 2026, guest Ada Palmer cited Edward Gibbon's multivolume work The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Palmer referenced Gibbon's writing from the late 18th century to illustrate historical perspectives on the Roman Empire, specifically noting his claim that the era of the five good emperors was the best time for humanity.
Discussed“So much so that when Gibbon is writing The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, in multiple volumes, in the late 18th century he says that there's never been a better time for humanity than during the era of the five good emperors.”
Where to get it
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7 Powers
On the Dwarkesh Podcast in February 2024, Patrick Collison mentioned Hamilton Helmer's book Seven Powers during a discussion about Silicon Valley and sources of business defensibility. Collison noted that Helmer is a leading scholar on the topic and described the book as a niche yet very well-known text regarding market power and business strategy.
Discussed“Hamilton Helmer is probably the leading scholar on various sources of defensibility for businesses. He has this niche, but very well known in the niche, book called Seven Powers.”
Where to get it
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Adaptation and Natural Selection
On the April 6, 2023, episode of Dwarkesh Podcast titled Eliezer Yudkowsky — Why AI will kill us, aligning LLMs, nature of intelligence, Eliezer Yudkowsky brought up George Christopher Williams's book Adaptation and Natural Selection. He referenced the influential work to illustrate how optimization criteria do not always yield aesthetically pleasing results.
Discussed“And the Williams Revolution as is sometimes called, is when George Williams wrote Adaptation and Natural Selection, a very influential book. Saying like that is not what this optimization criterion gives you.”
Where to get it
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Against Method
Paul Feyerabend's book Against Method was mentioned on the Dwarkesh Podcast in August 2020. Dwarkesh Patel brought up the text while discussing whether scientific progress relies strictly on a singular, defined method, noting that Feyerabend functioned as a philosopher of science arguing against that conventional idea.
Discussed“his student firearm and i think uh actually wrote a book against method um which is which is sort of yet another kind of philosopher of science arguing against that idea”
Where to get it
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An Economist Gets Lunch
Dwarkesh Patel brought up An Economist Gets Lunch by Tyler Cowen on Dwarkesh Podcast. He read a passage from the book to ask a guest how the economic insights could be applied to talent.
Discussed“let me read you the following passage from an economist gets lunch okay and I want you to tell me how we can apply this insight to talent okay at a fancy restaurant the menu is well thought out the time and attention of the kitchen are scarce an item won't be on the menu unless there's a good reason”
Where to get it
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Apprentice to Genius
On the Dwarkesh Podcast in February 2024, Patrick Collison brought up Robert Kanigel's Apprentice to Genius to illustrate how scientific mentorship and high standards are passed down across generations.
Discussed“There's an interesting book, Apprentice to Genius, that follows three generations of scientists. So someone who mentored somebody else, who in turn mentored another scientist. And they're all extremely successful.”
Where to get it
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Areopagitica
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, Ada Palmer discussed John Milton's treatise Areopagitica as a foundational text arguing for freedom of the press during an episode released on March 6, 2026.
Discussed“Milton writes this big treatise about why freedom of the press is important, the Areopagitica.”
Where to get it
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Breaking History
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, host Dwarkesh Patel spoke with Dominic Cummings in an episode titled Dominic Cummings - COVID, Brexit, and Fixing Western Governance. Patel referenced Jared Kushner's memoir Breaking History to draw direct parallels between the institutional dysfunctions inside the United States White House and those found within the United Kingdom Prime Minister's office.
Discussed“And if you read Jared Kushner's book, Memoir about the White House, there are very, very similar tales there.”
Where to get it
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By the People
On the October 28, 2020, episode of Dwarkesh Podcast titled Charles Murray - Human Accomplishment and the Future of Liberty, host Dwarkesh Patel discussed Charles Murray's book By the People. Patel brought up the text to examine an interesting pattern regarding institutional sclerosis that the author discussed further within the work.
