The Root of Thought

The Root of Thought

Author: Andrew Koob

Publisher: FT Press

Published: 2009-06-03

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 013800627X

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Until recently, neuroscientists thought glial cells did little more than hold your brain together. But in the past few years, they've discovered that glial cells are extraordinarily important. In fact, they may hold the key to understanding intelligence, treating psychiatric disorders and brain injuries and perhaps even curing fatal conditions like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Lou Gehrig's Disease. In The Root of Thought, leading neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Koob reveals what we've learned about these remarkable cells, from their unexpected role in information storage to their function as adult stem cells that can keep your brain growing and adapting longer than scientists ever imagined possible. Ranging from fruit flies to Einstein, Koob reveals the surprising correlation between intelligence and the brain's percentage of glial cells - and why these cells' unique wavelike communications may be especially conducive to the fluid information processing human beings depend upon. You'll learn how crucial glial cells grow and develop... why almost all brain tumors are comprised of glial cells and the potential implications for treatment... even the apparent role of glial cells in your every thought and dream!


Root of Thought

Root of Thought

Author: Henry Kong

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2010-05-12

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 1450222684

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Consciousness is a clever adaptation for life as a social ape. But like all adaptations, it has its limits. Lion claws and butterfly wings are made of tissue and proteins that require proper diet and maintenance to keep their integrity. Likewise, a fully functioning conscious system is a phenomenon that requires a well-nourished neural substrate to keep it going. It is important to point out that a healthy brain is necessary but not sufficient for consciousness, because not all of the brain is conscious. There are great swaths of brain that are crucially important for maintaining the vegetative functions of homeostasis such as breathing, heartbeat, temperature, and sleep. With a hundred billion neurons and a hundred trillion synapses, the brain is the most complex adaptation known. Yet we know shockingly little about how it enables the human mind to become conscious, make decisions, believe in God, and behave morally. However, recent discoveries in cognitive neuroscience, behavioral genetics, and evolutionary psychology are beginning to revolutionize old conceptions of nature and nurture, reason and passion, and automatic versus willfully chosen actions. Root of Thought will take readers on a remarkable journey through the landscape of the mind in search of its biological basis.


I Thought It Was Just Me (but it Isn't)

I Thought It Was Just Me (but it Isn't)

Author: Brené Brown

Publisher: Avery

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 1592403352

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First published in 2007 with the title: I thought it was just me: women reclaiming power and courage in a culture of shame.


The Literary Mind

The Literary Mind

Author: Mark Turner

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 1998-12-17

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 019512667X

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Turner argues that story, projection, and parable precede grammar, that language follows from these mental capacities as a consequence. Language, he concludes, is the child of the literary mind.


Below the Root

Below the Root

Author: Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2012-12-04

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 1453271929

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In the “Newbery Honor–winning author’s compelling fantasy” for young adults, a boy is chosen to rule his idyllic land—only to discover its dark secrets (Publishers Weekly). Green-sky is an ideal place. Violence doesn’t exist. Its citizens, the Kindar, glide from tree to tree and exchange happy thoughts. This is all thanks to their rulers, the Ol-zhaan. And on his thirteenth birthday, Raamo D’ok is chosen to become one of the Ol-zhaan. Raamo is surprised to be named a Chosen. He isn’t a very good student—but the Ol-zhaan believe he has strong Spirit-force. But during his training, Raamo discovers that these good rulers aren’t as benevolent as they appear. They harbor secrets about his people, his family, and what lies below the forest floor. Now Raamo must decide: Should he keep the peace, or reveal the secrets that the Ol-zhaan have protected for so long? This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder.


The Ecological Thought

The Ecological Thought

Author: Timothy Morton

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2012-04-02

Total Pages: 179

ISBN-13: 0674064224

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In this passionate, lucid, and surprising book, Timothy Morton argues that all forms of life are connected in a vast, entangling mesh. This interconnectedness penetrates all dimensions of life. No being, construct, or object can exist independently from the ecological entanglement, Morton contends, nor does ÒNatureÓ exist as an entity separate from the uglier or more synthetic elements of life.


