Psychology

In "The Power of Habit", award-winning "New York Times" business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. With penetrating intelligence and an ability to distill vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives, Duhigg bri... read more

Do we have bigger brains than dolphins? Does your dog remember where it buried its bone? Why don't sheep laugh or gorillas lie? Why do we remember faces but not names?
In 21 short walks around the human brain, acclaimed psychologist Michael Corballis answers these and other questions by introducing us to what we've lea... read more

Millions of people around the world have - and continue to - improve their lives based on the teachings of Dale Carnegie. In "How to Win Friends and Influence People", Carnegie offers practical advice and techniques, in his exuberant and conversational style, for how to get out of a mental rut and make life more rewarding. Hi... read more

Leading neuroscientist Samuel Barondes shares scientific frameworks and tools for improving your intuitions about people, and sizing them up more consciously, systematically, and successfully. He shows how to use the latest research about personality and character to get along better, choose great friends, decide whom to trus... read more

The element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. It is here that people feel most themselves, inspired and able to achieve at their highest levels. In this ground-breaking book, world renowned creativity expert Ken Robinson identifies a crisis in education and business: whether it's a child bored in cl... read more

Humans are, first and foremost, social creatures. And this, according to the authors of I'll Have What She's Having, shapes--and explains--most of our choices. We're not just blindly driven by hard-wired instincts to hunt or gather or reproduce; our decisions are based on more than "nudges" exploiting individual cognitive qui... read more

This work is a personal testimony from Kay Redfield Jamison: the revelation of her struggle with manic depression since adolescence, and how it has shaped her life. The book follows her through college, a love affair, her battle with the illness, bouts of madness, violence and attempted suicide.

What if almost everything we believed about finding happiness turned out to be inaccurate, misleading, or false? And what if those very beliefs were making us miserable? A growing body of scientific research suggests that we are all caught in a vicious cycle whereby the more we strive for happiness, the more we suffer.
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Barbara Strauch examines how the brain reaches its peak in middle age, and how to keep it there. She explores the findings that demonstrate that the middle-aged brain is more flexible and more capable than previously thought. By describing the ways a healthy brain functions over time, she also explains how its optimal process... read more

'Oliver Sacks is a perfect antidote to the anaesthetic of familiarity. His writing turns brains and minds transparent' Observer How does the brain perceive and interpret information from the eye? And what happens when the process is disrupted? In The Mind's Eye, Oliver Sacks tells the stories of people who are able to navigat... read more

'A humane discourse on the fragility of our minds, of the bodies that give rise to them, and of the world they create for us. This book is filled with wonders' Daily Telegraph Oliver Sacks' compassionate tales of people struggling to adapt to different neurological conditions have fundamentally changed the way we think of our... read more

Human intelligence is among the most powerful forces on earth. This book explains how brains break down problems into useful, solvable parts and then assemble these parts into the complex mental programmes of human thought and action. It is suitable for those curious to understand how their own mind works.

The majority of people now use technology to help them keep track of appointments, get from point A to point B, and stay socially and professionally connected. Yet, we're constantly questioning if this is truly a useful 'crutch,' or if we're merely dampening our own ability to think and remember. In Brain Gain, tech and educa... read more

'An inexhaustible tourist at the farther reaches of the mind, Sacks presents, in sparse, unsentimental prose, the stories of seven of his patients. The result is as rich, vivid and compelling as any collection of short fictional stories' Independent on Sunday As with The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks uses c... read more

Hallucinations, for most people, imply madness. But there are many different types of non-psychotic hallucination caused by various illnesses or injuries, by intoxication - even, for many people, by falling sleep. From the elementary geometrical shapes that we see when we rub our eyes to the complex swirls and blind spots and... read more

Become the master of your world Presents 20 key concepts, or keys, to aid critical thinking Authored by one of the world's most eminent psychologists - and founder of the Flynn Effect Looks at topics such as Race and IQ, "good" science and the current world economic crisis Written in a clear and lucid style, illustrated with many examples

"Andrew Solomon's investigation of many of the most intense challenges that parenthood can bring compels us all to re-examine how we understand human difference. Perhaps the greatest gift of this monumental book, full of facts and full of feelings, is that it constantly makes one think, and think again". (Philip Gourevitch). ... read more

As heard on Book of the Week, Radio 4. 'This book is about change.' We are all storytellers - we make stories to make sense of our lives. But it is not enough to tell tales. There must be someone to listen. In his work as a practising psychoanalyst, Stephen Grosz has spent the last twenty-five years uncovering the hidden feel... read more

In The Happiness Project, she worked out general theories of happiness. Here she goes deeper on factors that matter for home, such as possessions, marriage, time and parenthood. How can she control the cubicle in her pocket? How might she spotlight her family's treasured possessions? And it really was time to replace that dud... read more

The aim of "Mind Whispering" is to transform us into more fully integrated human beings - mentally, emotionally and interpersonally. By using the practical techniques within it, our minds can be more free, our perceptions more true, our responses more artful, our connections more genuine - and our hearts happier. Tara Bennett... read more