Acclaimed author Matt Ridley's thrilling follow-up to his bestseller Genome. Armed with the extraordinary new discoveries about our genes, Ridley turns his attention to the nature versus nurture debate to bring the first popular account of the roots of human behaviour. What makes us who we are? In February 2001 it was announced that the genome contains not 100,000 genes as originally expected but only 30,000. This startling revision led some scientists to conclude that there are simply not enough human genes to account for all the different ways people behave: we must be made by nurture, not nature. Matt Ridley argues that the emerging truth is far more interesting than this myth. Nurture depends on genes, too, and genes need nurture. Genes not only predetermine the broad structure of the brain; they also absorb formative experiences, react to social cues and even run memory. They are consequences as well as causes of the will. Published fifty years after the discovery of the double helix of DNA, Nature via Nurture chronicles a new revolution in our understanding of genes. Ridley recounts the hundred years' war between the partisans of nature and nurture to explain how this paradoxical creature, the human being, can be simultaneously free-willed and motivated by instinct and culture. Nature via Nurture is an enthralling, up-to-the-minute account of how genes build brains to absorb experience.

The most important investigation of genetic science since The Selfish Gene, from the author of the critically acclaimed and best-selling The Red Queen and The Origins of Virtue. The genome is our 100,000 or so genes. The genome is the collective recipe for the building and running of the human body. These 100,000 genes are sited across 23 pairs of chromosomes. Genome, a book of about 100,000 words, is divided into 23 chapters, a chapter for each chromosome. The first chromosome, for example, contains our oldest genes, genes which we have in common with plants. By looking at our genes we can see the story of our evolution, what makes us individual, how our sexuality is determined, how we acquire language, why we are vunerable to certain diseases, how mind has arisen. Genome also argues for the genetic foundations of free will. While many believe that genetics proves biological determinism, Ridley will show that in fact free will is itself in the genes. Everything that makes us human can be read in our genes. Early in the next century we will have determined the function of every one of these 100,000 genes.

Are you a human? Do you have a mind? Then this book is for you. Nothing is more familiar and yet less understood than the human mind. It defines the experience of being human, and yet its workings contain some of the deepest mysteries ever encountered. Written by one of the world's greatest teachers of psychology, The Human Mind provides a masterful and riveting guide to all that we have learned since modern science began probing those mysteries. How does a three-pound lump of grey-ish meat give rise to conscious experience? What is the function of emotions such as disgust, gratitude and shame? How do our biases affect us and how can we overcome them? How does the mind of a child differ from that of an adult? How does memory work? What causes mental illness? Are we rational? Are we all a little bit racist? What makes us kind? What makes us cruel? What makes us happy? Many of these questions now have answers; many others don't yet; many widely accepted theories are probably wrong. This book takes us to the very limits of what is known. It shines new light on all that you take most for granted: everything you think and feel, everything you say and do, everything that makes you you.

The Million Copy Bestseller What makes us brilliant? What makes us deadly? What makes us Sapiens? This bestselling history challenges everything we know about being human. Earth is 4.5 billion years old. In just a fraction of that time, one species among countless others has conquered it: us. In this bold and provocative book, Yuval Noah Harari explores who we are, how we got here and where we're going. 'I would recommend Sapiens to anyone who's interested in the history and future of our species' Bill Gates 'Interesting and provocative... It gives you a sense of how briefly we've been on this Earth' Barack Obama One Of The Guardian's 100 Best Books Of The 21st Century

How far would you go to obey orders? Why do many people - even some scientists - believe in miracles? Find out the answers to these questions and much more in this visual guide to applied psychology. Lying at the intersection of biology, philosophy, and medicine, psychology is at the heart of what makes us human. Perfect both for students and people new to the topic, How Psychology Works has a unique graphic approach and uses direct, jargon-free language. It explores various approaches that psychologists use to study how people think and behave, such as behaviourism, cognitive psychology, and humanism. This indispensable guide describes a wide range of mental health conditons, including bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. It then takes you through treatments, from cognitive behavioural therapy and psychoanalysis to group therapy and art therapy. This book also explores the role of psychology in everyday situations. Discover what makes you, you - the unique blend of nature and nurture that makes up your sense of who you are - and pyschology’s role in relationships, sport, work, and education. How Psychology Works is a fascinating read that will quickly hone your emotional intelligence and give you perceptive insights into both your own and other people’s feelings and behaviour.

