Why have all human cultures - today and throughout history - made music? Why does music excite such rich emotion? How do we make sense of musical sound? These are questions that have, until recently, remained mysterious. Now The Music Instinct explores how the latest research in music psychology and brain science is piecing together the puzzle of how our minds understand and respond to music. Ranging from Bach fugues to nursery rhymes to heavy rock, Philip Ball interweaves philosophy, mathematics, history and neurology to reveal why music moves us in so many ways. Without requiring any specialist knowledge, The Music Instinct will both deepen your appreciation of the music you love, and open doors to music that once seemed alien, dull or daunting, offering a passionate plea for the importance of music in education and in everyday life.

Why are some people and organisations more inventive, pioneering and successful than others? And why are they able to repeat their success again and again?In business, it doesn't matter what you do, it matters WHY you do it.Start with Why analyses leaders like Martin Luther King Jr and Steve Jobs and discovers that they all think in the same way - they all started with why.Simon Sinek explains the framework needed for businesses to move past knowing what they do to how they do it, and then to ask the more important question-WHY?Why do we do what we do? Why do we exist? Learning to ask these questions can unlock the secret to inspirational business. Sinek explains what it truly takes to lead and inspire and how anyone can learn how to do it.

Why are some people and organisations more inventive, pioneering and successful than others? And why are they able to repeat their success again and again?In business, it doesn't matter what you do, it matters WHY you do it.Start with Why analyses leaders like Martin Luther King Jr and Steve Jobs and discovers that they all think in the same way - they all started with why.Simon Sinek explains the framework needed for businesses to move past knowing what they do to how they do it, and then to ask the more important question-WHY?Why do we do what we do? Why do we exist? Learning to ask these questions can unlock the secret to inspirational business. Sinek explains what it truly takes to lead and inspire and how anyone can learn how to do it.

The New York Times bestselling book which examines how humans experience music and unravels the mystery of our perennial love affair with it Using musical examples from Bach to the Beatles, Levitin reveals the role of music in human evolution, shows how our musical preferences begin to form even before we are born and explains why music can offer such an emotional experience. Music is an obsession at the heart of human nature, even more fundamental to our species than language. In This Is Your Brain On Music Levitin offers nothing less than a new way to understand it, and its role in human life

Why can't we think straight when hungry? What's the point of nightmares? And why is it so impossible to forget embarrassing memories? Emotions can be a pain. After losing his dad to Covid-19, Dean Burnett found himself wondering what life would be like without them. And so, he decided to put his feelings under the microscope - for science. In Emotional Ignorance, Dean takes us on an incredible journey of discovery, stretching from the origins of life to the end of the universe. Along the way he reveals: - why we would ever follow our gut; - whether things really were better in the old days; - why doomscrolling is so addictive; - and how sad music can make us happier. Combining expert analysis, brilliant humour and powerful insights into the grieving process, Dean uncovers how, far from holding us back, our emotions make us who we are.

In The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature, Steven Pinker looks at how the relationship between words and thoughts can help us understand who we are. Why do so many swear words involve topics like sex, bodily functions or the divine? Why do some children’s names thrive while others fall out of favour? Why do we threaten and bribe and seduce in such elaborate, often comical ways? How can a choice of metaphor damn a politician or start a war? And why do we rarely say what we actually mean? Language, as Steven Pinker shows, is at the heart of our lives, and through the way we use it - whether to inform, persuade, entertain or manipulate - we can glimpse the very essence of what makes us human.

In The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature, Steven Pinker looks at how the relationship between words and thoughts can help us understand who we are. Why do so many swear words involve topics like sex, bodily functions or the divine? Why do some children’s names thrive while others fall out of favour? Why do we threaten and bribe and seduce in such elaborate, often comical ways? How can a choice of metaphor damn a politician or start a war? And why do we rarely say what we actually mean? Language, as Steven Pinker shows, is at the heart of our lives, and through the way we use it - whether to inform, persuade, entertain or manipulate - we can glimpse the very essence of what makes us human.

How The Body Works is a fascinating exploration of the weird and wonderful processes that occur within the human body, often without us knowing. Understand how our bodies keep us alive and thriving and get to the bottom of such niggling questions as why we get dizzy, why we get butterflies in our stomachs, and why we get jetlag! How The Body Works is a bold and accessible visual guide to every aspect of how the human body and brain works, combining the science of human anatomy books with beautiful images. Enjoy this enlightening resource that covers everything from skin to bone and even the psychology of dreams and emotions.

Have you ever listened to an incredible piece of music and wondered exactly why it makes you want to dance or cry? Are you mystified by how musicians just 'know' what notes to play next when they're improvising? Or why certain notes sound great together and others clash? Discover the answers in this ear-opening tour of how music works. John Powell, a classically-trained composer and a physics professor, decided to write this entertaining, pain-free guide to the ingredients of music when he discovered that all the other books on the subject gave him a headache. Here he reveals the often little-known facts and fascinating science behind what we listen to, explaining the basics of harmony, scales, chords, keys and rhythm in a way that's easy for everyone to understand. He also shows us why a note has a different sound to a normal noise, why Chinese people are more likely to have perfect pitch, and even why Beethoven and Led Zeppelin are musically similar. This book reveals things that people who play music should know but often don't, and will help all of us - even if we can't read a note - increase our listening pleasure.

