For me its probably the Tao Te Ching for its spiritual wisdom as well as the courage to be disliked for how it introduced me to Adlerian psychology and teleology.
For me its probably the Tao Te Ching for its spiritual wisdom as well as the courage to be disliked for how it introduced me to Adlerian psychology and teleology.
The Selfish Gene (Dawkins): a very readable explanation of evolution that covers some key principles which even college-level classes tend to miss. Don’t let the author’s later, unsophisticated books about religion scare you away; this book is good.
Black Holes and Time Warps (Thorne): a bit dated now, but still a fun journey through what we know about black holes and how it was discovered. Almost as much a history book as a physics book, written by someone who was personally involved in the process of discovery.
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. This book is a good, non-nonsense dissection of the folly of religion. He has also written many books on religion too, any of which are well worth a read.