'There is a powerful and revealing means to find out what scientists think. You ask them.' From the Foreword, By Marek Kohn 'A pleasure at last to get access to the varied views of scientists', Lewis Wolpert, University College London What are scientists working on today? What do they worry about? What do they think about the working of the brain, climate change, animal experimentation, cancer, and mental illness? Is science progressing or in retreat? Is this century humankind's last? These are just some of the compelling and provocative questions tackled here by twelve of world's leading scientists and scientific thinkers. In engaging and lucid discussion, they clarify many of the most urgent scientific challenges and dilemmas facing science today. Steven Pinker Evolutionary Psychology Robin Murray Psychiatry and schizophrenia Kevin Warwick Cybernetics Susan Greenfield The Brain and human consciousness Norman Levitt Science under threat E.O. threats Michael Stratton Cancer research Martin Rees Science: It's Dangers and It's Public Colin Blakemore Medical Research, Animal Experimentation and Science Kenan Malik Science and the human animal Essential reading for anyone interested in popular science, What Scientists Think is edited and written by Jeremy Stangroom of the of the highly successful The Philosopher's Magazine. With a Foreword by Marek Kohn, author of A Reason for Everything: Natural Selection and the British Imagination. Steven Pinker, Robin Murray, Kevin Warwick, Susan Greenfield, Norman Levitt, E.O. Wilson, Steve Jones, Dorothy Crawford, Michael Stratton, Martin Rees, Colin Blakemore, John Polkinghorne

A compelling argument about the importance of using more than one language in today's world

In a world that has English as its global language and rapidly advancing translation technology, it's easy to assume that the need to use more than one language will diminish-but Marek Kohn argues that plural language use is more important than ever. In a divided world, it helps us to understand ourselves and others better, to live together better, and to make the most of our various cultures.

Kohn, whom the Guardian has called "one of the best science writers we have," brings together perspectives from psychology, evolutionary thought, politics, literature, and everyday experience. He explores how people acquire languages; how they lose them; how they can regain them; how different languages may affect people's perceptions, their senses of self, and their relationships with each other; and how to resolve the fundamental contradiction of languages, that they exist as much to prevent communication as to make it happen.

A fascinating journey through Europe’s old towns, exploring why we treasure them—but also what they hide about a continent’s fraught history   Historic quarters in cities and towns across the middle of Europe were devastated during the Second World War—some, like those of Warsaw and Frankfurt, had to be rebuilt almost completely. They are now centers of peace and civility that attract millions of tourists, but the stories they tell about places, peoples, and nations are selective. They are never the whole story.   These old towns and their turbulent histories have been key sites in Europe’s ongoing theater of politics and war. Exploring seven old towns, from Frankfurt and Prague to Vilnius in Lithuania, the acclaimed writer Marek Kohn examines how they have been used since the Second World War to conceal political tensions and reinforce certain versions of history.   Uncovering hidden stories behind these old and old-seeming façades, Kohn offers us a new understanding of the politics of European history-making—showing how our visits to old towns could promote belonging over exclusion, and empathy over indifference.

Trust--whether between parents and children, merchants and shoppers, banks and investors, or citizens and their government--lies at the very heart of our relationships, our society, and our everyday lives.
This vividly written compact book reveals how modern thinkers--scientists, social scientists, and philosophers--have shed much light on the nature of trust. Beginning with some fascinating evolutionary puzzles about the origins of trust--for instance, how cooperation can evolve among individuals pursuing their own selfish interests--Marek Kohn incorporates many different perspectives from the fields of science, sociology, economics, and politics, to draw out the wider implications of trust in human society today. The book discusses trust in gods and how people have sought to reinvest this trust as religious faith has diminished; the effect of low social trust on economic development; and the loss of trust between mutually antagonistic communities, each warming itself by the flames of its hostility to the other. He shows how Communism relied on distrust, and devoted much of its energy to seeding it among its subjects, and Liberal democracy is also based on distrust, but in the opposite direction: it is founded upon the suspicion that the powerful will be tempted to abuse their power, and so must be subject to checks and balances. Perhaps most important, he shows that if we understand what makes trust possible, and why it matters, then we will live better lives in a fast-moving, fast-changing, global society.

What are leading scientists working on now? What do they think about the working of the brain, climate change, animal experimentation, cancer, and mental illness? Is science progressing or in retreat? Is this century humankind's last?
These are just some of the compelling questions discussed by twelve of world's leading scientists and scientific thinkers in this fascinating book. In engaging and lucid discussion, they clarify many of the complex scientific challenges and dilemmas facing science today. They also explain what drives their interest in science, revealing something of the often-neglected personal side of science.
Steven Pinker Evolutionary Psychology
Robin Murray Psychiatry and Schizophrenia
Kevin Warwick Cybernetics
Susan Greenfield The Brain and Human Consciousness
Norman Levitt Science under Threat
E.O. Wilson Biodiversity
Steve Jones Genes
Dorothy Crawford Viruses and their Threats
Michael Stratton Cancer Research
Martin Rees Science: Its Dangers and Its Public
Colin Blakemore Medical Research, Animal Experimentation and Science
John Polkinghorne Science and Religion