Winner Of The Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize 2020. How proteins, machine learning and molecular chemistry can teach us about the complexities of human behaviour and the world around us How do we understand the people around us? How do we recognise people's motivations, their behaviour, or even their facial expressions? And, when do we learn the social cues that dictate human behaviour? Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at the age of eight, Camilla Pang struggled to understand the world around her and the way people worked. Desperate for a solution, Camilla asked her mother if there was an instruction manual for humans that she could consult. But, without the blueprint to life she was hoping for, Camilla began to create her own. Now armed with a PhD in biochemistry, Camilla dismantles our obscure social customs and identifies what it really means to be human using her unique expertise and a language she knows best: science. Through a set of scientific principles, this book examines life's everyday interactions including: - Decisions and the route we take to make them; - Conflict and how we can avoid it; - Relationships and how we establish them; - Etiquette and how we conform to it. Explaining Humans is an original and incisive exploration of human nature and the strangeness of social norms, written from the outside looking in. Camilla's unique perspective of the world, in turn, tells us so much about ourselves - about who we are and why we do it - and is a fascinating guide on how to lead a more connected, happier life.

How The Body Works is a fascinating exploration of the weird and wonderful processes that occur within the human body, often without us knowing. Understand how our bodies keep us alive and thriving and get to the bottom of such niggling questions as why we get dizzy, why we get butterflies in our stomachs, and why we get jetlag! How The Body Works is a bold and accessible visual guide to every aspect of how the human body and brain works, combining the science of human anatomy books with beautiful images. Enjoy this enlightening resource that covers everything from skin to bone and even the psychology of dreams and emotions.

How The Body Works is a fascinating exploration of the weird and wonderful processes that occur within the human body, often without us knowing. Understand how our bodies keep us alive and thriving and get to the bottom of such niggling questions as why we get dizzy, why we get butterflies in our stomachs, and why we get jetlag! How The Body Works is a bold and accessible visual guide to every aspect of how the human body and brain works, combining the science of human anatomy books with beautiful images. Enjoy this enlightening resource that covers everything from skin to bone and even the psychology of dreams and emotions.

In this funny, erudite, endlessly curious, uncannily prescient collection of essays cultural icon Margaret Atwood asks: - Why do people everywhere, in all cultures, tell stories? - How much of yourself can you give away without evaporating? - How can we live on our planet? - Is it true? And is it fair? - What do zombies have to do with authoritarianism? In over fifty pieces Atwood aims her prodigious intellect and impish humour at our world, and reports back to us on what she finds. The roller-coaster period covered in the collection brought an end to the end of history, a financial crash, the rise of Trump and a pandemic. From debt to tech, the climate crisis to freedom; from when to dispense advice to the young (answer: only when asked) to how to define granola, we have no better questioner of the many and varied mysteries of our human universe.

Engineering helps shape the world around us, from the houses and cities we live in, to the way we travel, and even the sound of the music we listen to. Lift the flaps in this fascinating book to discover how engineering works and the many things engineers do. Includes internet links to find out more. Published for the 2018 Year of Engineering.

How can your name affect how well you do in life? What do estate agents and the Ku Klux Klan have in common? Why do drug dealers live with their mothers? The answer: Freakonomics. It's at the heart of everything we do and the things that affect us daily: from sex to crime, parenting to politics, fat to cheating, fear to traffic jams. And we can use it to get to the heart of what's really happening under the surface of everyday life. This cult bestseller will show you how, by unravelling your life's secret codes, you can discover a totally new way of seeing the world.

How proteins, machine learning and molecular chemistry can teach us about the complexities of human behaviour and the world around us. How do we understand the people around us? How do we recognise people’s motivations, their behaviour, or even their facial expressions? And, when do we learn the social cues that dictate human behaviour? Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at the age of eight, Camilla Pang struggled to understand the world around her and the way people worked. Desperate for a solution, Camilla asked her mother if there was an instruction manual for humans that she could consult. But, without the blueprint to life she was hoping for, Camilla began to create her own. Now armed with a PhD in biochemistry, Camilla dismantles our obscure social customs and identifies what it really means to be human using her unique expertise and a language she knows best: science. Through a set of scientific principles, this book examines life’s everyday interactions including: - Decisions and the route we take to make them; - Conflict and how we can avoid it; - Relationships and how we establish them; - Etiquette and how we conform to it. Explaining Humans is an original and incisive exploration of human nature and the strangeness of social norms, written from the outside looking in. Camilla’s unique perspective of the world, in turn, tells us so much about ourselves - about who we are and why we do it - and is a fascinating guide on how to lead a more connected, happier life.