How far would you go to obey orders? Why do many people - even some scientists - believe in miracles? Find out the answers to these questions and much more in this visual guide to applied psychology. Lying at the intersection of biology, philosophy, and medicine, psychology is at the heart of what makes us human. Perfect both for students and people new to the topic, How Psychology Works has a unique graphic approach and uses direct, jargon-free language. It explores various approaches that psychologists use to study how people think and behave, such as behaviourism, cognitive psychology, and humanism. This indispensable guide describes a wide range of mental health conditons, including bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. It then takes you through treatments, from cognitive behavioural therapy and psychoanalysis to group therapy and art therapy. This book also explores the role of psychology in everyday situations. Discover what makes you, you - the unique blend of nature and nurture that makes up your sense of who you are - and pyschology's role in relationships, sport, work, and education. How Psychology Works is a fascinating read that will quickly hone your emotional intelligence and give you perceptive insights into both your own and other people's feelings and behaviour.

How far would you go to obey orders? Why do many people - even some scientists - believe in miracles? Find out the answers to these questions and much more in this visual guide to applied psychology. Lying at the intersection of biology, philosophy, and medicine, psychology is at the heart of what makes us human. Perfect both for students and people new to the topic, How Psychology Works has a unique graphic approach and uses direct, jargon-free language. It explores various approaches that psychologists use to study how people think and behave, such as behaviourism, cognitive psychology, and humanism. This indispensable guide describes a wide range of mental health conditons, including bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. It then takes you through treatments, from cognitive behavioural therapy and psychoanalysis to group therapy and art therapy. This book also explores the role of psychology in everyday situations. Discover what makes you, you - the unique blend of nature and nurture that makes up your sense of who you are - and pyschology’s role in relationships, sport, work, and education. How Psychology Works is a fascinating read that will quickly hone your emotional intelligence and give you perceptive insights into both your own and other people’s feelings and behaviour.

Two weeks before his death, Oliver Sacks outlined the contents of The River of Consciousness, the last book he would oversee. The best-selling author of On the Move, Musicophilia, and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Sacks is known for his illuminating case histories about people living with neurological conditions at the far borderlands of human experience. But his grasp of science was not restricted to neuroscience or medicine; he was fascinated by the issues, ideas, and questions of all the sciences. That wide-ranging expertise and passion informs the perspective of this book, in which he interrogates the nature not only of human experience but of all life.In The River of Consciousness, Dr. Sacks takes on evolution, botany, chemistry, medicine, neuroscience, and the arts, and calls upon his great scientific and creative heroes?above all, Darwin, Freud, and William James. For Sacks, these thinkers were constant companions from an early age; the questions they explored?the meaning of evolution, the roots of creativity, and the nature of consciousness?lie at the heart of science and of this book.The River of Consciousness demonstrates Sacks’s unparalleled ability to make unexpected connections, his sheer joy in knowledge, and his unceasing, timeless endeavor to understand what makes us human. .

Two weeks before his death, Oliver Sacks outlined the contents of The River of Consciousness, the last book he would oversee... The bestselling author of On the Move, Musicophilia, and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Sacks is known for his illuminating case histories about people living with neurological conditions at the far borderlands of human experience. But his grasp of science was not restricted to neuroscience or medicine; he was fascinated by the issues, ideas, and questions of all the sciences. That wide-ranging expertise and passion informs the perspective of this book, in which he interrogates the nature not only of human experience but of all life. In The River of Consciousness, Dr. Sacks takes on evolution, botany, chemistry, medicine, neuroscience, and the arts, and calls upon his great scientific and creative heroes - above all, Darwin, Freud, and William James. For Sacks, these thinkers were constant companions from an early age; the questions they explored - the meaning of evolution, the roots of creativity, and the nature of consciousness - lie at the heart of science and of this book. The River of Consciousness demonstrates Sacks's unparalleled ability to make unexpected connections, his sheer joy in knowledge, and his unceasing, timeless endeavor to understand what makes us human.

