Exponential Thinking Books
This section has a list of recommendations of books that we feel all young exponential minds would benefit from reading. Whilst some may be more subject-specific than others, irrelevant of what academic discipline you are passionate about, we feel these books will get young people to think about the world through a different lens and be much more critically aware, and thoughtful, of the world in which they are growing up in.
The Creativity Code
Author: Marcus Du Sautoy
Suitability: 14+
Genuinely enthralling and exciting to read, in The Creativity Code , Marcus du Sautoy examines the nature of creativity, asking how much of our emotional response to art is a product of our brains reacting to pattern and structure, and exactly what it is to be creative in mathematics, art, language and music.
Exploring how long it might be before machines compose a symphony or paint a masterpiece, and whether they might jolt us into being more imaginative in turn, The Creativity Code is a fascinating and very different exploration into the essence of what it means to be human.
Factfulness
Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World: Hans’ book is a must-read for those who want to understand the difference between the world they think they live in, versus the one that they actually inhabit. A great accessible read on how to think critically when presented with perceptions as fact.
Author: Hans Rosling
Suitability: 15+
Sum
A superb, thought-provoking book that explores a range of 40 different versions of unexpected afterlives—each presented as a couple of pages vignette that offers wonderfully imagined descriptions of what may be out there. Great for tutorial discussions!
Author: David Eagleman
Suitability: 15+
Exhalation
A simply mesmerisingly, beautifully written book of short stories. Each explores speculative fiction in its own unique fashion. Cannot recommend this enough for exponential young minds! Great for those interested in interesting philosophical ideas couched in even more interesting contexts.
Author: Ted Chiang
Suitability: 16+
Alchemy
Author: Rory Sutherland
Suitability: 15+
Humankind
Author: Rutger Bregman
Suitability: 16+
How To Make The World Add Up
Using ten simple rules for understanding numbers - plus one golden rule - this extraordinarily insightful book shows how if we keep our wits about us, thinking carefully about the way numbers are sourced and presented, we can look around us and see with crystal clarity how the world adds up.
Brief Answers To The Big Questions
How Not To Be Wrong
The Art of Changing Your Mind: As the book says, if we can't change our own minds we'll never really be able to change anyone else's. Gets you to think of how to think about your prejudices and open your mind to alternative views, and the idea you may not be right about everything.
Author: James O’ Brien
Suitability: 15+
Nudge
Author: Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein
Suitability: 15+
The Pig That Wants To Be Eaten
Author: Julian Baggini
Suitability: 16+
Rebel Ideas
Exponential Minds is all about new ways of thinking about the world around you. The power of diverse thinking is explored in this excellent book by Syed.
Rebel Ideas examines the power of 'cognitive diversity' - the ability to think differently about the world around us. It shows us how to become more creative, how to collaborate in a world becoming more interconnected, and how to break free of the echo chambers that surround us all.
Author: Matthew Syed
Suitability: 15+
Thinking Fast & Slow
Nobel Prize-winning Economic Scientist Daniel Kahneman will change your entire way of thinking. He explores and explains your decision-making processes: from the way in which you form your ideas, to the reasons how and why these ideas came to you in the first place.
Author: Daniel Kahneman
Suitability: 14+
Author: Dr Hannah Fry
Suitability: 15+
How Humans Judge Machines
Author: Cesar Hidalgo et al.
Disciplines: Science, Technology, Philosophy, Psychology
Suitability: 16+
Messy
Author: Tim Harford
Suitability: 15+