Gallery: These Are the Greatest Geek Books of All Time, Readers Say
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We revealed our ultimate reading list in "[9 Essential Geek Books You Must Read Right Now](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2011/10/9-essential-geek-books/)" last week. Now Wired.com readers have spoken, voting for their favorites from the list and submitting many awesome literary picks of their own. The must-read books listed in the gallery above didn't make the original roundup, but received the most attention from readers in our online voting. (The rules remain the same, namely no repeat authors on the list). The comments explaining what makes the books essential geek reading come from reader posts, unless otherwise credited. __Above:__ *Stranger in a Strange Land* ---------------------------- __By Robert Heinlein (1961)__ "An awesome look at the human condition by an outsider."
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*Brave New World* ----------------- __By Aldous Huxley (1932)__ "This novel is still shockingly awesome today. Sex, drugs and the struggle to \[escape\] the sugary-sweet oppression puzzle of society. The opening pages are still unfilmable (babies being taught with programmed torture)."
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*Nineteen Eighty-Four* ---------------------- __By George Orwell (1949)__ This novel properly belongs on any cultural reading list. Just try to get through a week without hearing or reading the terms *Big Brother* or *Orwellian*. It remains massively influential 60 years after its publication. *—Marty Cortinas*
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*Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!* ------------------------------------- __By Richard Feynman (1985)__ "This is a great autobiographical romp \[through\] Richard Feynman's life that highlights the natural and insatiable curiosity that he has in all things, from playing in a samba club in Rio to safecracking the Manhattan Project. It's a very entertaining and sometimes enlightening read."
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*I, Robot* ---------- __By Isaac Asimov (1950)__ "Even if it's not the greatest of his volume of work, I would think every new geek should get a starting point. And none is better than this one."
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*Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?* -------------------------------------- __By Philip K. Dick (1968)__ If you think you don't know Dick, you're probably wrong. Large swathes of his catalog have been made into movies, including this one (*Blade Runner*). There's plenty more where that came from, including *Minority Report* and *Paycheck*. *—Marty Cortinas*
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*Cosmos* -------- __By Carl Sagan (1980)__ "Carl Sagan's excellent book and series is an introduction to science and astrophysics in an easy-to-understand format."
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*Dune* ------ __By Frank Herbert (1965)__ "It's a work that thrusts you into a far-flung, truly, strangely realized future. It is both utterly real and alien."
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*A Brief History of Time* ------------------------- __By Stephen Hawking (1988)__ Whether you finish reading it or not, there's no arguing that this book brought physics into the popular spotlight. *—Marty Cortinas*
