Libraries Of Leaders: On The Bookshelves Of Leading Scientists
Books that inspire leading scientists Jane Goodall, Richard Dawkins, and Craig Venter.
What books do leading scientists turn to when they are looking for stimulation and amusement? On this week’s edition of our weekly column, we took a look at the libraries of three of the most influential natural scientist of our times. Here is a look at what Jane Goodall, Richard Dawkins, and Craig Venter read and recommend.
1. Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall is the world’s leading primatologist and has spent more than 60 years studying the behaviour and social interactions of our close cousins – the chimpanzees. She is also a leading conservationist and champions the cause of the great apes through the Jane Goodall Institute, which was set up in 1977. She told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation what some of her favourite books were.
1. Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
The series created by Lofting in the 1920s and tells of the adventures of a doctor who prefers treating animal patients over humans. The doctor speaks the tongue of the animals, and later in the series, evolves into a conservationist. Godall said this was one of her favourite childhood books and inspired her to try and understand what animals were trying to tell us.
2. Tarzan Of The Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The first book of the Tarzan series is the story of an infant who travels to a remote island with his parents. When his parents die, he is adopted and brought up by a great ape who raises him to be a king. This was one of the books that made Goodall determined to travel to Africa, live with animals, and write about them.
3. The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame
What started off as a series of letters by Grahame to his son evolved into a classic. The book brings to life the adventures of animal characters in various settings and scenarios. The eccentricity of each character and the central theme of friendship make the book a delightful read.
2. Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist probably best known for his 1976 book on the gene-centric theory of evolution. He is a strident atheist and openly critical of other theories of evolution such as creationism and intelligent design. Through the Richard Dawkins Foundation he aims to promote the progress of science and secularism. These may seem like divergent goals, but Dawkins’s rationale is that extremism and religious fundamentalism interfere with science and personal freedoms. He told popular news magazine The Week what some of his favourite books were.
1. Uncle Fred In The Springtime by PG Wodehouse
Many consider this book the bee’s knees of humour in text. It takes us through the adventures of the protagonist, Uncle Fred, who sets out to steal a pig whilst impersonating an eminent psychiatrist, and along the way mends “sundered” hearts.
2. Pluto's Republic by Peter Medawar
The book dwells on what makes a scientist. It discusses the interplay between imagination and creativity, whether there is indeed a dichotomy between poetic imagination and scientific creativity, and many such interesting themes.
3. Red Strangers by Elspeth Huxley
‘Red Strangers’ refers to sunburnt British colonialists who are described in the book through the eyes of four generations of Kenyan Kikuyu tribesman. The book outlines just how alien, foreign customs relating to food, healthcare, cultivation, justice dispensation administration were to the tribe, while also describing the lives and customs of the Kiyuku.
3. Craig Venter
Craig Venter is probably best known for being one of the first scientists to sequence the human genome. Venter is himself an author and runs two non-profit biotechnology companies – Human Longevity and Synthetic Genomics. He shared a few of his favourite books with popular space and technology publication New Scientist.
1. Packing For Mars: The Curious Science Of Life In The Void by Mary Roach
The book explores life in space without the luxury of the basics which we take for granted on earth. It examines the ability of the human body to endure hardships in the quest to explore space.
2. The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values by Sam Harris
The book focuses on the relationship between science and morality. Harris draws upon his experience in neuroscience and “culture wars" to blur the distinction between the two and lucidly explain the future of science.