The human brain is made up of 85 billion neurons, which are connected by over 100 trillion synapses. For more than a century, a diverse array of researchers searched for a language that could be used to capture the essence of what these neurons do and how they communicate – and how those communications create thoughts, perceptions and actions. The language they were looking for was mathematics, and we would not be able to understand the brain as we do today without it. In Models of the Mind, author and computational neuroscientist Grace Lindsay explains how mathematical models have allowed scientists to understand and describe many of the brain's processes, including decision-making, sensory processing, quantifying memory, and more. She introduces readers to the most important concepts in modern neuroscience, and highlights the tensions that arise when the abstract world of mathematical modelling collides with the messy details of biology. Each chapter of Models of the Mind focuses on mathematical tools that have been applied in a particular area of neuroscience, progressing from the simplest building block of the brain – the individual neuron – through to circuits of interacting neurons, whole brain areas and even the behaviours that brains command. In addition, Grace examines the history of the field, starting with experiments done on frog legs in the late eighteenth century and building to the large models of artificial neural networks that form the basis of modern artificial intelligence. Throughout, she reveals the value of using the elegant language of mathematics to describe the machinery of neuroscience.
This complete review of the field of spiritual healing, from its historical aspects to the modern integration of physics and energy medicine, presents numerous case histories and medical studies as well as tips for healing or choosing a healer.
What are you doing today to make your dream future come true? 'A rare self-help book that's actually informed by evidence. A host of perceptive, practical tips for getting out of your own way and making progress toward your career goals.' Adam Grant, bestselling author of Think Again and Originals 'A practical and accessible guide to using behavioural science in your career.' Caroline Criado Perez, author of Invisible Women ________________ We all have big ambitions for the future but those dreams only become reality if we do something towards them regularly. To achieve audacious goals, we need to take action and make small changes every day. We need to think big and act small. Drawing on cutting-edge research from behavioural science, Dr Grace Lordan offers immediate actionable solutions and tips that will help you get closer to your dream future, every day. Focusing on six key areas - your time, goal planning, self-narratives, other people, your environment, and resilience - Dr Lordan reveals practical, science-backed hacks that will help you get ahead. Each chapter introduces us to behavioural science concepts like the 'halo effect', 'confirmation bias', 'affect heuristic' and the 'ostrich effect', to help you better understand yourself and others, so that you can get the most out of your career. Whether you fantasise about changing industry, landing that big promotion, writing a screenplay or setting up your own company, Think Big creates a clear pathway to the future you want now. Some of the things you'll learn include how to: · Overcome a fear of failure and throw yourself at opportunity · Craft the optimum environment for work and give yourself ample time for tasks · Rewrite self-narratives and tackle imposter syndrome · Watch out for other people's biases and stop them from holding you back Think Big provides a practical framework to keep you moving in the right direction towards any goal. It will help you get out of your own way and propel you on the path to success, transforming you from dreamer to doer!
In 1986 Dr. David Snowdon, one of the world’s leading experts on Alzheimer’s disease, embarked on a revolutionary scientific study that would forever change the way we view aging—and ultimately living. Dubbed the “Nun Study” because it involves a unique population of 678 Catholic sisters, this remarkable long-term research project has made headlines worldwide with its provocative discoveries. Yet Aging with Grace is more than a groundbreaking health and science book. It is the inspiring human story of these remarkable women—ranging in age from 74 to 106—whose dedication to serving others may help all of us live longer and healthier lives. Totally accessible, with fascinating portraits of the nuns and the scientists who study them, Aging with Grace also offers a wealth of practical findings: • Why building linguistic ability in childhood may protect against Alzheimer’s • Which ordinary foods promote longevity and healthy brain function • Why preventing strokes and depression is key to avoiding Alzheimer’s • What role heredity plays, and why it’s never too late to start an exercise program • How attitude, faith, and community can add years to our lives A prescription for hope, Aging with Grace shows that old age doesn’t have to mean an inevitable slide into illness and disability; rather it can be a time of promise and productivity, intellectual and spiritual vigor—a time of true grace.