Discussed“that there's an interesting pattern here that you talk about more in the by the people which is um the institutional sclerosis”
Where to get it
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Chaos
During an episode of Dwarkesh Podcast on June 30, 2026, host Dwarkesh Patel mentioned Steven Strogatz's textbook Chaos, specifically discussing its nonlinear dynamics focus while talking about how he uses various resources and textbooks to learn complex topics.
Discussed“I was actually going through—I think you might have recommended it—Steven Strogatz's textbook on… The chaos one? Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos? I love that book.”
Where to get it
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Civilizations
Charles C. Mann brought up Laurent Binet's book Civilizations on the Dwarkesh Podcast. Mann mentioned the work as a compelling and wonderful example of alternative history, using it to illustrate historical scenarios where European and American trajectories were radically inverted.
Discussed“there's a wonderful um uh book by Laurent Bin uh called Civilizations that in fact just does that.”
Where to get it
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Coming apart
On Dwarkesh Podcast, Dwarkesh Patel mentioned Charles A. Murray's book Coming Apart in April 2022. He brought up the story told in the book to introduce his argument that cultural elites fail to emphasize traditional values in the same way they live their lives.
Discussed“So there's you know there's Charles Murray's story in coming apart which is that actually the culture isn't emphasizing these values or at least like the elites in the culture are not emphasizing these values that they live by.”
Where to get it
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Common Sense
During an appearance on the Dwarkesh Podcast, Ada Palmer referenced Thomas Paine's classic work Common Sense. She brought up the book while discussing historical perspectives on society and the utilitarian view of religion.
Discussed“We all know Thomas Paine's "Common Sense".”
Where to get it
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De Rerum Natura
During the June 16, 2026 episode of the Dwarkesh Podcast titled Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all time, guest Ada Palmer discussed Titus Lucretius Carus's De Rerum Natura. Palmer highlighted the ancient text as the best surviving capsule of ancient atomism and the theory of atoms and the vacuum in matter.
Discussed“is Lucretius’ On the Nature of Things, De rerum natura, which is our best capsule of ancient atomism and the atoms and vacuum theory of matter.”
Where to get it
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Death by Regulation
In an October 2021 episode of Dwarkesh Podcast, Byrne Hobart discussed Death by Regulation by Mary J. Ruwart. He mentioned that the author had worked in a pharmaceutical company and used the book to illustrate arguments concerning the negative impacts and potential loss of life caused by FDA regulations.
Discussed“she worked on a pharma company and she wrote a book called death by regulation and one of the points she made was um you know if anybody like actually talked about like how many deaths the fda causes by you know”
Where to get it
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Don't be a Feminist
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, Dwarkesh Patel brought up Bryan Caplan's book Don't be a Feminist at the beginning of the interview to start discussing the themes covered within the text.
Discussed“Uh, so let's talk about your book, Don't Be a Feminist.”
Where to get it
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Enlightenment Now
On Dwarkesh Podcast, Dwarkesh Patel and guest Richard Hanania discussed Steven Pinker's book Enlightenment Now during a February 2022 episode. Patel noted that he had read the book, reflecting on whether historical trends depicted in the work were favorable or not.
Discussed“i thought it was an enlightenment now but yeah okay so yeah also yeah i also read enlightenment now i i don't remember you know could be it could be better or not”
Where to get it
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Fossil Future
On Dwarkesh Podcast, Dwarkesh Patel referenced Alex Epstein's book Fossil Future in January 2024 while discussing uncertainties and potential negative outcomes with guest Tyler Cowen.
Discussed“I think you made this argument when you were responding to Alex Epstein on fossil future, where you said uncertainties also extend out into the domain where there’s a bad outcome or much bigger outcome than you’re anticipating.”
Where to get it
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Founding Brothers
Jimmy Soni mentioned Joseph J. Ellis's book Founding Brothers on the Dwarkesh Podcast, citing it as an important text that heavily influenced his thinking regarding the American founding generation.
