Books to take a look at…
July 18th, 2008- Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky — Sapolsky is an informed scientist and entertaining writer. Why do we get ulcers and Zebras not?
- How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker — Don’t be afraid to skim parts of it. A great work that explains…well…how the mind works.
- In Praise of Slowness, by Carl Honoré — Stop. Think. Slow down. An antidote to the cult of moving fast.
- Blink by Malcom Gladwell — Decisions made in the blink of an eye. You’ll find much to talk about and much to think about in this entertaining, informative book.
- In Search of Memory by Eric Kandell — Nobel Prize winner Eric Kandel. His personal question to understand how memory works.
- Alchemy of the Mind by Diane Ackerman — Poetic. Beautifully written. An introduction to how our brain works by this poet and science writer.
- The Evolving Self by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi — Mihaly argues that genetically programmed behaviors that once helped humans adapt and multiply now threaten our survival.
- Aphrodite: A Memoire of the Senses by Isabel Allende — Delicious. Sensual. A reminder to relish the world of our senses. Don’t miss out on the recipes!
- The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins — My copy is marked up, dog-eared, torn. A classic primer on genes and how they work. If interested in genetics, this work is the place to start.
- Proust was a Neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer — Learn about how the world’s great artists such as Cezanne, Proust, Auguste Escoffier anticipated the findings of modern neuroscience.
- An Intimate History of Humanity by Theodore Zeldon — with chapters such as “how people have freed themselves from fear by finding new fears,” and “How even astrologers resist their destiny” can you go wrong?
- Rock Warriors Way by Arno Ilgner — an inspiring work on commiting, facing fear, living mindfully. Written for rock climbers, but the inspiration moves far beyond. An inspiring work for anyone.
- The Prehistory of the Mind by Steven Mithen — Mithen speculates as to the evolution of the human mind taking us back through the earliest of our ancestors. He begins to answer the question what makes us human.
- The Art of Worldy Wisdom by Balthasar Gracián — If there’s one self help book to buy, it’s this one. Gems of wisdom on conducting our daily affairs by this 17th c. Jesuit scholar. #83 Allow yourself some venial fault. #193 Beware of someone who pretends to put your interest before his own. #242 Let the guile of the serpent alternate with the innocence of the dove.