Author : Scientific American
Publisher : Macmillan
Page : 104 pages
File Size : 16,57 MB
Release : 2002-05-15
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9780716756057
Free when packaged with any Worth text. This special collector's edition features articles that reveal the mysterious inner workings of mind and brain.
Author : Scientific American
Publisher : Macmillan
Page : 120 pages
File Size : 49,46 MB
Release : 2004-08
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9780716724162
Hand-picked by David Myers, these 14 classic and current articles provide another tool for enhancing lectures, encouraging discussions, and emphasizing the relevance of psychology to everyday life. Contents 1. Humbled History [Robert-Benjamin Illing] 2. Rethinking the 'Lesser Brain' [James M. Bower and Lawrence M. Parsons] 3. Promised Land or Purgatory? [Catherine Johnson] 4. Music in Your Head [Eckart O. Alternmuller] 5. Sign Language in the Brain [Gregory Hickok, Ursula Bellugi, and Edward S. Klima] 6. Television Addiction is No Mere Metaphor [Robert Kubey and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi] 7. Islands of Genius [Darold A. Treffert and Gregory L. Wallace] 8. Emotion, Memory, and the Brain [Joseph LeDoux] 9. The Tyranny of Choice [Barry Schwartz] 10. The Mind-Body Interaction in Disease [Esther M. Sternberg and Philip W. Gold] 11. Freud Returns [Mark 11. Solms] 12. Manic Depression and Illness and Creativity [Kay Redfield Jamison] 13. Decoding Schizophrenia [Daniel C. Javitt and Joseph T. Coyle, Scientific American] 14. The Science of Persuasion [Robert Cialdini]
Author : Joel Gold
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 25,85 MB
Release : 2015-07-21
Category : Medical
ISBN : 143918156X
"The Truman Show delusion and other strange beliefs"--Cover.
Author : Jorge Cham
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 369 pages
File Size : 42,81 MB
Release : 2018-05-08
Category : Science
ISBN : 0735211523
Prepare to learn everything we still don’t know about our strange and mysterious universe Humanity's understanding of the physical world is full of gaps. Not tiny little gaps you can safely ignore —there are huge yawning voids in our basic notions of how the world works. PHD Comics creator Jorge Cham and particle physicist Daniel Whiteson have teamed up to explore everything we don't know about the universe: the enormous holes in our knowledge of the cosmos. Armed with their popular infographics, cartoons, and unusually entertaining and lucid explanations of science, they give us the best answers currently available for a lot of questions that are still perplexing scientists, including: * Why does the universe have a speed limit? * Why aren't we all made of antimatter? * What (or who) is attacking Earth with tiny, superfast particles? * What is dark matter, and why does it keep ignoring us? It turns out the universe is full of weird things that don't make any sense. But Cham and Whiteson make a compelling case that the questions we can't answer are as interesting as the ones we can. This fully illustrated introduction to the biggest mysteries in physics also helpfully demystifies many complicated things we do know about, from quarks and neutrinos to gravitational waves and exploding black holes. With equal doses of humor and delight, Cham and Whiteson invite us to see the universe as a possibly boundless expanse of uncharted territory that's still ours to explore.
Author : Shankar Vedantam
Publisher : Random House
Page : 290 pages
File Size : 28,53 MB
Release : 2010-08-31
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 0385525222
The hidden brain is the voice in our ear when we make the most important decisions in our lives—but we’re never aware of it. The hidden brain decides whom we fall in love with and whom we hate. It tells us to vote for the white candidate and convict the dark-skinned defendant, to hire the thin woman but pay her less than the man doing the same job. It can direct us to safety when disaster strikes and move us to extraordinary acts of altruism. But it can also be manipulated to turn an ordinary person into a suicide terrorist or a group of bystanders into a mob. In a series of compulsively readable narratives, Shankar Vedantam journeys through the latest discoveries in neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral science to uncover the darkest corner of our minds and its decisive impact on the choices we make as individuals and as a society. Filled with fascinating characters, dramatic storytelling, and cutting-edge science, this is an engrossing exploration of the secrets our brains keep from us—and how they are revealed.