Sparks of Genius

Sparks of Genius

Author: Robert Root-Bernstein

Publisher: HMH

Published: 2013-08-26

Total Pages: 410

ISBN-13: 0547525893

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Discover the cognitive tools that lead to creative thinking and problem-solving with this “well-written and easy-to-follow” guide (Library Journal). Explore the “thinking tools” of extraordinary people, from Albert Einstein and Jane Goodall to Mozart and Virginia Woolf, and learn how you can practice the same imaginative skills to become your creative best. With engaging narratives and examples, Robert and Michèle Root-Bernstein investigate cognitive tools such as observing, recognizing patterns, modeling, playing, and more. Sparks of Genius is “a clever, detailed and demanding fitness program for the creative mind” and a groundbreaking guidebook for anyone interested in imaginative thinking, lifelong learning, and transdisciplinary education (Kirkus Reviews). “How different the painter at the easel and the physicist in the laboratory! Yet the Root-Bernsteins recognize the deep-down similarity of all creative thinking, whether in art or science. They demonstrate this similarity by comparing the accounts that various pioneers and inventors have left of their own creative processes: for Picasso just as for Einstein, for Klee just as for Feynman, the creative impulse always begins in vision, in emotion, in intuition. . . . With a lavishly illustrated chapter devoted to each tool, readers quickly realize just how far the imagination can stretch.” —Booklist “A powerful book . . . Sparks of Genius presents radically different ways of approaching problems.” —American Scientist


The Great Mental Models, Volume 1

The Great Mental Models, Volume 1

Author: Shane Parrish

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2024-10-15

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 0593719972

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Discover the essential thinking tools you’ve been missing with The Great Mental Models series by Shane Parrish, New York Times bestselling author and the mind behind the acclaimed Farnam Street blog and “The Knowledge Project” podcast. This first book in the series is your guide to learning the crucial thinking tools nobody ever taught you. Time and time again, great thinkers such as Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett have credited their success to mental models–representations of how something works that can scale onto other fields. Mastering a small number of mental models enables you to rapidly grasp new information, identify patterns others miss, and avoid the common mistakes that hold people back. The Great Mental Models: Volume 1, General Thinking Concepts shows you how making a few tiny changes in the way you think can deliver big results. Drawing on examples from history, business, art, and science, this book details nine of the most versatile, all-purpose mental models you can use right away to improve your decision making and productivity. This book will teach you how to: Avoid blind spots when looking at problems. Find non-obvious solutions. Anticipate and achieve desired outcomes. Play to your strengths, avoid your weaknesses, … and more. The Great Mental Models series demystifies once elusive concepts and illuminates rich knowledge that traditional education overlooks. This series is the most comprehensive and accessible guide on using mental models to better understand our world, solve problems, and gain an advantage.


The Root

The Root

Author: Na'amen Gobert Tilahun

Publisher: Night Shade

Published: 2016-06-07

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 9781597808637

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A dark, gritty urban fantasy debut set in modern-day San Francisco, filled with gods, sinister government agencies, and worlds of dark magic hidden just below the surface. When a secret government agency trying to enslave you isn’t the biggest problem you’re facing, you’re in trouble. Erik, a former teen star living in San Francisco, thought his life was complicated; having his ex-boyfriend in jail because of the scandal that destroyed his career seemed overwhelming. Then Erik learned he was Blooded: descended from the Gods. Struggling with a power he doesn’t understand and can barely control, Erik discovers that a secret government agency is selling off Blooded like lab rats to a rival branch of preternatural beings in ’Zebub—San Francisco’s mirror city in an alternate dimension. Lil, a timid apprentice in ’Zebub, is searching for answers to her parents’ sudden and mysterious deaths. Surrounded by those who wish her harm and view her as a lesser being, Lil delves into a forgotten history that those in power will go to dangerous lengths to keep buried. What neither Erik nor Lil realize is that a darkness is coming, something none have faced in living memory. It eats. It hunts. And it knows them. In The Root, the dark and surging urban fantasy debut from Na’amen Tilahun, two worlds must come together if even a remnant of one is to survive. Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.