Plato argued that inherited knowledge determines human behavior, while Aristotle believed that people come into the world with minds as blank slates. In 1874, Francis Galton, whose cousin was Charles Darwin, used the words “nature”... Read More

Author Richard Kownacki uses the term “eldster” to refer to people who defy society’s expectations for seniors by staying healthy and active or by functioning well in spite of disabilities. The famous artist Grandma Moses started... Read More

We live in an era of pop psychology, where self-help books offer five easy steps to fixing your life, and television personalities like Dr. Phil solve marital problems in fifteen minute segments. It is refreshing to encounter work that... Read More

“Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make men happy,” said Siegbert Tarrasch, one of the many past masters we meet in "Counterplay", by Robert Desjarlais. A tournament chess player and professor of anthropology at Sarah... Read More

Curious about the workings of your brain but can’t deal with neuro-terminology—dendrites, axons, synapses, and such? Terry Radford’s "Between Our Ears" compares the structure of the mind to a computer software system, using a... Read More

With wit, wisdom, and occasional hilarity, Robert Kurzban offers explanations for why we do the things we do, such as morally condemning the sale of human organs and locking the refrigerator at night to keep from snacking. Anyone who has... Read More

As a profession that largely takes place behind closed doors, psychotherapy is particularly dependent on the shared wisdom of its practitioners, and high-quality books by experienced therapists are always welcomed. In Psychotherapy in... Read More

“I gave long thought to whether I’d use my own name for this book,” writes Deborah Fruchey, who has bipolar disorder with psychotic features. She courageously decided to use her real name to fight stigma. Fruchey effectively adapts... Read More