Creating Tomorrow's Schools Today: Education - Our Children - Their Futures


Richard Gerver - 2010
    Education is the platform for our success or failure, but is our system still fit for purpose? Will our children be equipped to face the challenges the future holds: the rapidly changing employment patterns and the global environmental, economic and social crises ahead of us? Or will our children grow up to resent their school years and blame them for their unfulfilled potential and achievement?Creating Tomorrow's Schools Today explores these questions in the context of early schooling and primary education, presents powerful arguments for change and highlights strategies that offer a solution.

Strange Contagion: Inside the Surprising Science of Infectious Behaviors and Viral Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves


Lee Daniel Kravetz - 2017
    Grief-stricken, the community mourned what they thought was an isolated loss. Until, a few weeks later, it happened again. And again. And again. In six months, the high school lost five students to suicide at those train tracks.A recent transplant to the community and a new father himself, Lee Daniel Kravetz’s experience as a science journalist kicked in: what was causing this tragedy? More important, how was it possible that a suicide cluster could develop in a community of concerned, aware, hyper-vigilant adults?The answer? Social contagion. We all know that ideas, emotions, and actions are communicable—from mirroring someone’s posture to mimicking their speech patterns, we are all driven by unconscious motivations triggered by our environment. But when just the right physiological, psychological, and social factors come together, we get what Kravetz calls a "strange contagion:" a perfect storm of highly common social viruses that, combined, form a highly volatile condition.Strange Contagion is simultaneously a moving account of one community’s tragedy and a rigorous investigation of social phenomenon, as Kravetz draws on research and insights from experts worldwide to unlock the mystery of how ideas spread, why they take hold, and offer thoughts on our responsibility to one another as citizens of a globally and perpetually connected world.

The Sleeping Beauties


Suzanne O'Sullivan - 2021
    Suzanne O'Sullivan's THE SLEEPING BEAUTIES, an exploration of different aspects of psychosomatic disorders, mass hysteria, culture bound syndromes (a set of symptoms that exist only within a particular society), using as its starting point a particular case of more than 400 migrant children in Sweden who have fallen into a "waking coma", to Dan Frank at Pantheon, in a pre-empt.

Head First: A Psychiatrist's Stories of Mind and Body


Alastair Santhouse - 2021
    They even influence whether we develop symptoms at all. Written with brutal honesty, deep compassion, and a wry sense of humour, Head First examines difficult cases that illuminate some of our most puzzling and controversial medical issues-from the tragedy of suicide, to the stigma surrounding obesity, to the ongoing misery of chronic fatigue. Ultimately he finds that our medical model has failed us by promoting specialization and overlooking perhaps the single most important component of our health: our state of mind.

Raising A Thief


Paul Podolsky - 2020
    

Daddy's Little Secret: A Daughter's Quest to Solve Her Father's Brutal Murder


Denise Wallace - 2016
    In her quest to assist the detectives, the daughter and author discovers deadly secrets that could help her father's killer escape the death penalty, should she come forward.From the Book: "He cruised by slowly, peering intently over his steering wheel at the well-manicured grounds. Though he had been brought up in the Bible Belt of North Carolina, Wes had not attended worship services there. He had gone to the church on this day for another reason: Derek Carney.Carney was a twenty-two-year-old white youth who had been sleeping on the church grounds. Wes wanted to once again offer him a place to stay for the night and was hoping the young man would take him up on the offer this time. The young heroin addict had discovered that he could shoot up in the bathroom of the church despite his filthy, disheveled appearance and not get caught. Most other churches kept their facilities locked at night, but the pastor, Reverend Bill Withers, had a notoriously kind heart. The first time he had come across Carney sleeping on the church lawn, he had awoken him, invited him in for counsel, and taken him to breakfast.As Wes passed in his car the reverend gave him a wave from the open door of the church. Wes waved back at him and grinned, then threw his head back and took a long drag on his Marlboro cigarette."From the author: What surprises me about the book is my love of Florida that comes through. Not only is the book an inside look at the complex and fascinating psyche of my father, it is also a historical look at south Florida and it's colorful past. The reader gets to experience places like E. R. Bradley's Saloon on the island of Palm Beach, where patrons were known to have danced on the bar as it became a rowdy party scene after dark.

