David Brin, Bruce Sterling & Daniel Suarez — Manual for Civilization Lists
The Manual for Civilization is a crowd-curated collection of 3500 books that will help us to sustain or rebuild civilization. It is also the library at The Interval where ~1000 books are currently on the floor-to-ceiling shelves. The process of compiling the list and acquiring the selected titles continues.
We have identified four categories to guide our selections:
Cultural Canon: Great works of literature, nonfiction, poetry, philosophy…
Mechanics of Civilization: Technical knowledge to build and understand things
Rigorous Science Fiction: Speculative stories about potential futures
Long-term thinking, futurism, and relevant history: Books on how to think about the future, which includes surveys of the past
Having an author recommend books is particularly useful, especially in the realm of speculative fiction. SciFi authors read widely, their work is fueled by imagination but also insightful histories and scientific facts. In short: they know the best books.
In Bruce Sterling, David Brin, and Daniel Suarez we have three excellent authors who are also long-time friends of Long Now. Each of them uses contemporary science and technology as a starting point from which to speculate about the future. That recipe is exactly why Science Fiction is one of our core categories.
David Brin is a scientist, futurist and author who has won science fiction’s highest honors including the Locus, Campbell, Nebula, and Hugo awards. His 01991 book Earth is filled with predictions for our technological future, many of which have already come true. He has served on numerous advisory committees for his scientific expertise.
David Brin’s list
De Nuptiis Philologiae Et Mercurii Et De Septem Artibus Liberalibus Libri Novem by Martianus Capella
Feynman Lectures by Richard Feynman
The Complete Sherlock Holmes: All 4 Novels and 56 Short Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Alas Babylon by Pat Frank
The Disposessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
Tunnel in the Sky by Robert Heinlein
The Culture Boxed Set: Consider Phlebas, Player of Games and Use of Weapons by Iain Banks
Bruce Sterling‘s first novel was published in 01977. In 01985 he edited Mirrorshades the defining Cyberpunk anthology, and went on to win two Hugos and a Campbell award for his science fiction. His non-fiction writing including his long-running column for Wired are also influential. He spoke for Long Now in 02004.
Bruce Sterling’s list
Endless Frontier by Pascal Zachary
Anticipations by H G Wells
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction by John Clute and Peter Nicholls
Trillion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction by Brian Wilson Aldiss and David Wingrove
Daniel Suarez made a huge stir with his 02006 self-published debut novel Daemon . Its success led to him speaking in 02008 for Long Now’s Seminar series and to a deal with a major publisher. In 02014 he published his fourth novel Influx.Daniel Suarez’s list
Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan
The Medieval Machine: The Industrial Revolution Of The Middle Ages by Jean Gimpel
The Wild Trees by Richard Preston
The Age of Reconnaissance: Discovery, Exploration and Settlement, 1450–1650 by J. H. Parry
The Evolution of Civilizations by Carroll Quigley
Contact by Carl Sagan
The Master Switch by Tim Wu
Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
Rainbow’s End by Vernor Vinge
Old Mans War by John Scalzi
Distraction by Bruce Sterling
Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Foundation’s Edge by Isaac Asimov
Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
The Diamond Age: Or a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
1491 by Charles C. Mann
What Technology Wants by Kevin Kelly
Thanks to David, Bruce and Daniel for their considered recommendations. When you visit the Manual library at The Interval, you’ll find titles they’ve recommended and books by each of them among the collection on our shelves.
Our list is building thanks to suggestions by Long Now members and invited experts. Other book lists we’ve published include those by Long Now board members Stewart Brand, Kevin Kelly, & Brian Eno; and lists from members with special expertise like Maria Popova, Tim O’Reilly, and Neal Stephenson. Violet Blue,
This list is an excerpt of the 3,500 book crowd-curated Manual For Civilization library which we are compiling to back up the essential knowledge of civilization. More than 800 titles are already available online at The Internet Archive.
Originally published at blog.longnow.org on September 29, 02014.
