The Knowledge Lab

Serious reading • Public-spirited work

TKL Readers Society

Monthly Book Lists

Mathematics

  • Cohort A: The Joy of x — Steven Strogatz
  • Cohort B: The Princeton Companion to Mathematics — Timothy Gowers
  • Cohort C: Fermat's Enigma — Simon Singh

Physics

Theme: Understanding the Universe
  • Cohort A: Seven Brief Lessons on Physics — Carlo Rovelli
  • Cohort B: The Elegant Universe — Brian Greene
  • Cohort C: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! — Richard P. Feynman

Chemistry

Theme: Chemistry in Everyday Life
  • Cohort A: The Disappearing Spoon — Sam Kean
  • Cohort B: Napoleon's Buttons — Penny Le Couteur & Jay Burreson
  • Cohort C: Uncle Tungsten — Oliver Sacks

Biology

Theme: Life, Evolution, and the Human Story
  • Cohort A: The Selfish Gene — Richard Dawkins
  • Cohort B: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks — Rebecca Skloot
  • Cohort C: Your Inner Fish — Neil Shubin

Economics

Theme: Economic History — How Economies Evolved
  • Cohort A: A Little History of Economics — Niall Kishtainy
  • Cohort B: The Ascent of Money — Niall Ferguson
  • Cohort C: Capital in the Twenty-First Century (abridged) — Thomas Piketty

Literature

Theme: The Detective's Dialogue
  • Cohort A: Who Killed Palomino Molero? — Mario Vargas Llosa
  • Cohort B: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy — John le Carré
  • Cohort C: The Maltese Falcon — Dashiell Hammett

History

Theme: Turning Points in World History
  • Cohort A: SPQR — Mary Beard
  • Cohort B: Guns, Germs, and Steel — Jared Diamond
  • Cohort C: The Silk Roads — Peter Frankopan

Political Science

Theme: How Government Works — Foundations of Political Thought
  • Cohort A: The Republic — Plato (Selections)
  • Cohort B: On Liberty — John Stuart Mill
  • Cohort C: The Origins of Political Order — Francis Fukuyama
© 2026 The Knowledge Lab · All rights reserved