Science versus Christianity? Reason versus Faith? The relationship between science and Christianity is all too often framed within such modernist polarizations, even though we are now living in a postmodern world! But from a Christian perspective, if such conflict theses are to be discredited, what assumptions about the scientific endeavor, the nature of nature, reason, revelation, and knowledge should undergird the relation between science and Christianity? Science & Grace critically examines contemporary assumptions and then positively re-describes scientific endeavors in ways that encourage faithful and joyful Christian involvement in the science of our day, both as "consumers" of the fruits of scientific work and as producers of new scientific insights into God's works on display in His universe. In Science & Grace, the authors go beyond the more common focus on creation, evolution, and intelligent design to address more novel questions concerning science and Christianity. The first section reviews a variety of developments both inside and outside of science to indicate that the Enlightenment hope of a simple picture of science, providing its own foundation and sustaining power, doesn't work. The section goes on to locate a faithful Christian approach to science in the midst of the general cultural shift from modernism to postmodernism as one that thoroughly embraces the need for each worldview to give its own account of how science "works." For the Christian, this indicates the need for a theology of science. The second section approaches the relation of God to His creation through a robust trinitarian theology that highlights the divine action of the transcendent purposes of the Father, mediated through the Son, and brought to fruition by the immanent presence of the Spirit. The triune God's covenantal faithfulness to His creation is then the reason for the regularities we perceive as scientific laws. In this context, the dualistic tendency to pit "natural processes" against "supernatural intervention" perceived as miracles is shown to be an unnecessary consequence of the history of the rise of mechanism. We can thus understand science from a Christian perspective as one avenue of many through which we are able to see and respond to God's faithfulness to His covenant promises. The third section examines how doing science from a Christian perspective naturally flows from the Great Commandment to love God and neighbor, or put it another way, to love God with all our being, knowing, and doing. In terms of being, this section re-orients the meaning of our scientific work and its significance in history by exploring who humans are and what creation is in terms of their relation to God and how those relationships are impacted by the major episodes in redemptive history: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Consummation. Then knowing is described in terms of faithfully responding to God's revelation in His Word and world, responses that include both submission to "order as given" and creative stewardship in handling "order as task." Pleasing God in our knowing should be the Christian's prime concern, rather than narrowly pursuing the satisfaction of humanly formulated knowing criteria. Finally concerning the doing aspect, being good stewards of our scientific gifts requires that we "do" as confident, attentive and submissive servants who are committed to the gracious authority of His Word, His Church, and His World. In the final section, in seeking out ways to "do" as good neighbors in the scientific culture of our times, Science & Grace describes how Christians are to be good stewards of God's favor and His judgment in scientific work. We are to rejoice in the fruits of our common labors with our non-Christian colleagues but also we are not to neglect our obligation, in love, to warn them of the wrath of God that will judge persisting unbelief.
On any given night, more than half a million Americans and Canadians find themselves sleeping on the streets, in shelters, cars, and other places not meant for human habitation. Yet as this crisis continues to grow, it remains one of the least talked about—especially in churches. Even where compassion and empathy exist, the complexities around homelessness can make us feel stuck, overwhelmed, or numb to the existence of unhoused people in our cities and neighborhoods. Reporting back from his work in homeless services, minister and advocate Kevin Nye introduces readers to the Christ he’s met in tents, shelters, and drop-in centers. He demystifies homelessness by journeying into complex issues like affordable housing, mental illness, addiction, and more, while reimagining our theological approach to these matters and educating us on how they intersect with homelessness. This thorough and intimate book shows us that from the margins, Jesus has something to teach us all about grace—something that could change the landscape of homelessness entirely if we’re ready to hear it.
Believe it or not, the Catholic family isn’t primarily a human institution. It’s a divine one. By uniting with the sacramental life of the Church, your common, ordinary, crazy family becomes something sacred, a “domestic church." Family therapist and parent Gregory Popcak and his wife, Lisa, are back with Parenting Your Kids with Grace. Building on their best-selling book Parenting with Grace, first published twenty years ago, this new volume draws on the same parenting principles and provides up-to-date research to guide parents through each stage of child development from birth to age ten. Practical, faithful, and humorous, Parenting Your Kids with Grace addresses four key questions: Are Catholic families called to be different from other families in the way we relate to one another in the home? If so, how? What does an authentic, family-based approach to Catholic spirituality look like in practice? What can the latest research tell us about creating a faithful home and raising faithful kids? How can Catholic families be outposts of evangelization and positive social change? By checking our basic assumptions about parenting against both the Church’s vision and what science can teach about living out that vision in healthy ways, we can discover God’s plan for parenting healthy, godly kids.
The chasm between science and religion has been a source of intellectual and spiritual tension for centuries, but in these ground breaking dialogues there is a remarkable consonance between these once opposing camps. In Natural Grace, Rupert Sheldrake and Matthew Fox show that not only is the synthesis of science and spirituality possible, but it is unavoidable when one considers the extraordinary insights they have both come upon in their work. Sheldrake, who has changed the face of modern science with his revolutionary theory of morphic resonance, and Fox, whose work in creation spirituality has had a significant impact on people's sense of spirit, balance each other with their unique yet highly complementary points of view. In these inspired dialogues a variety of ancient topics--including ritual, prayer, and the soul--are freed from the past and given new power for the future in the liberated universe Fox and Sheldrake show us.