Two weeks before his death, Oliver Sacks outlined the contents of The River of Consciousness, the last book he would oversee. The best-selling author of On the Move, Musicophilia, and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Sacks is known for his illuminating case histories about people living with neurological conditions at the far borderlands of human experience. But his grasp of science was not restricted to neuroscience or medicine; he was fascinated by the issues, ideas, and questions of all the sciences. That wide-ranging expertise and passion informs the perspective of this book, in which he interrogates the nature not only of human experience but of all life.In The River of Consciousness, Dr. Sacks takes on evolution, botany, chemistry, medicine, neuroscience, and the arts, and calls upon his great scientific and creative heroes?above all, Darwin, Freud, and William James. For Sacks, these thinkers were constant companions from an early age; the questions they explored?the meaning of evolution, the roots of creativity, and the nature of consciousness?lie at the heart of science and of this book.The River of Consciousness demonstrates Sacks’s unparalleled ability to make unexpected connections, his sheer joy in knowledge, and his unceasing, timeless endeavor to understand what makes us human. .

This brand new edition of the bestselling 50 Psychology Classics includes new classics like Thinking Fast and Slow; Quiet and The Marshmallow Test. In a journey spanning 50 books, hundreds of ideas and over a century, 50 Psychology Classics looks at some of the most intriguing questions relating to what motivates us, what makes us feel and act in certain ways, how our brains work, and how we create a sense of self. 50 Psychology Classics explores writings from some iconic figures such as Freud, Adler, Jung, Skinner, James, Piaget and Pavlov, but also highlights the work of contemporary thinkers such as Gardner, Gilbert, Goleman and Seligman. 50 Psychology Classics will further your understanding of human nature and yourself.

Why cooperate? This may be the most important scientific question we have ever, and will ever, face. The science of cooperation tells us not only how we got here, but also where we might end up. Cooperation explains how strands of DNA gave rise to modern-day nation states. It defines our extraordinary ecological success as well as many of the most surprising features of what make us human: not only why we live in families, why we have grandmothers and why women experience the menopause, but also why we become paranoid and jealous, and why we cheat. Nichola Raihani also introduces us to other species who, like us, live and work together. From the pied babblers of the Kalahari to the cleaner fish of the Great Barrier Reef, they happen to be some of the most fascinating and extraordinarily successful species on this planet. What do we have in common with these other species, and what is it that sets us apart? Written at a time of global pandemic, when the challenges and importance of cooperation have never been greater, The Social Instinct is an exhilarating, far-reaching and thought-provoking journey through all life on Earth, with profound insights into what makes us human and how our societies work.

What really makes us who we are? In this groundbreaking book, pioneering neuroscientist Sebastian Seung shows that our identity does not lie in our genes, but in the connections between our brain cells - our own particular wiring, or 'connectomes'. Everything about us - emotions, thoughts, memories - is encoded in these tangled patterns of neural connections, and now Seung and a dedicated team are mapping them in order to uncover the basis of personality, explain disorders such as autism and depression, and even enable us to 'upload' our brains. This book reveals the secrets of the brain, showing how our connectome makes each of us uniquely ourselves.

If reason is what makes us human, then why do we humans often behave so irrationally? Taking us from desert ants to Aristotle, cognitive psychologists Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber explore how our 'flawed superpower' of reason works, how it doesn't, and how it evolved to help us develop as social beings.

We are capable of savage acts of violence but also spectacular feats of kindness: is one side of our nature destined to win out over the other? Every act of human behaviour has multiple layers of causation, spiralling back seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years, even centuries, right back to the dawn of time and the origins of our species. In the epic sweep of history, how does our biology affect the arc of war and peace, justice and persecution? How have our brains evolved alongside our cultures? This is the exhilarating story of human morality and the science underpinning the biggest question of all: what makes us human?

Why do human beings behave as they do? We are capable of savage acts of violence but also spectacular feats of kindness: is one side of our nature destined to win out over the other? Every act of human behaviour has multiple layers of causation, spiralling back seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years, even centuries, right back to the dawn of time and the origins of our species. In the epic sweep of history, how does our biology affect the arc of war and peace, justice and persecution? How have our brains evolved alongside our cultures? This is the exhilarating story of human morality and the science underpinning the biggest question of all: what makes us human?