Discussed“there's a great book on that actually called founding brothers uh there was one of my like kind of texts that made me think a lot about the founders”
Where to get it
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Future Imperfect
On an episode of the Dwarkesh Podcast featuring David D. Friedman, host Dwarkesh Patel brought up Friedman's book Future Imperfect. Patel referenced the text to engage the author in a discussion about how contracts will be enforced in the future.
Discussed“now uh you talk in your book future imperfect about how contracts will be enforced in the future”
Where to get it
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General Theory Of Employment , Interest And Money
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, Dwarkesh Patel brought up chapter twelve of John Maynard Keynes's General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money to examine topics related to investment and rational behavior.
Discussed“So, chapter twelve, General Theory of Interest, Employment, and Money.”
Where to get it
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Guns, Germs and Steel
On the Dwarkesh Podcast episode Si Sheppard – How did a few hundred Spanish soldiers topple two empires?, Si Sheppard brought up Jared Diamond's book Guns, Germs and Steel. He described it as the classic text that initially sparked his interest in the scenario and used it to explain the critical technological advantages held by the Spaniards.
Discussed“The classic text which got me invested in this whole scenario in the first place is Jared Diamond’s book, Guns, Germs, and Steel.”
Where to get it
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Harmonies of the World
Dwarkesh Patel referenced Harmonies of the World by Johannes Kepler on the March 20, 2026, episode of Dwarkesh Podcast titled "Terence Tao – Kepler, Newton, and the true nature of mathematical discovery." Patel brought up the book to discuss how Kepler experimented with random relationships while searching for planetary laws.
Discussed“In fact, in the book in which he writes down the third law of planetary motion, it's an aside on The Harmonics of the World, which is just a book about how all these different planets have these different harmonies.”
Where to get it
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History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Complete and Unabridged
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, Ada Palmer appeared in the episode titled Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all time on June 16, 2026. During the conversation, she cited Edward Gibbon's multi-volume work History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Complete and Unabridged. Palmer noted that while writing in the late 18th century, Gibbon stated that humanity had never experienced a better era than the time of the five good emperors.
Discussed“So much so that when Gibbon is writing The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, in multiple volumes, in the late 18th century he says that there's never been a better time for humanity than during the era of the five good emperors.”
Where to get it
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Hitler's Willing Executioners
On the April 12, 2022 episode of Dwarkesh Podcast, Bryan Caplan referenced Hitler's Willing Executioners by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen. Caplan brought up the famous book to support an argument regarding peer pressure and moral responsibility during the Holocaust.
Discussed“I mean, by the way, this was also, I believe, the point of a pretty famous book, Hitler's Willing Executioners, which asked the question, what happened to Germans who just said, "I'm not participating in the Holocaust."”
Where to get it
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How to Pay for the War
On Dwarkesh Podcast, Tyler Cowen mentioned John Maynard Keynes's 1940 book How to Pay for the War to illustrate how Keynes changed his mind over time, noting that a reader unaware of the context might mistake it for a critique of the General Theory.
Discussed“If you read “How to Pay for the War” in 1940, if you didn’t know better, you would think it’s someone criticizing the General Theory.”
Where to get it
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Human Accomplishment
On the Dwarkesh Podcast episode titled Charles Murray - Human Accomplishment and the Future of Liberty, released on October 28, 2020, Dwarkesh Patel brought up Human Accomplishment by Charles Murray. Patel used the book to open the conversation regarding the pursuit of excellence in the arts and sciences.
Discussed“so let's begin with human accomplishment the pursuit of excellence in the arts and sciences”
Where to get it
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Inadequate Equilibria
On an episode of the Dwarkesh Podcast in October 2020, Dwarkesh Patel mentioned Eliezer Yudkowsky's book Inadequate Equilibria while talking with guest Alex Tabarrok. Patel brought up the text to explore how civilization handles asymmetric information, coordination problems, and systemic equilibria.
