Today I come with a list of 17 books recommended by Elon Musk. If you want to know what are the writings that have helped you to grow as a person and an entrepreneur, you can not miss it.
Do you think you have a vision of entrepreneurship that others do not have? The visionary and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is today one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world.
When asked how he learned how to make rockets he always responds the same: "reading" .
Throughout his life, Musk has read a multitude of books that have served as his inspiration in getting the motivation to meet the challenges he was proposing.
1- The Lord of the Rings: The Ring Community, J.R.R. Tolkien
Elon Musk spent his childhood among books. One of his favorites was The Lord of the rings .
Framed in a magical land full of strange beings, it is narrated how a group formed by a dwarf, an elf, two men, a magician and four hobbits undertake a dangerous trip in order to destroy a magic ring. In this first installment they will have to survive different adversities.
If this object falls into the hands of the enemy, the destruction of their world would be practically assured.
2- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, J.R.R. Tolkien
Second part of the series. On this occasion, a dispersed community must move forward with its goal.
On the one hand, two of the hobbit carry with the ring in their power, while the rest fight against the forces of evil from different fronts.
3 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien
Last book of Tolkien's famous trilogy. In it, the last steps are counted before destroying the unique ring of power. The grandeur of the battles is assured along with a deep and serious plot.
And, in what way did this famous entrepreneur inspire this trilogy? Elon Musk himself stated that "The heroes of the books I read, always felt the duty to save the world" , Something that we can see reflected in its mentality of helping to the planet.
4- Guide to the galactic hitchhiker, Douglas Adams
History that tells how the earth is destroyed to build a hyperspace highway.
In the face of these facts, the protagonist, Arthur, flees the planet with his friend friend extraterrestrial Ford in a ship where you will meet other kind of curious beings. Your existential background will leave you quite surprised.
For Musk, this book served to draw the following reflection: "If you can properly formulate the question, you will know that the answer is the easy part" .
5- Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, Walter Isaacson
Biography compiled and elaborated by Walter Isaacson on one of the most famous presidents of the history of the United States of America.
For Elon Musk, Benjamin"was a real entrepreneur who started out of nowhere. "He was just a lost child."
It is for this reason that the South African praised and did not hide his admiration before the famous politician.
6- Einstein: his life and his universe, Walter Isaacson
Biography of one of the most famous scientists of all time. Walter Isaacson created a book that was both practical and entertaining.
In addition, it deals with extreme detail the different aspects that surrounded his life, such as family, friends or work.
7- Structures or why things do not fall, J.E. Gordon
In the words of Elon Musk, Structures or why things do not fall Was useful to bring new ideas to your company SpaceX, since "Is a really good book for a first approach to structural design" .
8- Ignition!: an informal story of liquid rocket propellers, John D. Clark
Ignition! Dedicates its pages to explain what is behind those space rockets that we see on TV.
It is a kind of mixture of multiple themes: we will observe the technical details of the rockets, going through the description of experiments, even going so far as to detail the role of politics in this type of technology.
It would very likely lead to a better understanding of the complex world of rockets.
9- Superintelligence: roads, hazards, strategies, Nick Bostrom
Instructor book that has served to know a little better what could come to him over the moment he started his career in technology.
In it, it explains what would happen if the artificial intelligence surpasses the human, and what are the problems that this can entail.
His own status as leader of three of the world's leading companies forces him to be in constant training on the latest developments in both technology and artificial intelligence.
10- From zero to one: how to invent the future, Peter Thiel
Peter Thuel is a visionary like Musk. He has created several of the most important companies in the world, such as Paypal.
That is why the businessman did not hesitate to buy and read this book as soon as it went on sale. It explains the keys to getting the dreams and projects to build a consistent future.
11- Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness, Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele
Biography of Howard Hughes, one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the twentieth century. He would come to fame thanks to his contributions to aviation and to the advances in this sector. It would build some airplanes like the Hughes H-4 Hulk or Hughes H-1.
Howard also achieved several aerial feats, beating some of the established speed or length records.
12- Doubt merchants, Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway
This book is about another of Elon Musk's major concerns: pollution and climate change.
Among its pages you will see how, after a meticulous research work, several theories exposed by the scientists who work for the powerful that once were introduced as a propaganda are dismantled.
13- The series of the Foundation, Isaac Asimov
Set of 16 books that describe a series of futuristic stories. Robots and colonization are the main themes in most of his works.
Perhaps what inspired Musk would be the vision of Asimov, a man of the early twentieth century who could already advance in his books certain advances of today's society.
To this day, Elon Musk intends to colonize Mars, an idea that is reflected in the saga of The foundation When humans try to conquer and expand through the galaxy.
14- The Moon is a cruel lover, Robert Heinlein
Curious and novel history that intermingles science fiction with political dyes.
Its history is when less peculiar, where a settlement of the Moon desperately seek the independence of the planet earth. Its protagonists will be an informative and super computer named as MIKE.
The work was published in 1966, precisely three years before the arrival of the man to the Moon.
15- Series"Culture", Iain M. Banks
Set of books by Iain M. Banks with a story centered on a universe where chaos reigns. Anarchy and scarcity are the main problems to be overcome.
The planetary population will be formed by different humanoid races that are directed by artificial intelligences.
The background will be the wars and different ideological confrontations between the different civilizations and races that are found, arriving in some books even to transfer the action by different planets.
16- Our final invention, James Barrat
One of the most inspiring books by Elon Musk.
Our final invention Speaks about the concerns of science for artificial intelligence in a world where large amounts of millions of dollars are invested in research and development.
It seems that the goal is to create machines as developed as the human mind, but what if they surpassed the human being? What problems could arise when their concerns are equal to or greater than ours? All these questions are raised in the well-known book by James Barrat.
17- Elon Musk: Inventing the Future, Ashlee Vance
You will have noticed that this book is different from the rest. This is the writing most recommended by Elon Musk. The reason?
It tells the most relevant facts that led him to be among the greatest visionaries in the world, from his childhood, to the latest developments of his different companies
The creation of X.com, the investment in Tesla Motors or the rise of SpaceX are detailed to the millimeter in its pages. All this without forgetting the aspects of his personal life that conditioned him as a person.