THE HOLY BIBLE by God. The night I became a Christian was spent alone in my room. I was a junior in college and was home for the summer. The Bible's words, formerly stale and opaque, became alive and so meaningful, that my life was changed.  Now I realize why.  It's not because I chose to believe.  It's because it's the truth.

FLATLAND by Edwin A. Abbot. Abbot's story about a two dimensional world and the unbelief of the creatures therein about the third dimension awoke my mushy intellect to the possibility there can exist something outside the universe in which I exist. Is God there? Maybe.

AUSCHWITZ  by Miklos Nyiszli. The opening line about the stench of the train bringing Jews to Auschwitz burned into my pre teen mind. The horrors of the concentration camp was beyond anything imaginable in fiction. Man could be a monster. I could no longer live in youthful ignorance. With no doubt, man is fallen.

BLACK LIKE ME by John Howard Griffin. The white man staining his face black and living in the segregated south exposed bigotry for the ugly evil it is. The book, read as a pre teen, cemented my resolve during the civil rights movement in the 60's. There is no doubt where this issue belongs in the classification of right and wrong.

THE CATCHER IN THE RYE  by J.D. Salinger. Holden Caufield, disillusioned by life, described the way I felt as a teen. Holden was me. Life is ugly, unfair and often doesn't make sense. Everything sucks. Depressingly, there is no happy solution under the sun. After I read it as a teenager, I put the book down and cried. Only Christ made it all make sense.

HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE  by Dale Carnegie. The greatest book on applied psychology ever written! Fun to read. Its application makes for success. I credit the book with getting my position at the University of Washington.

MERE CHRISTIANITY  by C.S. Lewis. C.S. Lewis lays out flawless logic in building the case for Christianity. Dispelled forever is the myth that faith and intellect are mutually exclusive.

THE WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA. As a kid, I could spend all day reading the World Book. Now it's Wikipedia.

INTRODUCTION TO SHANNON SAMPLING AND INTERPOLATION THEORY. My first book. I always wondered what it was like to write a book. It feels great! (Wish it paid better)