History
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In this captivating exploration of digital nosiness, business reporter Baker spotlights a new breed of entrepreneurial mathematicians (the numerati) engaged in harnessing the avalanche of private data individuals provide when they use a credit card, donate to a cause, surf the Internet—or even make a phone call.
Review by Rob Walker, New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/books/review/Walker-t.html
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The history of sexuality in the U.S. is not a progressive jump from repression to freedom, the authors maintain. Instead, sexuality has been continually remolded in each era, reflecting the dictates of economics, family structure and politics.
Review by University of Chicago Press: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo3640327.html
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The 26 women who tell their stories here were incarcerated against their will, often by male family members, for holding views or behaving in ways that deviated from the norms of their day. The authors' accompanying history of both societal and psychiatric standards for women reveals the degree to which the prevailing societal conventions could reinforce the perception that these women were "mad".
Review by Bryant Urstadt, Bloomberg Businessweek: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_09/b4217086779050.htm
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Virtually every day, the news media, television shows, films, and Internet bombard us with claims regarding a host of psychological topics: psychics, out of body experiences, recovered memories, and lie detection, to name merely a few. Even a casual stroll through our neighborhood bookstore reveals dozens of self-help, relationship, recovery, and addiction books that serve up generous portions of advice for steering our paths along life’s rocky road. Yet many popular psychology sources are rife with misconceptions.
Review by Philo Gabriel, Yahoo!: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5979990/book_review_50_great_myths_of_popular.html
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The history of madness and its treatment is a fascinating one. At one time, the mentally ill were diagnosed as demonically possessed; later, when mental illness became the province of psychoanalysts, those conditions that are actually physical in nature, such as schizophrenia or manic depression, went insufficiently treated, their sufferers consigned to asylums.
Review by Harrison G. Pope, Jr., M.D., New England Journal of Medicine: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199707033370120
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The Price of Altruism puts Price's work into a wide scientific and social context, showing real insight into its importance and genuine sympathy for the tale of his life. (Steve Jones - New Scientist)
Review by Frans de Waal, New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/books/review/deWaal-t.html
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Neuropsychologist Valenstein (Brain Control, etc.) here offers a critical and academic history of psychosurgery that he deems a "cautionary tale." The same factors that contributed to the rapid, injudicious acceptance of the lobotomy operationdesperate patients and their families, overcrowded mental institutions, sensationalism by the popular media, physicians' self-aggrandizementtoday still play a major role in prematurely promoting "miracle" medical techniques, warns the author.
Review by Daniel J. Kevles, Los Angeles Times: http://articles.latimes.com/1986-04-13/books/bk-4349_1_elliot-valenstein
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Friedman, T. L.
(2007). The World is Flat, 3.0: A Brief History of the 21st Century.Picador. "Weaving new information into his overall thesis, and answering the questions he has been most frequently asked by parents across the country, this third edition also includes two new chapters–on how to be a political activist and social entrepreneur in a flat world; and on the more troubling question of how to manage our reputations and privacy in a world where we are all becoming publishers and public figures." Read more
(2005). The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century. Farrar, Straus & Giroux. "With his inimitable ability to translate complex foreign policy and economic issues, Friedman explains how the flattening of the world happened at the dawn of the twenty-first century; what it means to countries, companies, communities, and individuals; and how governments and societies can, and must, adapt." Read more
Keltner, D. (2009). Born to be good: The science of a meaningful life. Norton.
From the publisher: "Born to be Good grows out of Dacher Keltner's postgraduate work with Paul Ekman, a pioneer in the study of facial expressions. Revealing the unspoken language of every facial movement, bodily gesture, and vocal tone, often with fascinating illustrations, Keltner charts the highly coordinated patterns of behavior that have been honed by thousands of generations of evolution and that enable individuals to bring the good in others to completion. With studies that are thought-provoking (Is laughing at death a good sign for long-term happiness?) and unconventional (What can studying goose bumps tell us about our spiritual capacities?) Keltner shows how happiness is found in the rich landscape of positive emotions that until recently remained mysterious to science."
For a review from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/19/books/19masl.html?ref=firstchapters
Lilienfeld, S. O., Lynn, S. J., Ruscio, J., & Beyerstein, B. L. (2009) 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior. Wiley-Blackwell.
Addressing some of the myths that are passed on through psychology, US News and World Report asked their readers to weigh in on 10 of them, here are their results, including an interview with author Lilienfeld.
Sapolsky, R. M. (2005). Monkeyluv and other essays on our lives as animals. Schribner.
From the publisher: "In these essays - updated for this volume - Robert Sapolsky once again applies his curiosity, compassion, and generous insight into the human condition to make a case or the science of behavioral biology that tells us who we are, why we are, and how we are."
For a review from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/06/books/review/06shreeve.html
Also by Robert Sapolsky:
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