This reminds me of this part from 'The Count of Monte Cristo' when Dantes met abbe Faria for the first time:
"I had nearly five thousand volumes in my library at Rome; but after reading them over many times, I found out that with one hundred and fifty well-chosen books a man possesses, if not a complete summary of all human knowledge, at least all that a man need really know. I devoted three years of my life to reading and studying these one hundred and fifty volumes, till I knew them nearly by heart; so that since I have been in prison, a very slight effort of memory has enabled me to recall their contents as readily as though the pages were open before me. I could recite you the whole of Thucydides, Xenophon, Plutarch, Titus Livius, Tacitus, Strada, Jornandes, Dante, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Spinoza, Machiavelli, and Bossuet. I name only the most important." -- Abbe Faria, Chapter 16. A Learned Italian.
Romantic quote, but it comes down to 1 book/week which seems quite unrealistic for 150 modern scientific textbooks. I challenge anyone to go through "Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach" in a week!
While that volume belongs on the 150 books for the well-read hacker, I wouldn't put it on the list for the well-read gentleman. We live in such a world of specialization, appreciation of true general education has suffered. In the age of Romance the 150 books would have been largely classical and philosophy. I think you could put together an awe-inspiring list of 150 that everyone with a bachelor's should be familiar with. Then we would actually live in an intellectually inspired society.
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
"I had nearly five thousand volumes in my library at Rome; but after reading them over many times, I found out that with one hundred and fifty well-chosen books a man possesses, if not a complete summary of all human knowledge, at least all that a man need really know. I devoted three years of my life to reading and studying these one hundred and fifty volumes, till I knew them nearly by heart; so that since I have been in prison, a very slight effort of memory has enabled me to recall their contents as readily as though the pages were open before me. I could recite you the whole of Thucydides, Xenophon, Plutarch, Titus Livius, Tacitus, Strada, Jornandes, Dante, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Spinoza, Machiavelli, and Bossuet. I name only the most important." -- Abbe Faria, Chapter 16. A Learned Italian.