Social sciences

Drawn from the work of StoryCorps, the largest and most ambitious oral history project in American history, this tapestry--as heard on NPR--shares hard-won wisdom and boundless humanity ("Seattle Post-Intelligencer").

"Brings together the cognitive, the cultural, and the neurological in an elegant, compelling narrative. A revelatory work."--Oliver Sacks, M.D. The act of reading is so easily taken for granted that we forget what an astounding feat it is. How can a few black marks on white paper evoke an entire universe of meanings? It's even more amazing when we consider that we read using a primate brain tha

A New York Times Bestseller, with an updated explanation of the 2010 Health Reform Bill "Important and powerful . . . a rich tour of health care around the world." —Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times Bringing to bear his talent for explaining complex issues in a clear, engaging way, New York Times bestselling author T. R. Reid visits industrialized democracies

Q. Why are there almost as many jokes about death as there are about sex?  A. Because they both scare the pants off us. Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein first made a name for themselves with the outrageously funny New York Times bestseller Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar.... Now they turn their attention to the Big "D" and share the timeless wisdom of the great philosophers, theol

Visionary game designer McGonigal reveals how we can harness the power of games to solve real-world problems and boost global happiness.

Ghaemi, who runs the Mood Disorders Program at Tufts University Medical Center, draws from the careers such notable leaders as Lincoln, Churchill, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., JFK, and others to build an argument at once controversial and compelling.

Reveals the secrets of self-control. This title shows us that willpower is like a muscle that can be strengthened with practice and improved over time. It teaches you how to gain from self-control without pain, and discover the real power in willpower.

Faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism, one could easily think this is the most violent age ever seen. Yet as bestselling author Pinker shows in this startling and engaging new work, just the opposite is true: violence has been diminishing for millennia and this may be the most peaceful time in mankind's existence.

A successful Wall Street trader turned neuroscientist reveals how risk taking and stress transform our body chemistry Before he became a world-class scientist, John Coates ran a derivatives trading desk in New York City. He used the expression “the hour between dog and wolf” to refer to the moment of Jekyll-and-Hyde transformation traders passed through when under pressure. They became cocky and

The New York Times bestselling guide to thinking like literature's greatest detective. "Steven Pinker meets Sir Arthur Conan Doyle" (Boston Globe), by the author of The Confidence Game.  No fictional character is more renowned for his powers of thought and observation than Sherlock Holmes. But is his extraordinary intellect merely a gift of fiction, or can we learn to cultivate these abiliti

The bestselling author of The How of Happiness reveals how to find opportunity in life’s thorniest moments   Focusing on life’s biggest, messiest moments, Sonja Lyubomirsky provides readers with the clear-eyed vision they need to build the healthiest, most satisfying life. Lyubomirsky argues that we have been given false promises—myths that assure us that lifelong happines

The Oscar-shortlisted documentary Command and Control, directed by Robert Kenner, finds its origins in Eric Schlosser's book and continues to explore the little-known history of the management and safety concerns of America's nuclear aresenal. “A devastatingly lucid and detailed new history of nuclear weapons in the U.S. Fascinating.” —Lev Grossman, TIME Magazine “Peril

A bold new way to help anyone change Why is it so hard to change problem behavior—in our kids, our colleagues, and even ourselves? Conventional methods often backfire, creating a downward spiral of resentment and frustration, and a missed opportunity for growth. What if the thinking behind these old methods is wrong?

With Give and Take, Adam Grant not only introduced a landmark new paradigm for success but also established himself as one of his generation's most compelling and provocative thought leaders. In Originals he again addresses the challenge of improving the world, but now from the perspective of becoming original: choosing to champion novel ideas and values that go against the grain, battle conformit

In the spirit of Gretchen Rubin´s megaseller The Happiness Project and Eric Weiner´s The Geography of Bliss, a journalist embarks on a project to discover what it takes to love where you live The average restless American will move 11.7 times in a lifetime. For Melody Warnick, it was move #6, from Austin, Texas, to Blacksburg, Virginia, that threatened to unhinge her. In the lonely aftermath of u

In this Queen Bees and Wannabes for the elementary and middle school set, child and adolescent psychotherapist Katie Hurley shows parents of young girls how to nip mean girl behavior in the bud. Once upon a time, mean girls primarily existed in high school, while elementary school-aged girls spent hours at play and enjoyed friendships without much drama. But in this fast-paced world in which youn

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From communication expert Jefferson Fisher, the definitive book on making your next conversation the one that changes everything No matter who you´re talking to, The Next Conversation gives you immediately actionable strategies and phrases that will forever change how you communicate. Jefferson Fisher, trial lawyer and one of the leading voices on real-world

A landmark investigation of the chemical industry's decades-long campaign to hide the dangers of forever chemicals, told through the story of a small town on the frontlines of an epic public health crisis In 2014, after losing several friends and relatives to cancer, an unassuming insurance underwriter in Hoosick Falls, New York, began to suspect that the local water supply was polluted. When he

What would happen if you finally met your soul mate—but they were married to someone else? In a novel that has become a bestselling phenomenon in Italy, a newcomer to a small town brings with her a gust of modernity, stirring up the passions and secrets of a community on the cusp of change. Salento, Italy, June 1934: A coach stops in the main square of Lizzanello, a tight-knit village wher