Author : Siri Carpenter
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 483 pages
File Size : 21,41 MB
Release : 2024-11-05
Category : Science
ISBN : 0226830284
A deeply sourced, inclusive guide to all aspects of science writing with contributions from some of the most skilled and award-winning authors working today. Science writing has never been so critical to our world, and the demands on writers have never been greater. On any given day, a writer might need to explain the details of AI, analyze developments in climate change research, or serve as a watchdog helping to ensure the integrity of the scientific enterprise. At the same time, writers must spin tales that hook and keep readers, despite the endless other demands on their attention. How does one do it? The Craft of Science Writing is the authoritative guide. With pieces curated from the archives of science writers’ go-to online resource, The Open Notebook, this book explores strategies for finding and shaping story ideas, pitching editors, and building a specialty in science writing. It delves into fundamental skills that every science writer must learn, including planning their reporting; identifying, interviewing, and quoting sources; organizing interview notes; and crafting stories that engage and inform audiences. This expanded edition includes new introductory material and nine new essays focusing on such topics as how to establish a science beat, how to find and use quotes, how to critically evaluate scientific claims, how to use social media for reporting, and how to do data-driven reporting. In addition, there are essays on inclusivity in science writing, offering strategies for eradicating ableist language from stories, working with sensitivity readers, and breaking into English-language media for speakers of other languages. Through interviews with leading journalists offering behind-the-scenes inspiration as well as in-depth essays on the craft offering practical advice, readers will learn how the best science stories get made, from conception to completion. Contributors: Humberto Basilio, Siri Carpenter, Jeanne Erdmann, Dan Ferber, Tina Casagrand Foss, Geoffrey Giller, Laura Helmuth, Jane C. Hu, Alla Katsnelson, Roxanne Khamsi, Betsy Ladyzhets, Jyoti Madhusoodanan, Amanda Mascarelli, Robin Meadows, Kate Morgan, Tiên Nguyễn, Michelle Nijhuis, Aneri Pattani, Rodrigo Pérez Ortega, Mallory Pickett, Kendall Powell, Tasneem Raja, Sandeep Ravindran, Marion Renault, Julia Rosen, Megha Satyanarayana, Christina Selby, Knvul Sheikh, Abdullahi Tsanni, Alexandra Witze, Katherine J. Wu, Wudan Yan, Ed Yong, Rachel Zamzow, Sarah Zhang, and Carl Zimmer
Author : Lynn Margulis
Publisher : Chelsea Green Publishing
Page : 386 pages
File Size : 34,14 MB
Release : 2007-08-15
Category : Science
ISBN : 1603580379
Nearly forty of the world's most esteemed scientists discuss the big questions that drive their illustrious careers. Co-editor Eduardo Punset—one of Spain's most loved personages for his popularization of the sciences—interviews an impressive collection of characters drawing out the seldom seen personalities of the world's most important men and woman of science. In Mind, Life and Universe they describe in their own words the most important and fascinating aspects of their research. Frank and often irreverent, these interviews will keep even the most casual reader of science books rapt for hours. Can brain science explain feelings of happiness and despair? Is it true that chimpanzees are just like us when it comes to sexual innuendo? Is there any hard evidence that life exists anywhere other than on the Earth? Through Punset's skillful questioning, readers will meet one scientist who is passionate about the genetic control of everything and another who spends her every waking hour making sure African ecosystems stay intact. The men and women assembled here by Lynn Margulis and Eduardo Punset will provide a source of endless interest. In captivating conversations with such science luminaries as Jane Goodall, James E. Lovelock, Oliver Sachs, and E. O. Wilson, Punset reveals a hidden world of intellectual interests, verve, and humor. Science enthusiasts and general readers alike will devour Mind, Life and Universe, breathless and enchanted by its truths.