Heaven and Hell: The Psychology of the Emotions


Neel Burton - 2015
    Much more than reason or tradition, it is our emotions that determine our choice of profession, partner, and politics, and our relation to money, sex, and religion. Nothing can make us feel more alive, or more human, than our emotions, or hurt us more. Yet, the emotions are utterly neglected by our system of education, leading to millions of mis-lived lives.This book proposes to redress the balance, exploring over 30 emotions and drawing some powerful and astonishing conclusions along the way. Areas covered include: depression, anxiety, anger, boredom, laziness, guilt, envy, greed, ambition, lust, sadomasochism, humiliation, loneliness, courage, empathy, friendship, love, self-esteem, and much much more. Reviews Burton is never short of an interesting and sharp judgment. --Prof Peter Toohey, Psychology Today[Heaven and Hell] challenges our understanding of emotions we experience but do not really think about... a fascinating read. --British Medical Association Book Awards

Lithium: A Doctor, a Drug, and a Breakthrough


Walter Brown - 2019
    And yet, the 1949 discovery of lithium as a cure for bipolar disorder is perhaps one of the most important—yet largely unsung—breakthroughs of the modern era. In Lithium, Walter Brown, a practicing psychiatrist and professor at Brown, reveals two unlikely success stories: that of John Cade, the physician whose discovery would come to save an untold number of lives and launch a pharmacological revolution, and that of a miraculous metal rescued from decades of stigmatization.From insulin comas and lobotomy to incarceration to exile, Brown chronicles the troubling history of the diagnosis and (often ineffective) treatment of bipolar disorder through the centuries, before the publication of a groundbreaking research paper in 1949. Cade’s “Lithium Salts in the Treatment of Psychotic Excitement” described, for the first time, lithium’s astonishing efficacy at both treating and preventing the recurrence of manic-depressive episodes, and would eventually transform the lives of patients, pharmaceutical researchers, and practicing physicians worldwide. And yet, as Brown shows, it would be decades before lithium would overcome widespread stigmatization as a dangerous substance, and the resistance from the pharmaceutical industry, which had little incentive to promote a naturally occurring drug that could not be patented.With a vivid portrait of the story’s unlikely hero, John Cade, Brown also describes a devoted naturalist who, unlike many modern medical researchers, did not benefit from prestigious research training or big funding sources (Cade’s “laboratory” was the unused pantry of an isolated mental hospital). As Brown shows, however, these humble conditions were the secret to his historic success: Cade was free to follow his own restless curiosity, rather than answer to an external funding source. As Lithium makes tragically clear, medical research—at least in America—has transformed in such a way that serendipitous discoveries like Cade’s are unlikely to occur ever again.Recently described by the New York Times as the “Cinderella” of psychiatric drugs, lithium has saved countless of lives and billions of dollars in healthcare costs. In this revelatory biography of a drug and the man who fought for its discovery, Brown crafts a captivating picture of modern medical history—revealing just how close we came to passing over this extraordinary cure.

Salad in a Jar: 68 Recipes for Salads and Dressings [A Cookbook]


Anna Helm Baxter - 2015
    These nutritionally balanced recipes are perfect for making ahead. Anna Helm Baxter reveals the keys to layering ingredients to maximize freshness and texture for a hearty and satisfying dish or snack. Tips and tricks include instructions on designing salads in a jar with recipes for raw salads, side salads, meal salads, snacks, and desserts.

Viral BS: Medical Myths and Why We Fall for Them


Seema Yasmin - 2021
    A long history of unethical medical experiments and medical mistakes, along with a host of celebrities spewing anti-science beliefs, has left many wary of science and the scientists who say they should be trusted. How do we stay sane while unraveling the knots of fact and fiction to find out what we should really be concerned about, and what we can laugh off?In Viral BS, journalist, doctor, professor, and CDC-trained disease detective Seema Yasmin, driven by a need to set the record straight, dissects some of the most widely circulating medical myths and pseudoscience. Exploring how epidemics of misinformation can spread faster than microbes, Dr. Yasmin asks why bad science is sometimes more believable and contagious than the facts. Each easy-to-read chapter covers a specific myth, whether it has endured for many years or hit the headlines more recently. Dr. Yasmin explores such pressing questions as- Do cell phones, Nutella, or bacon cause cancer?- Are we running out of antibiotics?- Does playing football cause brain disease?- Is the CDC banned from studying guns?- Do patients cared for by female doctors live longer? - Is trauma inherited?- Is suicide contagious?and much more.Taking a deep dive into the health and science questions you have always wanted answered, this authoritative and entertaining book empowers readers to reach their own conclusions. Viral BS even comes with Dr. Yasmin's handy pull-out-and-keep Bulls*%t Detection Kit.

