Freud for Beginners ()
(Starring Anthony Sher)
Oscar Zarate Richard Appignanesi Antony Sher
Archives: Titles
A Mind of Its Own
A Mind of Its Own (eBook)
How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives
Cordelia Fine
THE DAZZLING FIRST BOOK FROM THE WINNER OF THE 2017 ROYAL SOCIETY INSIGHT INVESTMENT SCIENCE BOOKS PRIZE
‘A fascinating, funny, disconcerting and lucid book.’ Helen Dunmore
‘Fine sets out to demonstrate that the human brain is vainglorious and stubborn. She succeeds brilliantly.’ Mail on Sunday
‘Fine is a cognitive neuroscientist with a sharp sense of humour and an intelligent sense of reality’ The Times
Perhaps your brain seems to stumble when faced with the 13 times table, or persistently fails to master parallel parking. But you’re in control of it, right?
Sorry. Think again.
Dotted with popular explanations of social psychology research and fascinating real-life examples, A Mind of Its Own tours the less salubrious side of human psychology. Psychologist Cordelia Fine shows that the human brain is in fact stubborn, emotional and deceitful, and teaches you everything you always wanted to know about the brain – and plenty you probably didn’t.
Consistently well-written and meticulously researched
In breezy demotic, Fine offers an entertaining tour of current thinking
Fine sets out to demonstrate that the human brain is vainglorious and stubborn. She succeeds brilliantly.
This is one of the most interesting and amusing accounts of how we think we think – I think.
A fascinating, funny, disconcerting and lucid book … by the end you'll realise that your brain can (and does) run rings around you.
Fine, a cognitive neuroscientist with a sharp sense of humour and an intelligent sense of reality, slaps an Asbo on the hundred billion grey cells that – literally – have shifty, ruthless, self-serving minds of their own.
Clear, accessible writing makes her a science writer to watch
Fine wears her learning lightly, blending facts with humorous observations. The result is a fascinating insight into how our minds work.
A witty survey of psychology experiments demonstrating the depths of our suggestibility, the irrationality of our reasoning and the limits of free will.
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Delusions of Gender
Delusions of Gender (eBook)
The Real Science Behind Sex Differences
Cordelia Fine
THE BRILLIANT AND HUGELY INFLUENTIAL BOOK BY THE WINNER OF THE 2017 ROYAL SOCIETY INSIGHT INVESTMENT SCIENCE BOOKS PRIZE
‘Fun, droll yet deeply serious.’
New Scientist
‘A brilliant feminist critic of the
neurosciences … Read her, enjoy and learn.’
Hilary Rose, THES
‘A witty and meticulously researched
exposé of the sloppy studies that pass for scientific
evidence in so many of today’s bestselling books
on sex differences.’
Carol Tavris, TLS
Gender inequalities are increasingly defended by citing hard-wired differences between the male and
female brain. That’s why, we’re told, there are so few
women in science, so few men in the laundry room –
different brains are just suited to different things.
With sparkling wit and humour, Cordelia Fine attacks
this ‘neurosexism’, revealing the mind’s remarkable
plasticity, the substantial influence of culture on identity,
and the malleability of what we consider to be
‘hardwired’ difference.
This modern classic shows
the surprising extent to which boys and girls, men and
women are made – not born.
We are all in [Fine's] debt. She has the expertise to check the research references cited by academic as well as popular books on the subject, and she has the clarity and wit to impart her findings to the lay reader. She exposes shockingly lightweight research that is taken seriously and nuanced research that is misreported.
The hard data is illuminating, and engaging, but Fine manages a light touch throughout. This is a truly startling book.
Two books came out this year (2010) which, in the long-term, could change how we view gender for ever. … Cordelia Fine's 'Delusions of Gender: The Real Science Behind Sex Differences' (Icon Books) finally debunked the myth that men and women's minds are significantly different …. Both books were favourably reviewed and hotly discussed. Over time their conclusions could have far-reaching consequences as significant as 'The Female Eunuch.'
A fascinating subject. A bracing argument.
'Delusions of Gender' … carefully and with great precision demolishes the nonsense that pervades the popular and technical literature pretending to be scientific fact, exposing it as truthiness which is nowhere close to truth. … When I first heard about this book it was clear, even before reading it, that this is the book we've been waiting for. Now, having read it, I can assure you that it is even better than I thought it could be. … Buy it. Get your friends, your colleagues, your family members to buy it, or buy it for them. Get it to your local school board. Make it required reading, not only in gender studies, but in freshman sociology, biology, education and business courses. Get it on the New York Times bestseller list. … Our culture is saturated with sloppy self-reinforcing non-thinking about gender. It will take a monumental effort to get it off those tracks. 'Delusions of Gender' is an excellent place to start.
Fine is fun, droll yet deeply serious. Setting a cracking pace, Delusions tackles the power of implicit association (those unconscious associations we make about men and women) and of negative stereotyping, plus the empathising/systematising theory proposed by psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen, and the messy world of brain scans and genetic research. Her conclusion: we are in thrall to "neurosexism".
The result of Fine's irritation is a witty and meticulously researched exposé of the sloppy studies that pass for scientific evidence in so many of today's bestselling books on sex differences… Can we stop talking about brains now? Those who can't, and anyone else who would like to know what today's best science reveals about gender differences – and similarities – could not do better than read this book.
['Brain Storm' and 'Delusions of Gender' are] well-informed, well-argued and (for science books, perhaps unusually) well-written interventions in … one of the most important debates in current sexual politics.
If you believe that the tide of blue and pink that greets children whenever they walk into a toy or children's clothes shop is just about colours … think again.
This is a book with such a large scope that it's near-impossible to overestimate its importance. Much like 'The Spirit Level' did for socio-economics, this book ropes together decades' worth of studies on gender differences and casts a cool, calm eye (and an arched brow) over them all… This book will cast a light on gender assumptions you didn't know you had, and it's hilarious – with chapter titles such as 'We Think, Therefore You Are' and 'Sex and Premature Speculation,' Dr Fine is a brilliant tour guide – making light, fun and engaging work of the research. By debunking the rubbish, this book opens up possibilities for a (slightly) clearer vision of the future. Not to be missed.
In 'Delusions of Gender' Cordelia Fine does a magnificent job debunking the so-called science, and especially the brain science, of gender. If you thought there were some inescapable facts about women's minds – some hard wiring that explains poor science and maths performance, or the ability to remember to buy the milk and arrange the holidays – you can put these on the rubbish heap. Instead, Fine shows that there are almost no areas of performance that are not touched by cultural stereotypes. This scholarly book will make you itch to press the delete button on so much nonsense, while being pure fun to read.
'Cordelia Fine has a first-rate intellect and writing talent to burn. In her new book, Delusions of Gender, she takes aim at the idea that male brains and female brains are "wired differently", leading men and women to act in a manner consistent with decades-old gender stereotypes. Armed with penetrating insights, a rapier wit, and a slew of carefully researched facts, Fine lowers her visor, lifts her lance, and attacks this idea full-force. Whether her adversaries can rally their forces and mount a successful counter-attack remains to be seen. What's certain at this point, however, is that in Delusions of Gender Cordelia Fine has struck a terrific first blow against what she calls "neurosexism".
Fine turns the popular science book formula on its head.
The author, Cordelia Fine, who has a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from University College London, is an acerbic critic, mincing no words when it comes to those she disagrees with. But her sharp tongue is tempered with humor and linguistic playfulness, as the title itself suggests…. It's too late to tell that to Dr. Sax, a proponent of single-sex education, who cited the Connellan study as evidence that 'girls are born prewired to be interested in faces while boys are prewired to be more interested in moving objects.' But it's not too late to read this book and see how complex and fascinating the whole issue is.
So both sexes should rejoice at Cordelia Fine's new book, Delusions of Gender, a vitriolic attack on the sexism masquerading as psychology that is enjoying a renaissance.
Impeccably researched and bitingly funny.
Fine's tone is witty but the citations are detailed and the bibliography extensive…This book is an entertaining weapon in that fight (for education and social justice) and will make a nice "thwok" sound bouncing off the heads of sexists.
Fine's conclusions provide a timely warning against taking too seriously the deluge of books and articles that would have us believe that men are biologically advantaged when it comes to mathematics, racing, driving or map reading – and that women are naturally more intuitive and nurturing, so better at childcare and multitasking.
In Delusions of Gender the psychologist Cordelia Fine exposes the bad science, the ridiculous arguments and the persistent biases that blind us to the ways we ourselves enforce the gender stereotypes we think we are trying to overcome.
Fine eviscerates both the neuroscientists who claim to have found the answers and the popularisers who take their findings and run with them.
Timely and provocative, her argument is also excellent at debunking oversimplified theories, for instance, that biology is destiny.
A well-stocked armoury that includes extensive research, sharp whit and a probing intelligence, and which refuses to be satisfied with the delusional myth-making that often passes for popular science.
Fine offers persuasive proof that many of the claims we commonly swallow about male and female brains are based on very bad science indeed. Her entire book … is worth a read, and perhaps should be taught in high school and college science classes. Maybe if young women were exposed to the truth about their brains, they'd no longer feel like they had to chuck their gender overboard in order to pursue their dreams.
With Delusions of Gender, we welcome a brilliant feminist critic of the neurosciences … In a book that sparkles with wit, which is easy to read but underpinned by substantial scholarship and a formidable 100-page bibliography, she attacks the ready generalisations on sexual differences made by neuroscientists and their media exegetes … every page of Fine's brilliant, spiky book reminds us that science is part of culture and that the struggle against sexism in the neurosciences and the struggle against sexism in society are intimately linked. Read her, enjoy and learn.
An excellent introduction to the scientific method … mind-opening … prepare to be a relative expert on the subject.
A pinnacle piece of feminist literature, which I thoroughly recommend and could quote all day.
[a] brilliant debunking of "neuro-sexism" … a powerful case that who we are is much more closely attuned to the culture that surrounds us, than to the biology of our brains.
For anyone interested in the brain, research methods, applied science, gender, parenting, the workplace, human nature or general sass, this book is an absolute must read.
Popular science writing at its best … beautifully and accessibly written … It is a cracking good read, by turns witty, passionate and learned.
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Spinner- INTRO 144 BOOKS COMPACT
Spinner- INTRO 144 BOOKS COMPACT ()
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A Time to Dance, a Time to Die
A Time to Dance, a Time to Die (eBook)
The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518
John Waller
‘A compelling 'whatdunnit'’ The Times
‘Waller’s book should interest both historians and scientists, while the general reader will enjoy his colourful depictions of medieval life.’ BBC Focus Magazine
This is the true story of a wild dancing epidemic that brought death and fear to a 16th-century city, and the terrifying supernatural beliefs from which it arose.
In July 1518 a terrifying and mysterious plague struck the medieval city of Strasbourg. Hundreds of men and women danced wildly, day after day, in the punishing summer heat. They did not want to dance, but could not stop. Throughout August and early September more and more were seized by the same terrible compulsion. By the time the epidemic subsided, heat and exhaustion had claimed an unfold number of lives, leaving thousands bewildered and bereaved, and an enduring enigma for future generations.
Drawing on fresh evidence, John Waller's account of the bizarre events of 1518 explains why Strasbourg's dancing plague took place. In doing so it leads us into a largely vanished world, evoking the sights, sounds, aromas, diseases and hardships, the fervent supernaturalism, and the desperate hedonism of the late medieval world. At the same time, the extraordinary story this book tells offers rich insights into how people behave when driven beyond the limits of endurance.
Above all, A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518 is an exploration into the strangest capabilities of the human mind and the extremes to which fear and irrationality can lead us.
Waller's book should interest both historians and scientists, while the general reader will enjoy his colourful depictions of medieval life.
An interesting and enjoyable read, which is not merely of historical interest, but also helps to explain some modern-day psychological phenomena.
A startling, chilling and utterly compelling account.
A book to make you grateful for the historical increase in human sanity.
'A Time to Dance, A Time to Die' is a medically sound, historically accurate link to the late medieval zeitgeist.
Waller does a remarkable job of getting to the causes of the epidemic, looking at things from every angle…. Waller doesn't lay it on too thick, and brings the era alive to us.
A compelling 'whatdunnit'
Waller writes with a passion and flair which commands the reader's attention.
History approaching its best… combines a gripping story with a historian's attention to detail and context.
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A Very British Revolution
A Very British Revolution (eBook)
The Expenses Scandal and How to Save Our Democracy
Martin Bell
The revelations over MPs' expenses that began in May 2009 ranged from petty thieving to outright fraud and sparked a crisis in confidence unprecedented in modern times. This was a 21st-century Peasants' Revolt – an uprising of the people against the political class. Ordinary men and women with political views across the spectrum were by turns amused, incredulous, shocked and then bitterly angry as the disclosures on MPs' expenses flooded out. From Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's bath plug to Conservative MP Sir John Butterfill's 'flipping' of his constituency home – a now-notorious manoeuvre that required him to refund GBP60,000 to the taxpayer – the exposure of MPs' expenses revealed Westminster's culture of quiet corruption like never before. Drawing on his experience as an MP and as a member of the Committee on Standards and Privileges, Martin Bell explains how the expenses crisis arose and, most compellingly, lays out his prescription for healing the deep wounds inflicted by the scandal. As Martin puts it: 'The revolution will not be complete until all the rogues in the House are gone and public confidence in the MPs remaining is restored.' This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to revive British politics, and the rebuilding starts here.
The book took 10 weeks to write and reads quickly off the page.
The journalist turned accidental MP has an insight not available to reporters.
I am especially interested to read Martin's new book…And I am recommending that everyone buys his book.
Adversity, Bell reminds us, can actually be quite useful.
Bell doesn't mince his words condemning the 'corrupt' politicians who have 'lost our trust because they pick our pockets.'
His latest book is scathing about those who become MPs without having done much else in their lives other than politics. He judges – as I do – that much of the recent debacle would have been avoided, if so many of those who made it to Westminster had a career pattern other than school, university, researcher, aide to MP and adoption as Parliamentary candidate.
Bell is right when he emphasizes that the real problem with the expenses scandal is not the money: it's the fact that MPs make up their own rules, and effectively end up writing their own cheques.
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American Dream, Global Nightmare
American Dream, Global Nightmare (eBook)
Merryl Wyn Davies Ziauddin Sardar
This title brings into sharp focus the merger of celebrity, corporate, power, government and empire which has become an essential part of America's belief in itself as a nation.
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Introducing Graphic Guides Bookmark
Introducing Graphic Guides Bookmark ()
Duncan Heath
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A Carpet Ride to Khiva
A Carpet Ride to Khiva (eBook)
Seven Years on the Silk Road
Chris Aslan Christopher Alexander
The Silk Road conjures images of the exotic and the unknown. Most travellers simply pass along it. Brit Chris Alexander chose to live there. Ostensibly writing a guidebook, Alexander found life at the heart of the glittering madrassahs, mosques and minarets of the walled city of Khiva – a remote desert oasis in Uzbekistan – immensely alluring, and stayed.
Immersing himself in the language and rich cultural traditions Alexander discovers a world torn between Marx and Mohammed – a place where veils and vodka, pork and polygamy freely mingle – against a backdrop of forgotten carpet designs, crumbling but magnificent Islamic architecture and scenes drawn straight from "The Arabian Nights". Accompanied by a large green parrot, a ginger cat and his adoptive Uzbek family, Alexander recounts his efforts to rediscover the lost art of traditional weaving and dyeing, and the process establishing a self-sufficient carpet workshop, employing local women and disabled people to train as apprentices.
A Carpet Ride to Khiva sees Alexander being stripped naked at a former Soviet youth camp, crawling through silkworm droppings in an attempt to record their life-cycle, holed up in the British Museum discovering carpet designs dormant for half a millennia, tackling a carpet-thieving mayor, distinguishing natural dyes from sacks of opium in Northern Afghanistan, bluffing his way through an impromptu version of "My Heart Will Go On" for national Uzbek TV and seeking sanctuary as an anti-Western riot consumed the Kabul carpet bazaar. It is an unforgettable true travel story of a journey to the heart of the unknown and the unexpected friendship one man found there.
Enjoyable account of the seven years the author spent in the remote desert oasis of Khiva, Uzbekistan.
This travelogue enriches our understanding of a little-known world, and as Christopher is taken into an Uzbeki family there are some nice touches as West meets East – like when he is hailed a mystic for predicting Bobby Ewing's return from the grave as Uzbekis get their first taste of Dallas.
Unsparing in his censure of Uzbekistan's repressive government, the author nevertheless paints a sympathetic and often humorous portrait of Khiva's residents…. More than just a tableau of Khiva, the book also paints a picture of a foreigner's integration into the community.
…serves as a primer on the mysteries of sericulture, and on the endless ramifications of the natural-dyer's craft. His pursuit of powdered madder root takes him deep into Afghanistan, whence he emerges after close shaves.
Alexander is an excellent guide through the chaos of local life, and his writing is thick with his adventures in this walled city, drawing a vivid portrait of the domestic lives of his Uzbek hosts with great affection and humour, while also casting his eye over the history of trade on the Silk Road.
The fact the author lived and worked among Khiva's inhabitants for so long distinguishes "A Carpet Ride to Khiva" from many travel books, as we glimpse life in a Central Asian "desert oasis" of silk, carpets and extraordinarily colourful natural dyes.
An extraordinary tale of adventure and enterprise set in the heart of Central Asia, beautifully told, by a most unusual young man. Hopefully it will inspire others to embark on similar ventures.
Too many travel writers visit Central Asia in a hurry, bulking out their own misadventures with a slice of the region's colourful history. But the strength of this readable book derives from the author's patience: after seven years in Uzbekistan, Alexander has provided a frank and penetrating portrait of the country, with all its contradictions and absurdities. He writes with clear-eye observation and courage, and never fails to emphasize the ingrained hospitality and random acts of kindness that remind you that, in spite of everything, Central Asia is still an exceptionally alluring place.
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The World's Greatest Idea
The World's Greatest Idea (eBook)
John Farndon
Where would humanity be now without fire, vaccinations, farming … or wine? A great idea is one that has changed the path of human civilisation. But which is the greatest of them all? John Farndon, author of the bestselling Do You Think You’re Clever?, has set out to find the answer. A distinguished panel of experts agreed on a list of 50 ideas, and each chapter of The World’s Greatest Idea sees Farndon explore the argument for a different one. The candidates are intriguingly varied: Electricity grids enable us to power our cities, but then sewers allowed those cities to grow. Without the wheel, modern civilisation would be pretty much impossible, but take away Logic and we’d lose the essential structures for rational thought … But then what would be the point of all of this without the idea of romance? The World’s Greatest Idea is an enthralling voyage of discovery through the most powerful intellectual, social, scientific and creative brainwaves humans have ever had. They are ranked in the book determined by a public vote on www.theworldsgreatestidea.com But will you agree with the verdict?
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Perfect Rigour
Perfect Rigour (eBook)
A Genius and the Mathematical Breakthrough of a Lifetime
Masha Gessen
In 2006, an eccentric Russian mathematician named Grigori Perelman solved one of the world's greatest intellectual puzzles. The Poincare conjecture is an extremely complex topological problem that had eluded the best minds for over a century. In 2000, the Clay Institute in Boston named it one of seven great unsolved mathematical problems, and promised a million dollars to anyone who could find a solution. Perelman was awarded the prize this year – and declined the money. Journalist Masha Gessen was determined to find out why. Drawing on interviews with Perelman's teachers, classmates, coaches, teammates, and colleagues in Russia and the US – and informed by her own background as a math whiz raised in Russia – she set out to uncover the nature of Perelman's astonishing abilities. In telling his story, Masha Gessen has constructed a gripping and tragic tale that sheds rare light on the unique burden of genius.
Gessen provides a thorough account of the circumstances that led to Perelman's rise in the 'vicious, backstabbing little world of Soviet mathematics and a brilliant reconstruction of the twisted logic that might have led to his mysterious exit. In so doing she has written something rare: an accessible book about an unreachable man.
Perelman and the world of Soviet maths training make a fascinating, moving tale, and in 'Perfect Rigour' Masha Gessen tells it brilliantly.
Perelman possessed and developed a perfect mathematical mind with which he achieved a unique triumph in maths. But having a perfect mind in an imperfect world, is almost bound to end in tragedy, as Masha Gessen's brilliant book reveals.
Gessen gives us a long and vivid description of the world of Soviet mathematics in the 1970s…. Gessen paints a memorable picture of a Soviet sub-culture in which the great players of the mathematical game were nurtured much like the most promising young tennis stars… Gessen's research and reportage portrays the ultimate misfit mathematician…
This strange tale highlights the intensity of the world of modern mathematics and the nature of some of the semi-autistic savants who live in it…. 'Perfect Rigour' is readable, coherent, and enjoyable and we get a distinct image of a man crippled by his inabilities to empathize with or understand other men or women.
[I] hugely enjoyed reading Masha Gessen's book. It gives the reader such an insight into Perelman, mathematics and Soviet education. The book will sit on my shelves between Simon Singh's Fermat's 'Last Theorem' and Graham Farmelo's 'The Strangest Man'.
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The Girl on the Wall
The Girl on the Wall (eBook)
One Life's Rich Tapestry
Jean Baggott
Jean Baggott is 'the girl on the wall' – a 1948 photograph taken of her when she was eleven – whose life was never going to be remarkable and the pinnacle of whose achievements would come from being a wife and a mother. Almost 60 years later, with her children gone, dealing with the loss of the love of her life, Jean began the education denied to her as a girl. Inspired by ceilings of Lincolnshire's Burghley House and by the History degree she had begun, Jean began to stitch a tapestry which looked back at her life and the changing world around her. It took sixteen months to complete. The tapestry consists of over 70 intersecting circles, each telling some aspect of her life. Some represent extraordinary events such as the moon landings or world historical news stories like the Cuban Missile Crisis; some circles comment on famous people and places she remembers, others about the music she loves – Pink Floyd – and the games she played as a child, and growing up during the second world war with her brothers. Each chapter of "The Girl on the Wall" features a circle from the tapestry and Jean's accompanying narrative, exploring the circle and the memories it evokes. It reveals an ordinary life in extraordinary detail. The result is a truly unique, touching portrait of a seemingly average British woman's life. To stand back and look at the tapestry is to be struck by the richness of one human journey – from 1940 to the present day. The girl on the wall would be proud. The book includes a full-colour pull-out of Jean's tapestry inside the back cover.
Stop all the reading clocks because the most exquisite book arrived yesterday; it's quite taken my breath away… [it is] a remarkable and unique visual representation of her life, memories and associations in all their astonishing and intricate detail and it really is the most stunning work of art.
The writing style is knowledgeable yet unpretentious and with an intimacy that reveals Jean to be a wonderful raconteur.
The author's words convey a richness of a life well-lived.
An engrossing read.
A fascinating and intricate project.
A unique record of her life and times…
The most moving moments of the past 70 years captured in one woman's extraordinary embroidered memoir.
Jean Baggott has not only written about her life, she has produced an exceptional cross-stitch tapestry that details events in her own life and records those momentous historical events that have formed its backdrop.
It could be the stuff of misery memoirs but in Jean Baggott's nimble fingers, this life's rich tapestry positively shimmers.
A remarkable woman tells the story of her remarkable life.
A most extraordinary new book… there are valuable observations in the book too complex to be rendered in thread… her work can be read as a quietly profound celebration.
Unique.
A mother's day gift to delight in.
An extraordinary piece of work. A Unique book.
Her memoir evokes a childhood whose privations did nothing to stop her enjoying a full and satisfying life. Those who were old enough to remember those days will thank her for bringing them back; others will learn perhaps for the first time what they were really like.
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30-Second Economics
30-Second Economics (eBook)
The 50 Most Thought-Provoking Economic Theories, Each Explained in Half a Minute
Donald Marron
Keynesian Economics, Free Market Capitalism, Monetarism, Game Theory and the Invisible Hand. Sure, you know what they mean. That is, you've certainly heard of them. But do you know enough about these economic theories to join a dinner party debate or dazzle the bar with your financial knowledge?
30 Second Economics takes the top 50 economic theories, and explains them to the general reader in half a minute, using nothing more than two pages, 300 words and one picture. Economics will suddenly seem a lot more fun than the economy, and make a lot more sense, and along the way you'll meet founding fathers of modern economics such as Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Alfred Marshall. From Marxism to Mercantilism, plus everything in between, this is the ultimate 'crash' course in economic theory.
The perfect book for anyone confused by the whole subject of economics … Lightning insights are given into economic concepts from the past and present that effect our lives … It's fascinating.
[a] clever approach to digesting information.
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Join the Club
Join the Club (eBook)
How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World
Tina Rosenberg
In the style of Nudge or The Spirit Level – a groundbreaking book that will change the way you look at the world. Tina Rosenberg has spent her career tackling some of the world's hardest problems. The Haunted Land, her searing book on how Eastern Europe faced the crimes of Communism, was awarded both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize in the US. In Join the Club, she identifies a brewing social revolution that is changing the way people live, based on harnessing the positive force of peer pressure. Her stories of peer power in action show how it has reduced teen smoking in the United States, made villages in India healthier and more prosperous, helped minority students get top grades in college calculus, and even led to the fall of Slobodan Milosevic. She tells how creative social entrepreneurs are starting to use peer pressure to accomplish goals as personal as losing weight and as global as fighting terrorism. Inspiring and engrossing, Join the Club explains how we can better our world through humanity's most powerful and abundant resource: our connections with one another.
Timely, thoughtful and important.'
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A Practical Guide to Child Psychology
A Practical Guide to Child Psychology (eBook)
Understand Your Kids and Enjoy Parenting
Kairen Cullen
Embrace the ups and downs of parenting.
Guided by experts in children’s development, explore new approaches to parenting, understand how they can benefit your family and learn how to put them into practice straight away.
Accepting that every child is unique, and that parenting is a continuous learning process, educational psychologist and parenting expert Dr Kairen Cullen explains how best to understand your child and respond to their needs.
Dr Kairen Cullen
is a chartered psychologist with, and a previous chair of, the Division of
Educational and Child Psychology, British Psychological Society (BPS). She has
written for a number of academic and educational publications including The
Times Educational Supplement and 5 to 7 and Childcare
magazines.
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A Practical Guide to CBT
A Practical Guide to CBT (eBook)
From Stress to Strength
Clair Pollard Elaine Foreman Elaine Iljon Foreman
Overcome fears, manage negativity and improve your life.
Using the tools of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), understand your behaviour and how to change negative patterns, learn how to think differently about problematic situations, put your worries into perspective and start to feel better, achieving and exceeding your goals.
Clinical psychologists Clair Pollard and Elaine Iljon Foreman offer activities to support you, stories to provide perspective and a clear framework to guide you. This Practical Guide will help you to develop effective coping strategies, so that you can think more constructively, act more calmly, and feel better about yourself.
Part of the Reading Well Books on Prescription scheme.
