Books to take a look at…
July 18th, 2008- Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric origins of Modern Sexuality by C. Ryan and C. Jethá. Challenges our assumptions about the origins of human sexuality, monogamy, women’s sexuality, and family dynamics. Thought provoking ideas as to why “till death do you part” is so challenging to sustain.
- 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.