The Ultimate List Of Books That Will Make You Smarter: This Will Help You Decide

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There is nothing more satisfying than a read that is not only enjoyable but also imparts lasting knowledge. This list of books that will make you smarter does just that.

With topics ranging from science to politics to art to human interest, these books are for any curious reader.

Liquid intellect is the ability to think abstractly, establish relationships between separate concepts, reason, and learn new things. Intelligence involves the compilation of knowledge obtained throughout your life, and the ability to solve problems based on such knowledge.

8 Books That Will Make You Smarter

8 Books That Will Make You Smarter

1.Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us?

Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago with the appearance of modern cognition. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas.

Dr. Harari also compels us to look ahead, because over the last few decades humans have begun to bend laws of natural selection that have governed life for the past four billion years.

2. Brief Answers to the Big Questions

A Brief History of Time leaves us with his final thoughts on the universe's biggest questions in this brilliant posthumous work.Is there a God?

How did it all begin?

Can we predict the future?

What is inside a black hole?

Is there other intelligent life in the universe?

Will artificial intelligence outsmart us?

How do we shape the future?

Will we survive on Earth?

Should we colonise space?

Is time travel possible?

Throughout his extraordinary career, Stephen Hawking expanded our understanding of the universe and unravelled some of its greatest mysteries. But even as his theoretical work on black holes, imaginary time and multiple histories took his mind to the furthest reaches of space, Hawking always believed that science could also be used to fix the problems on our planet.

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And now, as we face potentially catastrophic changes here on Earth - from climate change to dwindling natural resources to the threat of artificial super-intelligence - Stephen Hawking turns his attention to the most urgent issues for humankind. Wide-ranging, intellectually stimulating, passionately argued, and infused with his characteristic humor, Brief Answers to the Big Questions, the final book from one of the greatest minds in history, is a personal view on the challenges we face as a human race, and where we, as a planet, are heading next.

3. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

This is basically an introductory book on astrophysics for general readers. It takes the reader through the major developments in Physics from Aristotle and Ptolemy (science was actually philosophy in the Aristotelian Era) to modern day Physicists like Stephen Hawking and Richard Muller.

The book starts from various concepts of Classical Physics, the Theory of Relativity & Quantum Physics and then comes to the topics of Astrophysics and Cosmology, which is probably the best way to understand the subject for a general reader.

There is limited mathematics in this book, but some major equations are included because one cannot grasp the true ‘beauty’ in physics without seeing the mathematical or abstract parts alongside practical laws.

4. Thinking, Fast and Slow

Why is there more chance we'll believe something if it's in a bold type face? Why are judges more likely to deny parole before lunch? Why do we assume a good-looking person will be more competent? The answer lies in the two ways we make choices: fast, intuitive thinking, and slow, rational thinking. This book reveals how our minds are tripped up by error and prejudice (even when we think we are being logical), and gives you practical techniques for slower, smarter thinking. It will enable to you make better decisions at work, at home, and in everything you do.

5. Between the World and Me

Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son.

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Coates shares with his son and readers the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.

6. Outliers: The Story Of Success

In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different?

His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.

7. This Is Your Mind on Plants

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In this is your mind on plants, Michael pollan explores three very different drugs - opium, caffeine, and mescaline - and throws the fundamental strangeness of our thinking about them into sharp relief. Exploring and participating in the cultures that have grown up around these drugs, while consuming (or in the case of caffeine, trying not to consume) them, pollan reckons with the powerful human attraction to psychoactive plants, and the equally powerful taboos.

In a unique blend of history, Science, memoir and reportage, pollan shines a fresh light on a subject that is all too often treated reductively. In doing so, he proves that there is much more to say about these plants than simply debating their regulation, for when we take them into our bodies and let them change our minds, we are engaging with nature in one of the most profound ways we can. This ground-breaking and singular book holds up a mirror to our fundamental human needs and aspirations, the operations of our minds, and our entanglement with the natural world.

8. Effortless

The intricacy of modern life has created a false dichotomy between things that are 'hard and important,' and those that are 'easy and trivial.' Everything has become so much harder than it ought to be. But, Greg McKeown, bestselling author of Essentialism, says, there is a third alternative. In Effortless, he offers practical strategies for making the most vital tasks the easiest ones. Honed over the better part of a decade, these strategies include: · Asking 'What Step Can I Remove?' (accomplish more, in fewer steps) ·

Having the Courage to Be Rubbish (prioritize progress over perfection) · Deciding What 'Done' Looks Like (don't keep running after you pass the finish line)McKeown's philosophy of essentialism has helped thousands to eliminate nonessential activities and focus on the few that really matter. Working out what is essential is the first step - making these tasks effortless is the next. Effortless will show you how.