A memoir about downward mobility, disability and the power of hope.Sam always knew he was starting life on the back foot. When his parents split, Sam, his mother and his brother had to learn to survive in a world not built for single-parent families. Add to that Sam’s diagnosis with a form of dwarfism and the odds seemed stacked against them. As surgeons kept breaking and resetting Sam’s legs in attempts to keep him walking, disability and poverty collided, and it took all the famil...

For the last ten years psychologist Sam Gosling has been studying how people project (and protect) their inner selves. By exploring our private worlds (desks, bedrooms, even our clothes and our cars), he shows not only how we showcase our personalities in unexpected—and unplanned—ways, but also how we create personality in the first place, communicate it to others, and interpret the world around us. Gosling, one of the field's most innovative researchers, dispatches teams of scientific sno...

The surest route to a happier, more productive life and futureMost of us want to succeed. And most of us want to do the right thing. But we often forget that the way tosucceed is by doing the right thing, as Barry Schwartz and Kenneth Sharpe remind us in Practical Wisdom:The Right Way to Do the Right Thing. When the institutions that shape our society need to change, the peoplein them typically either make more rul...

From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes incredible stories of science, history, language, and music, as told by our own DNA.In The Disappearing Spoon, bestselling author Sam Kean unlocked the mysteries of the periodic table. In The Violinist's Thumb, he explores the wonders of the magical building block of life: DNA.There are genes to explain crazy cat ladies, why other people have no fingerprints, and why some peopl...

The author of the bestseller The Disappearing Spoon reveals the secret inner workings of the brain through strange but true stories.Early studies of the human brain used a simple method: wait for misfortune to strike -- strokes, seizures, infectious diseases, horrendous accidents -- and see how victims coped. In many cases their survival was miraculous, if puzzling. Observers were amazed by the transformations that took place when different parts of the br...

We forget our passwords. We pay too much to go to the gym. We think we’d be happier if we lived in California (we wouldn’t), and we think we should stick with our first answer on tests (we shouldn’t). Why do we make mistakes? And could we do a little better?We human beings have design flaws. Our eyes play tricks on us, our stories change in the retelling, and most of us are fairly sure we’re way above average. In Why We Make Mistakes, journalist J...

Rethink the Way You ThinkIn hindsight, every great idea seems obvious. But how can you be the person who comes up with those ideas?In this revised and expanded edition of his groundbreaking Thinkertoys, creativity expert Michael Michalko reveals life-changing tools that will help you think like a genius. From the linear to the intuitive, this comprehensive handbook details ingenious creative-thinking techniques for approaching problems in unconventi...

The Freakonomics of math—a math-world superstar unveils the hidden beauty and logic of the world and puts its power in our handsThe math we learn in school can seem like a dull set of rules, laid down by the ancients and not to be questioned. In How Not to Be Wrong, Jordan Ellenberg shows us how terribly limiting this view is: Math isn’t confined to abstract incidents that never occur in real life, but rather touches everything we...

In Jared Diamond’s follow-up to the Pulitzer Prize–winning Guns, Germs and Steel, the author explores how climate change, the population explosion, and political discord create the conditions for the collapse of civilization.Environmental damage, climate change, globalization, rapid population growth, and unwise political choices were all factors in the demise of societies around the world, but some found solutions and persisted. As in Guns, Germs, and Steel, Diam...

If you have ever dreamed of a better life, Unlimited Power from #1 New York Times bestseller Tony Robbins shows you how to achieve the extraordinary quality of life you desire and deserve, and how to master your personal and professional life.Anthony Robbins calls it the new science of personal achievement. You'll call it the best thing that ever happened to you.Anthony Robbins has proven to millions through his books, tapes, and seminars ...

The No.1 New York Times BestsellerIn China, for the first time, the people who weigh too much now outnumber those who weigh too little. In Mexico, the obesity rate has tripled in the past three decades. In the UK over 60 per cent of adults and 30 per cent of children are overweight, while the United States remains the most obese country in the world.We are hooked on salt, sugar and fat. These three simple ingredients are used by the major food companies to achieve ...

Lurking in the dark corners of this bizarre case was not just a demented mind obsessed with murder...but secrets so deadly that even a street-tough cop could die guessing.