Elon Musk: Five books that inspired him

Created: 08/02/2022, 11:11 am

By: Sven Trautwein

Elon Musk is always good for a headline.

He also regularly gave book tips on Twitter.

These five books inspired him.

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If you look at the current headlines, not everything is going smoothly for Tesla boss and technology nerd Elon Musk.

Production had to be curtailed at the recently opened Gigafactory in Grünheide near Berlin.

And with the deal to buy the short message service Twitter, a legal dispute seems to be looming.

Here it remains exciting.

His book tips, which he publishes in irregular succession and not only on Twitter, are always exciting.

Among other things, these books inspired the founder of SpaceX:

Walter IsaacsonSteve Jobs

Walter Isaacson: Steve Jobs © Simon & Schuster

Macintosh, iMac, iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iPad - Steve Jobs has given the digital world an aesthetic and aura with the cult brand Apple.

Where Bill Gates stands for solid everyday work, the man from San Francisco was the style icon of the IT age, a gifted pioneer who uncompromisingly followed his ideas.

Despite economic and personal crises, he made the apple with a bite (Bite) a synonym for innovation and vision with genius and self-confidence.

But who was this master of staging, what drove him?

Walter Isaacson won the trust of the Apple boss and was the first biographer to rely on his unlimited support during the many years of research, as well as that of his family, his companions and also his opponents.

The book was about Steve Jobs and his company - not just for Apple fans.

btb

It's not really surprising that Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs appears in the list of books that inspired Elon Musk.

Yes, if you haven't read it yet, you might need some time.

It's not a "just like that" read.

Not just in terms of size.

The hardcover version is "bible-like" with around 700 pages.

Almost like the historical novels by Ken Follett.

Personally, I found it extremely readable and exciting and devoured it shortly after it was published.

Perhaps also because there were a lot of stories about the then Apple founder and, as a home computer kid, I was simply fascinated by how the Apple story began.

We have also compiled the most inspiring titles by Steve Jobs here.

Walter Isaacson "Steve Jobs"

2012, btb ISBN-13 978-3-442-74491-6

Price: paperback €14, e-book €9.99, 697 pages (different format) Order now - promotional link

Max Tegmark: "Life 3.0 - Being human in the age of artificial intelligence"

Max Tegmark: Life 3.0 – being human in the age of artificial intelligence © Ullstein

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"Zelenskyj - the biography" by Wojciech Rogacin

Artificial intelligence will change the future of life in our universe.

Will it ruin us or will it help homo sapiens to evolve?

How will it affect our world of work, democracy and society as a whole, how will it shape tomorrow's warfare and change our understanding of justice?

Will we control intelligent machines - or will they control us?

What remains of man when he develops machines that could take over and get rid of humanity?

Nobody has delved deeper into these questions than Max Tegmark, one of the most dedicated researchers in the field of artificial intelligence.

Ullstein

There are very exciting questions that Max Tegmark takes up in his book "Life 3.0".

Elon Musk has been interested in this topic for years.

It is no coincidence that the SpaceX founder has also invested a lot of money in his company "Neuralink".

Elon Musk plans to use AI implants to expand the use of the human brain.

Musk also found interesting approaches here when developing other inventions for his companies.

He writes on Twitter that artificial intelligence can mean the best or the worst for mankind.

So it's important to do it right.

Max Tegmark "Life 3.0"

2019, Ullstein ISBN-13 978-3-548-37796-4

Price: paperback €14, e-book €12.99, 528 pages (different format) - order now (promotional link)

Peter Thiel: "Zero to One"

Peter Thiel "Zero to One" - How innovation saves our society © campus

Innovation works differently! The book by Pay Pal founder and Facebook investor Peter Thiel points the way out of the technological dead end. We live in a technological dead end, says Silicon Valley insider Peter Thiel.

Although globalization suggests technical progress, the supposed innovations are above all copies of the existing - and thus anything but innovations!

Campus Publisher

Peter Thiel has not only become known to a wide audience through "The Lion's Den".

The investor has known Elon Musk for more than 18 years.

With another entrepreneur, they founded the payment service provider PayPal.

In 2000, Thiel was appointed managing director of the service.

The title is a must for anyone interested in a start-up.

With his theses, Peter Thiel gets a lot of attention, even if he likes to miss the mark.

It is a plea for more courage to take risks.

Peter Thiel "Zero to One"

2014, Campus Verlag ISBN-13 978-3-593-50160-4

Price: Hardcover €27.95, e-book €25.99, 200 pages (different format) - Order now (promotional link)

Isaac Asimov: Foundation Cycle

Isaac Asimov: "I the Robot" - Foundation Cycle Volume 1 © Heyne

dr

Susan Calvin was employed for fifty years as a robotic psychologist by the US Robot Company, one of the largest corporations in the world.

She experienced at first hand how robots became an everyday part of human culture and the problems that arise when people live with robots.

Above all, however, one question arises: What happens when humans and robots hardly differ from each other?

In nine stories, she shows a young reporter what a future shaped by gigantic positron brains looks like for us humans.

hey

Elon Musk is a big fan of Isaac Asimov.

The Foundation cycle is rightly considered a masterpiece of modern science fiction.

The first volume, "I the Robot" (order now - promotional link) was published in 1950, the thirteenth volume "The Return to Earth" in 1986. Asimov's depictions are considered the basis for the stories about robots and the relationship to us humans: you should be kind and well-disposed to us.

They serve as a template for R2-D2 and C3PO from "Star Wars".

And an absolute must for Musk, especially for him as the founder of SpaceX:

Isaac Asimov: Foundation Cycle (13 volumes)

hey

Paperbacks €8.99-10.99 each Order now (promotional link)

John RR Tolkien: "The Lord of the Rings"

JRR Tolkien "The Lord of the Rings" - Complete Edition © Klett-Cotta

The setting of The Lord of the Rings is Middle-earth, an alternative world, and tells of the perilous quest of some companions, which ends in a dramatic fight against evil.By a strange coincidence, the hobbit Bilbo Baggins falls into a magic ring whose power would come in the wrong hands would lead to an absolute reign of evil.

Bilbo gives the Ring to his nephew Frodo, who is to destroy the Ring in Destiny's Rift. Hobbits are small, easy-going people, but surprisingly tough.

They live in a rural idyll, the Shire.

Klett-Cotta

In my opinion, there is no way around Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings".

Musk considers Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings to be one of his favorite books, which he always pulls out and reads to his kids.

The fantasy novels can be found on many bookshelves worldwide and are a true classic.

JRR The Lord of the Rings Complete Edition

2012, Klett-Cotta ISBN-13 978-3-608-93984-2

Price: complete edition 35 €, 1256 pages – order now (promotional link)

As a small addition, you can see the book "A Woman, A Plan" by Maye Musk.

He once announced on Twitter that his mother had also written a book (promotional link).

It is not known whether this inspired him: