Icon News & Events
‘What would make you happier: a new baby or a lottery win? Don’t scoff. Scientists are using new ways to measure happiness, and you might be surprised by what they are finding.’
Posted on 2010/11/29 in General, tagged as
The Calgary Herald in Canada runs a feature on Nick Powdthavee’s The Happiness Equation, published earlier this year by Icon. ‘For instance, he found that, on average, children don’t make us happy or keep us happy, although they are associated with a brief spike in satisfaction for the first years after a baby is born. For the average person in the United Kingdom, the first year after having a child is the happiness equivalent of winning about 2,… Read more »
‘A superb and long overdue popular treatment of Medieval science, 5/5’
Posted on 2010/11/29 in General, tagged as
James Hannam’s God’s Philosophers is reviewed by, ahem, Conan the Cimmerian on his blog … and very well he thinks of the book, too. Read the full review here.
Cordelia Fine’s Delusions of Gender is picked as a ‘book of the year’ again – this time by Jeanette Winterson in the Guardian
Posted on 2010/11/27 in General, tagged as
The Guardian asks which books most excited its writers this year? For Jeanette Winterson one is ‘Cordelia Fine’s brilliant book Delusions of Gender’. You can read it all here.
Another book of the year – this time Delusions of Gender in the Evening Standard
Posted on 2010/11/25 in General, tagged as
‘I loved Cordelia Fine’s Delusions of Gender. Fine is that rare combination of a great scientist and a great writer, launching a witty and impeccably researched attack on the idea that the differences between the sexes are hard-wired in our brains.’ – Rosamund Unwin You can see all the selected titles here.
British government to start measuring the nation’s happiness
Posted on 2010/11/25 in General, tagged as
David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, apparently first suggested the idea of a ‘happiness index’ five years ago. Well, now the government is to invest £2million in a project within the Office of National Statistics which will start measuring factors such as income inequality, health and education levels and the environment. You can read more about the project here. Naturally, we’d strongly recommend the PM read The Happiness Equation by Nick… Read more »
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 2010 result
Posted on 2010/11/24 in General, tagged as
Many congratulations to Amy Sackville, and her publisher Portabello Books, for winning the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 2010 last night with The Still Point. You can read the Booktrust’s press release here. Unfortunately, that meant that Cordelia Fine’s Delusions of Gender, published by us, didn’t win. But you can still buy it here!
P.J. Kavanagh chooses Anthony O’Hear’s The Great Books as a ‘book of the year’ in The Spectator
Posted on 2010/11/22 in General, tagged as
The Great Books – From the Iliad and the Odyssey to Goethe’s Faust: A Journey Through 2,500 Years of the West’s Classic Literature was originally published in 2007 Read what P.J. Kavanagh says about the book here.
Sewerage – the greatest crap idea ever?
Posted on 2010/11/20 in General, tagged as
John Farndon opens his series of podcasts from his book The World’s Grestest Idea in the gutter – is sewerage the greatest idea mankind has ever had? Listen, learn and say what you think below… The World’s Greatest Idea – John Farndon podcast 1 – Sewerage by Icon Books We’ll be releasing a new podcast every week with John discussing more of the fifty contenders for the ‘world’s greatest idea’ crown from his book – so watch this space. John Farn… Read more »
TWO Icon titles on shortlist for 2010 Educational Writers Award!
Posted on 2010/11/19 in General, tagged as
Both Ben Crystal’s Shakespeare on Toast, and Do You Think You’re Clever? by John Farndon, have made this year’s 2010 Educational Writers Award Shortlist – and there are only two other titles on the list. The Authors’ Licensing & Collecting Society and the Society of Authors created this award in 2008 to ‘celebrate educational writing that inspires creativity and encourages students to read widely and build up their understanding of a subject… Read more »
‘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.’
Posted on 2010/11/17 in General, tagged as
More praise for Cordelia Fine’s Delusions of Gender, this time from Fat Quarter, ‘a magazine for, about and by intelligent, savvy, creative, crafty women (and men too).’ The whole piece is here.