Discussed“elias rudowsky wrote a book called inadequate equilibria as i'm sure you know”
Where to get it
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Inventing the Renaissance
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, Dwarkesh Patel brought up Ada Palmer's book 'Inventing the Renaissance' right at the beginning of the episode. He mentioned the work to introduce the main topic of their conversation, setting the stage for a broader discussion on history, Renaissance culture, and society with the author herself.
Discussed“Today we're discussing your book, Inventing the Renaissance.”
Where to get it
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King Lear
Dwarkesh Patel mentioned William Shakespeare's King Lear on an episode of the Dwarkesh Podcast in July 2023. Patel brought up the play in a conversation with Andy Matuschak as an example of an aspirational, difficult book that people keep on their bedside tables to signal a desire for intellectual self-improvement.
Discussed“So these are kind of aspirational, like, “Oh, I wish I could read King Lear. I want to be the kind of person who reads King Lear.””
Where to get it
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Legal Systems Very Different from Ours
On Dwarkesh Podcast, Dwarkesh Patel mentioned Legal Systems Very Different from Ours by Peter Leeson, David Skarbek, and David Friedman. Patel brought up the work to ask about the vast diversity of historical legal systems explored by the authors.
Discussed“uh legal systems very different from ours which is your most recent book you talk about the vast diversity of legal systems throughout history”
Where to get it
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Leviathan
During the June 16, 2026 episode of the Dwarkesh Podcast titled Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all time, guest Ada Palmer discussed Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan. Palmer explained that Hobbes's book hit European thought like a truck full of bricks and described how its publication subsequently sparked a surge in excitement and philosophical popularity for Machiavelli.
Discussed“Machiavelli becomes exciting first in the aftermath of the publication of Hobbes's Leviathan, because Hobbes's Leviathan hits European thought like a truck full of bricks.”
Where to get it
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Little Stalin Library
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, Dwarkesh Patel brought up Little Stalin Library while speaking with Tyler Cowen in January 2025. Patel noted that Cowen had recommended the book to him, which explores the various texts Stalin read and highlights the dictator's intellect and extensive reading habits alongside his strict adherence to Marxist ideology.
Discussed“You recommended a book to me, Stalin's Library, which talks about the different books that Stalin read and the fact that he was kind of a smart, well-read guy.”
Where to get it
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MOBY-DICK; or, THE WHALE
On Dwarkesh Podcast, Marc Andreessen referenced Herman Melville's Moby-Dick during an interview published on February 1, 2023. Andreessen brought up the whaling classic to illustrate the historical parallels between the whaling industry of 400 years ago—where financiers funded perilous journeys to hunt whales and bring back carcasses—and the operations of modern venture capital.
Discussed“That term actually goes back to the whaling industry 400 years ago, where the financiers of whaling journeys — like literally out of Moby Dick, to go hunt a whale and bring its carcass back to land.”
Where to get it
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Natural Selection
Eliezer Yudkowsky discussed Natural Selection by George Christopher Williams on the Dwarkesh Podcast in April 2023. During an interview about artificial intelligence and the nature of intelligence, Yudkowsky referenced the book as a very influential work that launched the Williams Revolution, using it to explain how optimization criteria do not always yield aesthetically pleasing results.
Discussed“And the Williams Revolution as is sometimes called, is when George Williams wrote Adaptation and Natural Selection, a very influential book. Saying like that is not what this optimization criterion gives you.”
Where to get it
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Nickel and Dimed
On the April 12, 2022 episode of Dwarkesh Podcast, Bryan Caplan mentioned Barbara Ehrenreich's book Nickel and Dimed. Caplan discussed the premise of the work, noting that the journalist went undercover in low-skilled jobs to chronicle her experiences and illustrate the challenges of being poor in America.
Discussed“you probably familiar with the book by Barbara Erin Reich, Nickel and Dime. No, which um so you basically she went and so famous journalist went undercover, did a bunch of low-skilled jobs and then wrote about her experience and how terrible it was and how hard it is to be poor in America.”