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The First Time
The First Time (eBook)
True Tales of Virginity Lost and Found
Kate Monro
A groundbreaking and very personal insight into modern sexuality. Losing our virginity – it happens to all of us. How did it happen for you? What do other people think and feel about it? In February 2007, Kate Monro went on a mission to find out. She decided to ask as many people as possible – how did you lose your virginity? Men and women, old and young, gay, straight, Christian and Muslim; the stories range from the funny and the sad to the happy and occasionally, the unbelievable. Thus was born her much reviewed blog, The Virginity Project, and now this book. How do we define the loss of our virginity? What, if any, impact does the first time have on the rest of our lives? And in some cases how do we know for sure when that moment has occurred? After all sorts of conversations with all sorts of people, Kate will reveal the truth about other people's most intimate sexual stories. She also discovers that the answers are not always as straightforward as you might think.
A mass observation project for the internet generation.
Britain's virginity is explored in breathtakingly intimate detail but also with incredible tact and diplomacy.
A revealing insight into modern sexuality.
The book is incredibly rich in its insights and observations on human sexuality and the recognition of how we become sexual … masterful, lovely, and absolutely thrilling.
Monro's book is clearly one of the best volumes written to date on virginity and how precisely we define virginity (and, of course, its loss)…A masterful, lovely, and absolutely thrilling book.
An often-touching insight into one of the most intimate and rarely discussed events in a human being's life.
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A Practical Guide to Mindfulness
A Practical Guide to Mindfulness (eBook)
Be Present in this Moment
Tessa Watt
Appreciate your life- right here, right now.
Learn how to use mindfulness every day, by listening to your body, becoming more aware of the present and letting go of negative thoughts.
Mindfulness teacher and consultant Tessa Watt introduces simple techniques with lots of examples and exercises for newcomers to begin right away, as well as outlining deeper mindfulness practice for those who wish to take it further.
Reduce anxiety and handle your emotions more effectively, enjoy the moment and recover from bad moods more quickly, and slow down and find your own source of calm.
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A Practical Guide to Happiness
A Practical Guide to Happiness (eBook)
Think Deeply and Flourish
Will Buckingham
Apply the wisdom of philosophers to become a happier person.
What is happiness? What makes you happy?Is there more to life than happiness?
Learn to cultivate your taste for pleasure, free yourself from the various disturbances of life, and overcome irrational expectations that cause distress. Go with the flow and rediscover the joy of existence.
Filled with exercises, tips and case studies, this Practical Guide will enable you to see happiness in a new light, with the help of the world’s greatest minds
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Messi – 2013 Edition
Messi – 2013 Edition (eBook)
The Inside Story of the Boy Who Became a Legend
Luca Caioli
El Pibe de Oro. The Golden Boy. Diego Maradona’s unwaning shadow looms large over world football. In 2007 the brilliant Argentine chose Lionel Messi as his successor to the famous No. 10 shirt. But you can never be sure that potential will be fulfilled.
Three years later, Messi – El Pulga, the Flea – is a European Champion, Olympic Gold Medallist, the most naturally gifted footballer on the planet and a hero to millions of fans across the globe. Champions, reporters and coaches blunder time and time again in their haste to find superstars. This time they got it right.
Aged only 22, he shows a degree of maturity rarely seen on the soccer pitch. Yet underneath the layers of footballing brilliance, he is still the shy boy who describes his Maradona moment with disarming simplicity: ‘I saw the gap and I went for it.’ Transcending both club and country, he is a sporting god who prefers homemade cookies to brand name perfumes.
Author Luca Caioli draws on exceptional testimonies. Messi’s parents, Celia and Jorge, his bother Rodrigo and his uncles and aunts; his coaches at Grandoli and Newell’s Old Boys; Charly Rexach, Alex García, Frank Rjikaard, Gianluca Zambrotta from Barcelona; Hugo Tocalli, Pancho Ferrero, el Coco Basile, Roberto Perfumo from Argentina. And to conclude, Leo Messi himself sizes up his life so far.
