62 books Sam Altman mentioned, ranked!

Credit: Steve Jennings

Everybody finds the ways that they learn best. My two are reading books and papers and then talking to people that I want to learn from.

— Sam Altman

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This list is curated from 69 mentions and sorted by most mentioned, then by date of most recent mention. The more a book is mentioned, the more likely it's recommended and a favorite... or they just like talking about it a lot!

Last updated: 25 March 2023.

3
mentions
Endurance
by Alfred Lansing
I'm reading The Endurance and "by endurance we conquer" (Ernest Shackleton's family motto) struck me as a great piece of startup wisdom.
— Sam Altman
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2
mentions
Mind of Napoleon
by J. Christopher Herold
An incredible primary-source portrait on a brilliant (but obviously deeply flawed) individual. Broadly applicable thoughts.
— Sam Altman
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2
mentions
The Transit of Venus
by Shirley Hazzard
Re-reading this book tonight. It's incredible.
— Sam Altman
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2
mentions
The Art of War in the Middle Ages
by Charles Oman
This is correct--art of war in the Middle Ages.
— Sam Altman
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2
mentions
The Constitutional Convention
by James Madison
Sunday night reading
— Sam Altman
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2
mentions
The Principia
by Isaac Newton
Sunday night reading
— Sam Altman
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1
mention
Blitzed
by Norman Ohler
Oh, I wanna read that.
— Sam Altman
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1
mention
The Beginning of Infinity
by David Deutsch
[David Deutsch's] books have inspired me more than anyone else’s, and i think hold a big clue about how we get from here to agi.
— Sam Altman
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1
mention
The Sleepwalkers
by Christopher Clark
This is a really good book, and has been on my mind watching the Ukraine situation develop
— Sam Altman
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1
mention
The Way to Love
by Anthony de Mello
The last thing I read, it's really short I recommend it a lot, it's called The Way to Love by Anthony de Mello. It'll take you like an hour to read. It was recommended to me by Naval and it is a series of meditations on life and it is a super fast read and I just finished it and I really enjoyed it.
— Sam Altman
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1
mention
Blitzscaling
by Reid Hoffman
I got to read an early copy of this, and have been waiting for it to come out so that I can recommend it to everyone
— Sam Altman
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1
mention
Pandaemonium, 1660-1886
by Humphrey Jennings
My favorite book of the year is Pandaemonium. Incredible read.
— Sam Altman
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1
mention
The Boy Who Played with Fusion
by Tom Clynes
This author wrote a book (!) on a Thiel Fellow who was working on fusion
— Sam Altman
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1
mention
Medieval Technology and Social Change
by Lynn White
it really is great.
— Sam Altman
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1
mention
Persecution and the Art of Writing
by Leo Strauss
Sam Altman shared an amazon link to the book in a thread for The Startup Playbook on Hacker News
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1
mention
Superintelligence
by Nick Bostrom
Nick Bostrom’s excellent book “Superintelligence” is the best thing I’ve seen on this topic. It is well worth a read.
— Sam Altman
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1
mention
Guns, Sails, and Empires
by Caro M. Cipolla
it was excellent!
— Sam Altman
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1
mention
The Old Way
by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
A Pattern Language
by Christopher Alexander
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
A Life Decoded
by J. Craig Venter
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
The death and life of great American cities
by Jane Jacobs
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
Plentiful Energy
by Charles E. Till
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
Plan B 3.0
by Lester R. Brown
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
Man's Search for Meaning
by Viktor E. Frankl
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
Powering the Future
by Robert B. Laughlin
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
The Trial of Socrates
by I. F. Stone
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
The origin of consciousness in the breakdown of the bicameral mind
by Julian Jaynes
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
Hunger of Memory
by Richard Rodriguez
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
Anna Karenina
by Leo Tolstoy
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
Fundamentals of Plasma Physics
by Paul M. Bellan
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
Einstein
by Walter Isaacson
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
The Legend of Henry Ford
by Keith Sward
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
The Fall
by Albert Camus
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
by Dave Eggers
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
The Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
Call Me By Your Name
by André Aciman
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
The Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
Skunk Works
by Ben R. Rich
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
Zero to One
by Peter Thiel
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
Foundation (7 books)
by Isaac Asimov
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
Emperor of the Air
by Ethan Canin
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
The Palace Thief
by Ethan Canin
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
The Crime of Reason
by Robert B. Laughlin
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
Ishmael
by Daniel Quinn
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
American Prometheus
by Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
Nineteen Eighty-Four
by George Orwell
This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
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1
mention
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage
by Alice Munro
weekend book recommendation: Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro. stayed up last night finishing; really good
— Sam Altman
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