Where to get it
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Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos
On an episode of Dwarkesh Podcast released on June 30, 2026, Dwarkesh Patel brought up "Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos" by Steven H. Strogatz. While conversing about resources used for learning advanced mathematical concepts, Patel mentioned that he loved reading Strogatz's textbook on chaos theory.
Discussed“I was actually going through—I think you might have recommended it—Steven Strogatz's textbook on… The chaos one? Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos? I love that book.”
Where to get it
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Now it Can be Told
During an episode of Dwarkesh Podcast featuring Dominic Cummings, host Dwarkesh Patel mentioned General Leslie R. Groves's book on the Manhattan Project. Patel brought up the final section of the book to discuss the fundamental organizational principles behind the project's success, noting its relevance to government.
Discussed“Manhattan Project is much in the news with the Oppenheimer movie. If you look at the very last bit of General Grove's book on Manhattan Project, he talks about what are the most fundamental principles about why it succeeded?”
Where to get it
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Paradise Lost
On an episode of Dwarkesh Podcast titled "Why Leonardo was a saboteur, Gutenberg went broke, and Florence was weird – Ada" released on March 6, 2026, guest Ada Palmer brought up John Milton's classic work "Paradise Lost." During their conversation, Palmer discussed how the famous epic poem was published under a censorious regime, shedding light on the historical context and censorship surrounding its creation.
Discussed“Paradise Lost is published under the censorious regime.”
Where to get it
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Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, Dwarkesh Patel referenced Isaac Newton's Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica to compare the timing and nature of scientific breakthroughs.
Discussed“Principia Mathematica was published in 1687. So The Origin of Species comes out two centuries after Principia. Conceptually, it seems like Darwin's theory is simpler.”
Where to get it
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Princes of the Yen
On Dwarkesh Podcast, Byrne Hobart brought up the book Princes of the Yen by Richard Werner to analyze Japanese central banking and wartime economic structures.
Discussed“There's a book called Princess of the Yen which is mostly about Japanese central banking policy but it has some early bits about how the structure of Japan's economy works.”
Where to get it
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Rebellion in the backlands (Os sertoes)
On the September 14, 2022 episode of the Dwarkesh Podcast, guest Charles C. Mann brought up Euclides da Cunha's book Rebellion in the Backlands. Mann discussed the work as a great Brazilian literary classic, comparing its cultural significance in Brazil to Moby-Dick or Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the United States.
Discussed“there's a great um the great Brazilian sort of you know classic like Moby Decker is or or Huckfinn is to the US is this thing called um Oshotoys by a guy named Dunia and it's it's translated amazing translation very good translation in English to under rebellion in the backlands”
Where to get it
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Rome's Last Citizen
Rob Goodman and Jimmy Soni's book Rome's Last Citizen was mentioned on the Dwarkesh Podcast on April 16, 2022. Host Dwarkesh Patel brought up the biography of Cato while introducing his guest, Jimmy Soni, who co-authored the book.
Discussed“today i'm interviewing jimmy sony he's the author of rome's last citizen a biography of cato”
Where to get it
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Romeo and Juliet
During an appearance on the Dwarkesh Podcast on March 6, 2026, in the episode titled "Why Leonardo was a saboteur, Gutenberg went broke, and Florence was weird – Ada," guest Ada Palmer brought up William Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet." Palmer mentioned the famous drama to illustrate how feuding families and selfish leaders behaved during the Renaissance era.
Discussed“This is where Romeo and Juliet is really helpful for us to understand.”
Where to get it
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Seeing Like a State
On Dwarkesh Podcast (episode "Notes on China", 2025-03-05), Dwarkesh Patel mentioned James C. Scott's Seeing Like a State. He used the book to illustrate how Beijing's urban design and apartment complexes resemble the state-planned models discussed in the work.
Discussed“Beijing's urban design looks like something straight out of James Scott's Seeing Like a State.”
