书单 | 钢铁侠伊隆马斯克最喜欢的书籍

前言

中国人民羡慕好莱坞的想象力,羡慕硅谷科技大佬们的想象与实践力。我想,中国之所以会掀起一阵风的Elon Musk热潮,很重要的原因是,他做的不论是SpaceX、特斯拉还是提倡的Hyper Loop,都做了我们国人仅仅在《少年儿童百科全书》的“未解之谜”之类的版块中才敢畅想的事情,而且还至少做出来了原型。

其实到过许多国家,也接触到了不同国家的人,对比中国、欧洲、美国人民的性格,我一直是这么认为的:

美国人生活在一个很美好的当下,并且对未来有着更美好的憧憬。这个由移民构成的国家一直都在畅想着改变全人类的事情,南加州的导演们一直在想象,而数百公里以北的北加州湾区的工程师和创业者们在不断的付诸实践。这是一个有想象力和野心的民族。

欧洲人生活在一个很美好的过去、以及还不错的当下。欧洲人民的创业往往不是为了改变世界,而是一辈子服务于他们自己所在的社区,能够得到自己社区周围人们的肯定,就是他们做这件事情的最大动力。

中国人生活在一个悲惨的过去,还不错的当下,以及还不确定的未来。近代以来中国人一直都是追随者,很善于模仿而不善于领先。美国人有想象力,中国人则把想象力放在了对过去辉煌时代的缅怀上,不论是“仙侠剧”还是“手撕鬼子”。

所以,欧洲人开一家面包店,会希望他的口碑可以在自己的社区中流传300年;美国人开一家面包店,会希望在食材、配送、标准化方面可以席卷全球颠覆整个产业;中国人会建起一道墙,阻止美国面包店的进入,并且在国内复制美国的面包店模式:)

所以,非常善于利用四象限方法来理解问题的Peter Thiel(PayPal的创始人),把中国、美国、欧洲和日本如此的放到了四象限中:

这是一个处于确定悲观中的中国。

好了扯远了。文章的标题是Elon Musk最喜欢的科幻类书籍。我想,之所以中国人的想象力都发挥在了仙侠剧中,想是没有完整经历工业革命的中国在当下面对未来的时候,依旧缺乏在科学的角度上思考未来。这也是为什么《科幻世界》主编姚海军一直在倡导着对科幻的重视。而《三体》的火爆应该是顺应了这种趋势。

美国的电影电视中,有太多和他们历史科幻作品的梗,这些“星战”、“星际迷航”、“HG2G”的梗已经变成了全民文化,相比之下,我们都能笑谈李逍遥,而罗辑却很难在民众中产生文化现象。

书单

终于进入正题,这也是在网上找到的Elon Musk喜欢读的书单(包括科幻、传记、其他类型)以及他的原话。

  1. “Structures: Or Why Things Don’t Fall Down” by J.E. Gordon 

There's a good book on structural design called Structures: Or Why Things Don’t Fall Down. It is really, really good if you want a primer on structural design.

  1. “Benjamin Franklin: An American Life” by Walter Isaacson 
    富兰克林不仅是美国国父之一,也是科学家。从面额最大的100美金纸币上印刷的是富兰克林头像而非其他人,可见他对美国人民的影响力。

“I like biographies. I think they are really helpful. I like Franklin’s biography by Isaaksson, it’s really good. He was an entrepreneur, he started of nothing, just like a runaway kid. It was interesting to see how he is creating his business, then go to science and politics. I could say he is one of the people I most admire. Franklin is pretty awesome. He did what needed to be done at the time it needed to be done.”

  1. “Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness” by Donald L. Barlett 

“May be a cautionary tale, he is sort of an interesting fella.”

  1. “Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age” by B. Carlson 
    生活在和爱迪生同一时代的特斯拉有太多的光芒却被爱迪生压制。但是不管怎么样,要知道现在的交流电就是特斯拉给我们所有人免费的遗产之一。

“I also like biographies of scientists. Obviously, about Tesla, absolutely great person.”。

  1. “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams 
    Musk在非常多的场合都表达出《银河系漫游指南》是他最爱的一个系列的书。这个系列带给马斯克最大的感受就是:提出问题比回答问题更难,因为我们提出的问题或多或少的都带有自己主观或者认知的偏见,所以很难确定自己提出的问题是不是正确的问题。这个书单对这个系列的书也有很多有意思的描述

Musk names Douglas Adams as one of the great modern philosophers. “Douglas Adams is awesome,” he says. One of the biggest takeaways Musk got from reading Adams was, “The question is harder than the answer.” “When we ask questions they come along with our biases. You should really ask, ‘Is this the right question?’ And that’s hard to figure out,” says Musk.

  1. “Lord of the Rings” series by J. R. R. Tolkien 
    魔戒,作为西方人的必读读物之一,毫无疑问对所有人影响是重大的。书籍中的世界要比电影还要宏大的多,尤其在你看过了那本《精灵宝钻》之后。

Musk names this book among his favorite ones during his teen-years in South Africa.

  1. “The Foundation Series” by Isaac Asimov 

In therms of sci-fi books, I think Isaac Asimov is really great. I like the Foundation series, probably one of the all-time best.

  1. “The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress” by Robert Heinlein 

Musk recommends this book as one of his favorite sci-fi books during his interview with Design&Architecture show host Frances Anderton. “…Robert Heinlein, obviously. I like The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress”, Musk says.

  1. “Stranger in a Strange Land” by Robert Heinlein 

Musk recommends this book as one of his favorite sci-fi books during his interview with Design&Architecture show host Frances Anderton. “I like Stranger in a Strange Land, although it kind of goes off the rails at the end”, Musk says.

  1. “Ignition!: An informal history of liquid rocket propellants” by John D Clark 

There is a good book on rocket stuff called Ignition! by John Clark, that’s a really fun one.” – Elon Musk

当然,毋庸置疑的另外两个系列的电影和电视剧分别是
StarTrekStarWars。喜欢看TBBT的童鞋们应该接触了太多的关于这两部作品的梗。