I’ve been asked by a number of people for a list of books that would cover the “new ideas” that are driving the current transitional confluence of forces in those civilizations reaching the end of the Industrial Age. I have chosen to not list books in the domains of Technology, Economics, Business, and Politics because they are largely variations on the traditional themes rather than truly new ideas or discovery. The forces in play are more likely to be revisiting older methods while seeking the same ends.
Similarly, there aren’t deeply technical Mathematics or Scientific books here as they tend towards a degree of inaccessibility that most people aren’t willing to confront.
Neuroscience
- Phantoms in the Brain: V. S. Ramachandran
- The Electric Meme: Robert Aunger
Cognitive Science & Brain Programming
- On Intelligence: Jeff Hawkins
- How the Mind Works: Steven Pinker
- Mind Hacks: Tom Stafford and Matt Webb
- Blink: Malcolm Gladwell
- Mind Wide Open: Steven Johnson
Scientific and Memetic Sociology
- Non-Zero: Robert Wright
- The Lucifer Principle: Howard Bloom
- The Meme Machine: Susan Blackwell
- Unleashing the Idea Virus: Seth Godin
- The Blank Slate: Steven Pinker
- The Moral Animal: Robert Wright
Network Science
- Six Degrees: Duncan Watts
- Linked: Albert-Laszlo Barabasi
- Nexus: Mark Buchanan
- Emergence: Steven Johnson
- Consilience: Edward O. Wilson
Post-Industrial and Networked Sociology
- Me++: William J. Mitchell
- The Wisdom of Crowds: James Surowiecki
- Smart Mobs: Howard Rheingold
- The Tipping Point: Malcolm Gladwell
- A Whole New Mind: Daniel Pink
- The Rise of the Creative Class: Richard Florida
- Trading Up: Michael J. Silverstein and Neil Fiske
- The Flight of the Creative Class: Richard Florida
- Bobos in Paradise: David Brooks
- The Age of Spiritual Machines: Ray Kurzweil