* John Wyndham: The Day of the Triffids. One of the minor themes is the relationship between morality and society. I read it as a teenager, and it made me thin

* John Wyndham: The Day of the Triffids. One of the minor themes is the relationship between morality and society. I read it as a teenager, and it made me think about the issue in a way I'd never done before. * Adolous Huxley: Brave New World. Similar reason as for the Triffids. If this is a dystopia then what, exactly, is wrong with it? To answer that you need to first define what society is for, and to do that you need to confront deep questions about what humanity is for. * Desmond Morris: The Naked Ape * Robert Axelrod: The Evolution of Co-operation * Matt Ridley: Nature Via Nurture These three changed the way I think about human nature. * Douglas Adams: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy There were all these ideas in my head that I didn't have words for, and suddenly here was someone making jokes about them. * James Burke: Connections A book as well as a TV series. History suddenly became interesting, as well as making a lot more sense.