Reading list · 9 books

Books that make the case for optimism

Each one argues from data: child deaths, hunger, literacy and life expectancy, measured over decades.

Paid links. If you buy a book through these links, Bookshop.org pays us a small commission and sends a share of the sale to independent bookstores.

Factfulness (opens Bookshop.org)

Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World and Why Things Are Better Than You Think

Hans Rosling (with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund) · 2018

Physician and statistician Hans Rosling uses data on child survival, poverty and education to show how most people misjudge the world, and offers rules for correcting it.
Not the End of the World (opens Bookshop.org)

How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet

Hannah Ritchie · 2024

Hannah Ritchie of Our World in Data works through climate, biodiversity, plastic and food with evidence, arguing each problem is solvable and showing what has already worked.
Humankind (opens Bookshop.org)

A Hopeful History

Rutger Bregman · 2020

Rutger Bregman revisits famous studies and events, from the Stanford prison experiment to Lord of the Flies, and argues people are more decent and cooperative than assumed.
Extra Life (opens Bookshop.org)

A Short History of Living Longer

Steven Johnson · 2021

Steven Johnson explains how life expectancy roughly doubled in a century, crediting vaccines, pasteurization, clean water and statistics, with a chapter on each intervention.
Getting Better (opens Bookshop.org)

Why Global Development Is Succeeding and How We Can Improve the World Even More

Charles Kenny · 2011

Development economist Charles Kenny shows that health, education and living standards rose across poor countries even where incomes did not, and asks what explains it.
The Great Escape (opens Bookshop.org)

Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality

Angus Deaton · 2013

Nobel economist Angus Deaton traces how health and wealth improved for much of humanity since 1750, and why the gains left some countries and people behind.
Enlightenment Now (opens Bookshop.org)

The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress

Steven Pinker · 2018

Cognitive scientist Steven Pinker presents charts on lifespan, violence, literacy and poverty over two centuries and argues that reason and institutions produced them.
Progress (opens Bookshop.org)

Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future

Johan Norberg · 2016

Swedish historian Johan Norberg takes ten measures, including food, sanitation, life expectancy and literacy, and shows with data how each has improved worldwide.
Hope for Cynics (opens Bookshop.org)

The Surprising Science of Human Goodness

Jamil Zaki · 2024

Stanford psychologist Jamil Zaki reviews studies showing cynics underestimate how trustworthy and generous people are, and describes experiments in building trust.