What Can a President Really Do?


Who H.Q. - 2017
    These short illustrated e-Books provide quick, simple answers to the important questions being asked today about politics, social issues, the environment, and more!How much power does a US president really have? Wonder no more: Who HQ Presents the answers to what presidents can do on their own, how the three branches of government hold one another in check, and what executive orders presidents have signed in the past.

Nobody's Normal: How Culture Created the Stigma of Mental Illness


Roy Richard Grinker - 2021
    In Nobody’s Normal, anthropologist Roy Richard Grinker chronicles the progress and setbacks in the struggle against mental-illness stigma—from the eighteenth century, through America’s major wars, and into today’s high-tech economy.Grinker infuses the book with the personal history of his family’s four generations of involvement in psychiatry, including his grandfather’s analysis with Sigmund Freud, his own daughter’s experience with autism, and culminating in his research on neurodiversity. Drawing on cutting-edge science, historical archives, and cross-cultural research in Africa and Asia, Nobody’s Normal explains how we are transforming mental illness and offers a path to end the shadow of stigma. The preeminent historian of medicine, Sander Gilman, calls Nobody’s Normal “the most important work on stigma in more than half a century.”

Choices and Illusions: How Did I Get Where I Am, and How Do I Get Where I Want to Be?


Eldon Taylor - 2007
    Whether you’re interested in the science of thinking and beliefs, how your own mind works, how others control your thoughts, why things just don’t work out in your life, how you can create the life you’ve always wanted, or on a grander scale, how you can help make the world a better place, Choices and Illusions provides insights for all. Simply reading this book will open your eyes to new worlds of possibilities. Once exposed to the illusions most live under and by, you will change, and putting into practice any of these very simple teachings will open the door for you to achieve your highest potential.Choices and Illusions tells the story of one man’s journey into the workings of the human mind and our reason for being. The adventure is every bit as exciting as the best of scientific discoveries. Eldon Taylor’s approach is scientific and pragmatic, and his conclusions are inspirational and soul enhancing. Along the journey you’ll hear fantastic stories of divine intervention, learn why you think and do what you do not wish to do, and understand the very clear message that it’s never too late to be happy and succeed, regardless of your past actions.

Knowledge in a Nutshell: Carl Jung: The complete guide to the great psychoanalyst, including the unconscious, archetypes and the self


Gary Bobroff - 2020
    Drawing on Eastern mysticism, mythology and dream analysis to develop his theories, Jung proposed many ideas which are still influential today, including introversion, extroversion and the collective unconscious. Knowledge in a Nutshell: Carl Jung introduces psychologist Jung's ideas in an engaging and easy-to-understand format. Jungian psychology expert Gary Bobroff breaks down the concepts of the psyche, collective unconscious, archetypes, personality types and more in this concise book. He also explores the influence on Eastern philosophy and religion on Jung's ideas, and how spiritualism enriched his theories. With useful diagrams and bullet-point summaries at the end of each chapter, this book provides an essential introduction to this influential figure and explains the relevance of Jung's ideas to the modern world.ABOUT THE SERIES: The 'Knowledge in a Nutshell' series by Arcturus Publishing provides engaging introductions to many fields of knowledge, including philosophy, psychology and physics, and the ways in which human kind has sought to make sense of our world.

Why?: What Makes Us Curious


Mario Livio - 2017
    Why does half a conversation make us more curious than a whole conversation? In the ever-fascinating Why? Mario Livio interviewed scientists in several fields to explore the nature of curiosity. He examined the lives of two of history’s most curious geniuses, Leonardo da Vinci and Richard Feynman. He also talked to people with boundless curiosity: a superstar rock guitarist who is also an astrophysicist; an astronaut with degrees in computer science, biology, literature, and medicine. What drives these people to be curious about so many subjects? Curiosity is at the heart of mystery and suspense novels. It is essential to other forms of art, from painting to sculpture to music. It is the principal driver of basic scientific research. Even so, there is still no definitive scientific consensus about why we humans are so curious, or about the mechanisms in our brain that are responsible for curiosity. Mario Livio—an astrophysicist who has written about mathematics, biology, and now psychology and neuroscience—explores this irresistible subject in a lucid, entertaining way that will captivate anyone who is curious about curiosity.