Sci Fi can be a lot of fun, space cowboys & such. On the other hand, much is quite literate, prescient and full of concepts that require a complete turn of mind to grasp.
What grabbed my attention on the list are books #1 and #3, two works that are right up there with the SD in their relative importance to our culture.
#1)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
Many dismiss this as a piece of literate fluff from the mind of the late humorist Douglas Adams. An adaptation of the BBC radio series of the same name, the "Guide" is, beneath the humor, quite a wonderful exploration of religion, philosophy, and our own self-inflated notions of where we fit in the scheme of Life, the Universe, and Everything. Where is a Total Perspective Vortex when you need one?
#3)
The Foundation Trilogy (Foundation, Second Foundation, Foundation & Empire), by Isaac Asimov
There have been few writings in the realm of Sci Fi which have had the impact that the Foundation series has on our culture. Whether it's in the restatement of Asimov's 3 Laws of Robotics to the concept of Psychohistory, the implications of this work are profound, especially for a group such as ours.
The full story can be found
here