Where to get it
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Stranger in a Strange Land
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, Elon Musk brought up Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein while comparing it to another of the author's novels. He noted that he found The Moon is a Harsh Mistress much better than Stranger in a Strange Land, which he observed is the book that everyone reads.
Discussed“I found that book much better than his other one that everyone reads, Stranger in a Strange Land.”
Where to get it
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Subtle is the Lord : The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein
Abraham Pais's biography Subtle is the Lord: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein was discussed on the Dwarkesh Podcast in April 2026. Dwarkesh Patel brought up the book while talking with Michael Nielsen about the history of the Michelson-Morley experiment and the development of special relativity.
Discussed“This is what was a shocking part of reading this story from the biography of Einstein that you recommended by... what was his first name? Abraham Pais. Abraham Pais. Subtle is the Lord.”
Where to get it
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The Anarchy
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, Dwarkesh Patel named The Anarchy by William Dalrymple while discussing his reading material related to the history of the Mughal Empire.
Discussed“The Anarchy by William Del Rimple.”
Where to get it
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The Art of Computer Programming
On an episode of the Dwarkesh Podcast released on April 7, 2026, titled Michael Nielsen – How science actually progresses, guest Michael Nielsen discussed The Art of Computer Programming by Donald E. Knuth. Nielsen referenced Knuth's preface to illustrate how computer science evolved to encompass numerous deep theorems.
Discussed“I think it was Knuth in the preface to The Art of Computer Programming who says something like it.”
Where to get it
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The Art of the Idea
On the April 16, 2022 episode of Dwarkesh Podcast titled "Jimmy Soni - Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and the Paypal Mafia," Jimmy Soni brought up John Gertner's book The Idea Factory. Soni cited the work while discussing Bell Labs and the appropriate figures capable of answering questions about its historical impact.
Discussed“because in some ways like the the right person to answer the bell labs question is probably john gurtner who did sort of the quintessential book on bell apps it's called the idea factory”
Where to get it
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The beginning of infinity
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, host Dwarkesh Patel brought up David Deutsch's previous book, The Beginning of Infinity, while discussing virtual reality generators and how they might plug directly into the human nervous system to provide sense data.
Discussed“So in the fabric of reality um you discuss the possibility that virtual reality generators could plug in directly into our nervous system and give us sense data that way.”
Where to get it
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The Better Angels of Our Nature
During an episode of Dwarkesh Podcast on February 24, 2022, featuring Richard Hanania, the guest discussed The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker. Hanania mentioned reading Pinker's book when it came out about a decade prior while discussing historical declines in violence.
Discussed“so i haven't um i read pinker you know when it came out better angels of our nature about a decade ago i don't remember him having that argument about nato”
Where to get it
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The Case against Education
During an episode of the Dwarkesh Podcast featuring Tyler Cowen, host Dwarkesh Patel brought up Bryan Caplan's book The Case against Education. Patel mentioned Caplan's work while analyzing Cowen's own book about talent, noting that Patel read Cowen's insights partly as a critique of Caplan's arguments regarding educational signaling.
Discussed“Now, the way I read your book about talent, it seems like also a critique of Brian's book, The Case Case Against Education.”
Where to get it
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The Clockwork Universe
Dwarkesh Patel mentioned The Clockwork Universe by Edward Dolnick on the March 20, 2026, episode of Dwarkesh Podcast titled "Terence Tao – Kepler, Newton, and the true nature of mathematical discovery." Patel used the book to explore historical timelines and discuss why Charles Darwin's theory took longer to emerge after Isaac Newton.
Discussed“There's this book, The Clockwork Universe by Edward Dolnick, which covers a lot of this era of history we're talking about. He has this interesting observation in there. The Origin of Species was published in 1859.”
Where to get it
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The constitution of liberty
On Dwarkesh Podcast, Tyler Cowen critiqued Friedrich Hayek's The Constitution of Liberty in January 2024, arguing that Hayek failed to provide a rigorous normative standard.
