--- title: Bill Gates Tweeted That Every Student Should Read This Book description: Bill Gates, the world's richest man, recommended the Steve Pinker book "Better Angels of Our Nature," pushing it to Amazon's best-seller list. authors: - name: Rob Wile url: https://money.com/author/rob-wile/ at_money_since: 2017 articles: 191 covers: - Education - Business - Career Advice - Economy and Politics - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://x.com/rjwile former_staff: true published: '2017-05-16T13:14:21.000Z' modified: '2024-05-08T04:29:24.000Z' section: Education tags: - Bill Gates - Books - career advice - life tips - Workplace word_count: 270 canonical: https://money.com/bill-gates-book-recommendation-better-angels-steven-pinker/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![French President Receives Bill Gates at ELysee Palace in Paris](https://img.money.com/2017/05/billgatesbook-cr-543265518.jpg) Yesterday, Bill Gates gave a graduation speech — via Twitter. And the richest man in the world has helped propel a psychology book to the penultimate spot on the Amazon best-seller list using just 140 characters. First published in 2012, [*The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined*](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143122010/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=money018f-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0143122010&linkId=01ba3355bed1e75a9af95c7333552050), by Harvard psychologist Steven A. Pinker, argues violence has actually been decreasing in recent centuries, and attempts to explain what may be driving this phenomenon. Mark Zuckerberg previously named it as a "book of the year" pick. As the *Washington Post* [first noted](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/05/15/bill-gates-told-new-grads-to-read-this-book-now-its-surging-on-amazon/?utm_term=.9590cf05b0ac), as of Tuesday morning, since Gates' Tweet, the book has [climbed 608,850 percent](https://www.amazon.com/gp/movers-and-shakers) to move to [No. 2 on the overall Amazon best-seller book list](https://www.amazon.com/best-sellers-books-Amazon/zgbs/books/ref=pd_dp_ts_books_1), just behind perennial graduation-time best-seller, [*Oh, The Place You'll Go!*](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679805273/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=money018f-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0679805273&linkId=0217cbd9c9166bf5b1223c3c5895156b), by Dr. Seuss. Here's what Gates had to say about "Angels": > "\[Pinker\] shows how the world is getting better. Sounds crazy, but it’s true. This is the most peaceful time in human history," Gates says. "That matters because if you think the world is getting better, you want to spread the progress to more people and places. It doesn’t mean you ignore the serious problems we face. It just means you believe they can be solved. This is the core of my worldview. It sustains me in tough times and is the reason I love my work. I think it can do same for you." You can [buy Pinker's book at Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143122010/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=money018f-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0143122010&linkId=01ba3355bed1e75a9af95c7333552050). Here's Gates' full Tweet-speech: *We’ve included affiliate links into this article. 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