Brian Eno is MORE DARK THAN SHARK

INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS & RELATED ARTICLES

Zembla AUTUMN 2004 - by Brian Eno

MIND-CHANGING BOOKS: BRIAN ENO'S TOP 18

1. Brain Of The Firm - Stafford Beer
The most approachable book about the self-organising nature of complex systems.

2. Silence - John Cage
Music as philosophy (with lots of Zen wit).

3. The Evolution Of Cooperation - Robert Axelrod
How time changes relationships: a message of hope.

4. The Clock Of The Long Now - Stewart Brand
Why we need to think long.

5. Managing The Commons - Garrett Hardin and John Baden
Structural observations about shared resources.

6. A New Kind Of Science - Stephen Wolfram
Controversial and exciting new approach to the genesis of complex systems.

7. Grooming, Gossip And The Evolution Of Language - Robin Dunbar
The origins and limits of human community.

8. The Mystery Of Capital - Hernando de Soto
Why capitalism can't be planted just anywhere.

9. Labyrinths - Jorge Luis Borges
The ultimate "what if?" book.

10. Africa: A Biography Of The Continent - John Reader
The story of Africa beginning four billion BC.

11. Animal Architecture - Karl von Frisch
One of the best "beauty of nature" books, academic jaw-dropper.

12. Contingency, Irony, And Solidarity - Richard Rorty
A great work of modern pragmatism: the antidote to Derrida.

13. Peter The Great - Robert K. Massie
Superb biography of a giant located somewhere between Ghengis Khan, Abraham Lincoln and Joseph Stalin.

14. Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World The Slaves Made - Eugene D. Genovese
The unexpected richness and lasting importance of slave culture in America.

15. Folk Song Style And Culture - Alan Lomax
An extraordinary theory that singing style is indicative of social structure by the pioneer collector of world music.

16. The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins
Even if you think you know what this is about it's worth reading. The atheist's defence.

17. Democracy In America - Alexis de Tocqueville
He guessed at the best of it, warned of the worst of it, and was right on both counts.

18. Guns, Germs, And Steel - Jared Diamond
Compelling account of the physical factors shaping world history.