Critiqued“So Hayek’s failures, for instance, his inability to come up with a normative standard in “The Constitution of Liberty,” show in some ways he just wasn’t rigorous enough.”
Where to get it
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The Dawn of Everything
On the Dwarkesh Podcast, Charles C. Mann referenced The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow while discussing the egalitarian aspects of ancient societies like Teotihuacan, highlighting the book's argument regarding ancient social structures and technology.
Discussed“And there's a whole chapter in the book by David Wingro and David Greyber, the dawn of everything about this and there they make this argument that that you know technology is ti excuse me is um you know an example that we can look at of an ancient society that was you know much more socially egalitarian than we”
Where to get it
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The Decadent Society
On the October 28, 2020 episode of the Dwarkesh Podcast, Charles Murray brought up Ross Douthat's book The Decadent Society. Murray referenced the New York Times columnist's work to help illustrate the concept of a decadent society.
Discussed“ross stout that the new york times columnist wrote a book called i guess the title is the decadent society”
Where to get it
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The Discoverers
On October 13, 2026, the host of Founders released an episode numbered 437 and titled The Tycoons: Carnegie, Rockefeller, Gould & Morgan. During the show, the host discussed reading a lengthy history of the Morgan family. He mentioned that the book was a 600 or 700 page volume by Ron Chernow, recalling that the title was The House of Morgan while exploring the lives of J.P. Morgan and his father Junius.
Discussed“i read a book by daniel porsten called the discoverers i think it was and borsten”
Where to get it
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The Economics of World War II
During an episode of Dwarkesh Podcast titled Byrne Hobart - FTX, Drugs, Twitter, Taiwan, & Monasticism on December 1, 2022, Byrne Hobart brought up The Economics of World War II by Mark Harrison. Byrne mentioned reading the book to analyze and compare how various countries' economies performed during the conflict, specifically noting that U.S. material consumption during that era did not resemble that of a typical nation experiencing total war.
Discussed“I recently read a book The Economics of World War II which was comparing a bunch of countries and how their economies performed in World War II and one of the things that stood out about the U.S was that in a lot of terms of material consumption, the U.S didn't really look like a country going through a war.”
Where to get it
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The Education of a True Believer
Stephen Kotkin brought up Lev Kopelev's memoir The Education of a True Believer on the Dwarkesh Podcast to explain the ideological motivations of true believers during the Soviet era.
Discussed“We get this from Lev Kopelev, The Education of a True Believer. He was one of these people. He later then becomes a dissident. He gets forced into exile in Germany.”
Where to get it
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The End of History and the Last Man
Dwarkesh Patel brought up Francis Fukuyama's book The End of History and the Last Man on the Dwarkesh Podcast while speaking with Byrne Hobart. Patel noted that the final quarter of the book seemingly contradicts its earlier arguments, specifically regarding societal complacency and the depiction of people at the end of history as pathetic last men.
Discussed“One thing you've written about that I find really interesting is — we're both fans of Fukuyama's book The End of History and the last quarter of that book completely contradicts the first three quarters of the book where he's just saying that these men at the end of history are pathetic last men who have no desire for recognition.”
Where to get it
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The Fabric of Reality
On the Dwarkesh Podcast episode featuring David Deutsch, host Dwarkesh Patel brought up the book 'The Fabric of Reality' by David Deutsch. The host mentioned the work to discuss the specific concept of virtual reality generators plugging directly into the human nervous system to provide sense data.
Discussed“So in the fabric of reality um you discuss the possibility that virtual reality generators could plug in directly into our nervous system and give us sense data that way.”
Where to get it
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The Gentleman's Magazine
During an episode of the Dwarkesh Podcast, Ada Palmer showed and discussed The Gentleman's Magazine as a historical example of technological and media leaps forward during the eighteenth century.
