Elon Musk’s Favorite Books That Changed His Life
These seven books may change your life too
A lonely boy from South Africa with a passion for occupying Mars will soon become the world’s first trillionaire. Yes, I’m talking about the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, — Elon Musk — the crazy man who dug tunnels under LA only to avoid traffic jams.
It’s not the money but his will to do the impossible that made Elon an icon of his generation and the generations to come.
His today’s success came after years of unimaginable hard work. Years after years, he worked 22 hours a day, slept in his factory, faced near-broke situations, relationship failure, and many more. He admitted that he treats all his companies as his children, and he can do anything to keep them alive.
But have you ever wondered what drives a man to ignore everything else and concentrate on the things that only he believes in? From where does he get that strong motivation or inspiration? Who are his icons and how did his mind shape over the years? And one of the best ways to answer those questions is to explore the books he has fallen in love with.
So, let’s dive deep and see what books shaped Elon Musk’s life and made him a tech genius of this modern era.
Content:
· 1. “Benjamin Franklin: An American Life” by Walter Isaacson · 2. “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams · 3. “The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien · 4. “The Foundation Trilogy” by Isaac Asimov · 5. “The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress” by Robert A. Heinlein · 6. “Structures: Or Why Things Don’t Fall Down” by J. E. Gordon · 7. “Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies” by Nick Bostrom
1. “Benjamin Franklin: An American Life” by Walter Isaacson
You’ll be astonished to know that Elon read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica at the age of nine. In an interview with Kevin Rose, Elon said, “I read a lot of books and talked to a lot of people.” And he likes biographies a lot.
Why biographies? Because Elon finds them interesting and full of life lessons. Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson is one of his favorite biographies as Benjamin is one of his heroes.
The book covers Benjamin Franklin’s incredible journey from being nothing but a runaway kid to becoming America’s best writer, inventor, scientist, diplomat, and business strategist. His extraordinary life always inspires Elon to keep working hard towards turning his dreams into reality.
## Click this link to get your copy of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (affiliate link)
2. “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams
Elon said that in his early years when he was searching for the meaning of life, this book helped him a lot as the book told him that the universe is the answer and now, your duty is to find the questions. It was an excellent read for young Elon that impacted his thinking to a greater extent.
This book by Douglas Adams is an adaptation of the first four parts of his radio series of the same name. The book is the tale of the only man who survives the destruction of Earth and then finds the meaning of Earth’s existence while roaming into outer space.
This fantastic book was first published on 12 October 1979 and sold 250,000 copies in the first three months. Isn’t that incredible?
## Click this link to get your copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (affiliate link)
3. “The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien
Elon read too many science fiction books in his lonely childhood to explore a world full of imagination and mysteries.
“The heroes of the books I read, ‘The Lord of the Rings and the ‘Foundation’ series, always felt a duty to save the world,” he told The New Yorker.
You already know that The Lord of the Rings is an epic high-fantasy novel where a young hobbit, Frodo, goes on a journey with eight companions to Mount Doom to destroy the Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron and save the world.
So, it’s easy for us to guess where Elon got his inspiration to become a hero and save the world. Well, in reality, he is in his pursuit of finding another place to spread the human race (as he believes we will be doomed soon — today or tomorrow).
## Click this link to get your copy of The Lord of the Rings (affiliate link)
4. “The Foundation Trilogy” by Isaac Asimov
Asimov gave Elon great company in his growing years, and undoubtedly The Foundation Trilogy is one of his favorite books. It left an enormous impact on Elon and shaped the way he thought about the world.
The book is about the fall of a fictional Galactic Empire with millions of planets colonized by humans. Of course, the fall is inevitable, but Hari Seldon, a brilliant visionary and psychohistorian, wants to do something extraordinary. So he gathers all the top scientists and scholars on a blue outer planet and sets out to preserve the accumulated knowledge of humankind only to begin a new civilization based on art, science, and technology. He wants to design it to confront a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare he predicts will last for 30,000 years.
Like Seldon, Elon also wants to create a new future for us somewhere in space on a planet called Mars.
## Click here to get your copy of The Foundation Trilogy (affiliate link)
5. “The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress” by Robert A. Heinlein
This 1996 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein is another Sci-fi novel that Elon adores. This book will take you to a dystopian future where some people have been exiled from Earth to Moon in a libertarian society. Most of them are criminals or political exiles.
Anyway, Due to the low surface gravity of the Moon, those who stay longer than six months there undergo “irreversible physiological changes” and can never again live comfortably under normal gravity. So in 2076, a group of rebels, led by a supercomputer named Mike and a one-armed computer technician, go against the earthbound rulers and start a revolution.
This is the best work of Robert A. Heinlein that got the nomination for the Nebula Award in 1966 and received the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1967.
## Click this link to get your copy of The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (affiliate link)
6. “Structures: Or Why Things Don’t Fall Down” by J. E. Gordon
How did Elon shift his mind from PayPal to building rockets? First, he taught himself rocket science, and the book Structures: Or Why Things Don’t Fall Down by J. E. Gordon helped him a lot in the initial stage of understanding structures.
This book is for those who are curious enough to know reasons “why suspension bridges don’t collapse under eight lanes of traffic, how dams hold back — or give way under — thousands of gallons of water, or what principles guide the design of a skyscraper, a nightgown, or a kangaroo.”
Elon is directly involved in designing and structuring heavy rockets at SpaceX, so he found this book very helpful. “It is really, really good if you want a primer on structural design,” he said in an interview with the Radio Station of California.
## Click this link to get your copy of Structure: Or Why Things Don’t Fall Down (affiliate link)
7. “Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies” by Nick Bostrom
It’s a mind-blowing book that will tell you what the world will look like with the constant advancement of technology, especially AI, in the coming decades. Elon Musk highly recommends this book to those seriously interested to know the impact Artificial Intelligence (AI) will have on our lives.
Elon is always vocal about the usage of AI as he predicts that it will do more bad than good for humanity.
In an interview with Joe Rogan, he mentioned that he talked to countless influential people and organizations, but nobody cares about the mess AI is going to create very soon.
Elon believes strict government regulation is necessary to tame the AI demon, and it needs to be done soon. Otherwise, it will be impossible to stop the AI domination.
Another book Elon loves about AI is Our Final Invention by James Barrat. In 2014, after reading the book, he tweeted that this book is ‘worth reading’ to know the risk of AI.
## Click this link to get your copy of Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies(affiliate link)
We can safely say that it’s reading that made Elon Musk who he is today. And he thinks this generation should read more and more. Anyway, apart from the above seven books, there are other books that left an impact on his life.
Some of them are -
- Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
- Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson
- Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Orestes and Erik M. Conway
- Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel
- Ignition!: An informal history of liquid rocket propellants by John D. Clark
- Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele
Reading good books is a great way to ignite good things inside you. A good book or a few insightful lines from a good book can guide you toward achieving greatness or living a life full of purpose and happiness.
If a lonely boy named Elon can do the impossible being inspired by some excellent books he read in his early years, why not you?
Read great books and live happier!
(Please note that the book links mentioned in this post are affiliate links. If you choose to purchase these books through these links, it will help me earn a tiny amount of commission — at no extra cost to you. Thanks.)
If you are interested to read more of my writings, don’t forget to check out the following ones —