Author : Lawrence D. Rosenblum
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
Page : 369 pages
File Size : 36,6 MB
Release : 2011-03-21
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 0393077292
"Eye-opening…memorable…Rosenblum's enthusiasm is contagious and his prose accessible." —Kirkus Reviews In this revealing romp through the mysteries of human perception, University of California psychologist Lawrence D. Rosenblum explores the astonishing abilities of the five senses—skills of which most of us are unaware. Drawing on groundbreaking insights into the brain's plasticity and integrative powers, Rosenblum examines how our brains use the subtlest information to perceive the world. A blind person, for example, can "see" through bat-like echolocation, wine connoisseurs can actually taste the vintage of an obscure wine, and pheromones can signal a lover's compatibility. Bringing us into the world of a blind detective, a sound engineer, a former supermodel, and other unforgettable characters, Rosenblum not only illuminates the science behind our sensory abilities but also demonstrates how awareness of these abilities can enhance their power.
Author : Scientific American Editors
Publisher : Scientific American
Page : 357 pages
File Size : 17,3 MB
Release : 2014-10-06
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 1466858923
How many people achieve a cult following because of their writing in mathematics? Only a handful, and Martin Gardner is among the most well known and well loved. Not only did he present a notoriously difficult subject in an engaging and accessible way, but in doing so, he attracted an incredibly broad readership. His correspondents ranged from academics like Roger Penrose and John Horton Conway to artists MC Escher and Salvador Dali to writer Isaac Asimov. His "Mathematical Games" column in Scientific American ran nearly every month for 26 years and was one of the most popular in the magazine's history. Gardner would have celebrated his 100th birthday this October, and to mark the occasion we've created this eBook collection, Martin Gardner: The Magic and Mystery of Numbers. In this anthology, we strove to create a new "slice" through his wealth of material. Here, we focus on all flavors of number, from common integers and negative numbers to figurate numbers and the exotic random number, Omega, which can be described but not computed. Some of these columns are less well known than, say, his writings about flexagons, but they are no less fun. In true Gardner fashion, they leap from magic and games—as well as art, music, and literature—to flashes of deep mathematical insight. Lattice integers become a billiards challenge and surreal numbers spawn a host of related games. The "abracadabric number e," quoting French entomologist Jean-Henri Fabre, leads to spiders' webs and compounded interest. The binary Gray code inspires a poem and cracks the classic Chinese Rings puzzle. And binary numbers unlock mind-reading tricks and the Tower of Hanoi. Almost every column offers up problems for readers to solve and test their understanding—along with the answers for anyone easily frustrated. We hope that they will prove as inspirational to readers now as they did to earlier audiences.
Author : Kathleen McAuliffe
Publisher : HarperCollins
Page : 299 pages
File Size : 19,48 MB
Release : 2016-06-07
Category : Science
ISBN : 0544193229
“Engrossing . . . [An] expedition through the hidden and sometimes horrifying microbial domain.” —The Wall Street Journal Parasites can live only inside another animal and, as Kathleen McAuliffe reveals, these tiny organisms have many evolutionary motives for manipulating the behavior of their hosts. With astonishing precision, parasites can coax rats to approach cats, spiders to transform the patterns of their webs, and fish to draw the attention of birds that then swoop down to feast on them. We humans are hardly immune to their influence. Organisms we pick up from our own pets are strongly suspected of changing our personality traits and contributing to recklessness and impulsivity—even suicide. Germs that cause colds and the flu may alter our behavior even before symptoms become apparent. Parasites influence our species on the cultural level, too. Drawing on a huge body of research, McAuliffe argues that our dread of contamination is an evolved defense against parasites. The horror and revulsion we are programmed to feel when we come in contact with people who appear diseased or dirty helped pave the way for civilization, but may also be the basis for major divisions in societies that persist to this day. This Is Your Brain on Parasites is both a journey into cutting-edge science and a revelatory examination of what it means to be human. “If you’ve ever doubted the power of microbes to shape society and offer us a grander view of life, read on and find yourself duly impressed.” —Bookforum “Fascinating—and full of the kind of factoids you can’t wait to share.” —Scientific American “Humorous, inspiring, and macabre, this is infectious reading in the tradition of giants like Robert S. Desowitz and Jared Diamond.” —Michael A. Huffman, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University