Discussed“That's a copy of The Gentleman's Magazine, another example of technology taking a leap forward in the 18th century.”
Where to get it
The other 17 books mentioned on Dwarkesh Podcast, ranked, with the latest episode and time
- The Iliad by Homer
- The Kill Chain by Christian Brose
- The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright
- The Money Game by Adam Smith
- The moon is a harsh mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
- The Myth of the Rational Voter by Bryan Caplan
- The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes
- The Reckoning by David Halberstam
- The Road to Serfdom by F. A. Hayek
- The swerve by Stephen Greenblatt
- Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
- Uncivil Society by Stephen Kotkin
- Wanting by Luke Burgis
- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
- What is Humanism and Why Does it Matter? by Anthony B. Pinn
- Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright
- Zero to One by Peter A. Thiel, Blake Masters
Guests who recommended books
- Ada Palmer (21)
- Byrne Hobart (12)
- Charles C. Mann (8)
- Andy Matuschak (5)
- Bryan Caplan (5)
- Michael Nielsen (4)
- Jimmy Soni (4)
- Elon Musk (2)
- Patrick Collison (2)
- Tyler Cowen (2)
- Eliezer Yudkowsky (2)
- Charles Murray (2)
- Si Sheppard (1)
- Adam Brown (1)
- Stephen Kotkin (1)
- Patrick McKenzie (1)
- Grant Sanderson (1)
- Marc Andreessen (1)
- Edward Glaeser (1)
- Richard Hanania (1)
- Matjaž Leonardis (1)
Latest mentions
“The classic text which got me invested in this whole scenario in the first place is Jared Diamond’s book, Guns, Germs, and Steel.”
“The reigning theory of gravity at the time of Einstein stretches all the way back to Newton in the late 17th century, Newton's laws, in his Principia in 1687.”
“I was actually going through—I think you might have recommended it—Steven Strogatz's textbook on… The chaos one? Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos? I love that book.”
“I was actually going through—I think you might have recommended it—Steven Strogatz's textbook on… The chaos one? Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos? I love that book.”
“He writes The Prince.”
“This goes back to the thing in The Discourses.”
“So much so that when Gibbon is writing The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, in multiple volumes, in the late 18th century he says that there's never been a better time for humanity than during the era of the five good emperors.”
“So much so that when Gibbon is writing The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, in multiple volumes, in the late 18th century he says that there's never been a better time for humanity than during the era of the five good emperors.”
“is Lucretius’ On the Nature of Things, De rerum natura, which is our best capsule of ancient atomism and the atoms and vacuum theory of matter.”
“Machiavelli becomes exciting first in the aftermath of the publication of Hobbes's Leviathan, because Hobbes's Leviathan hits European thought like a truck full of bricks.”
“We all know Thomas Paine's "Common Sense".”
“Julian Jaynes has this famous theory in The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind.”
“This is what was a shocking part of reading this story from the biography of Einstein that you recommended by... what was his first name? Abraham Pais. Abraham Pais. Subtle is the Lord.”
“Also from Imre Lakatos, The Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes.”
“So Principia Mathematica is released in 1687. The Origin of Species is released in 1859.”
“I think it was Knuth in the preface to The Art of Computer Programming who says something like it.”
“In fact, in the book in which he writes down the third law of planetary motion, it's an aside on The Harmonics of the World, which is just a book about how all these different planets have these different harmonies.”
“There's this book, The Clockwork Universe by Edward Dolnick, which covers a lot of this era of history we're talking about. He has this interesting observation in there. The Origin of Species was published in 1859.”
“Principia Mathematica was published in 1687. So The Origin of Species comes out two centuries after Principia. Conceptually, it seems like Darwin's theory is simpler.”
“Today we're discussing your book, Inventing the Renaissance.”
Episodes
Link to this list from your show notes
Host or produce Dwarkesh Podcast? Give your listeners every book mentioned on the show, with the episode and the minute it came up. New episodes are added as they come out.
