Archives de catégorie : Popular Science

WIE WERDEN WER WIR SIND de Joachim Bauer

How we become who we are

WIE WERDEN WER WIR SIND
by Joachim Bauer
Blessing, publication Mai 2019

Why there is no me without you – the new major book by bestselling author Joachim Bauer.
Recent neuroscientific research indicates that human beings are born without a self. But how do we develop this « self », this « me » that can later define itself as distinct from others? How do we manage to think and feel in terms of me, you or we? What makes a human being into an individual? These are the central questions Joachim Bauer examines in his new major work, in which he demonstrates that our « true self » does not slumber within us like some natural resource waiting to be found and polished. It is rather the product of our encounters and relationships with others – experiences, joys and fears we share. Joachim Bauer makes us realise that this « me », in contrast to what had long been thought, is not engraved in stone but instead is a process of perpetual self-construction and life-long transition and can grow and change.
In an age of rampant egocentricity and social currents forcing us to assert ourselves by erecting a border between our own self and others, Bauer has drawn a new image of how we become who we are and explains why we can only find this path if we tread it together.

Also by Joachim Bauer, Selbsteuerung, the re-discovery of free will. blessing, May 2015
Self-control is an ability that in the world we live in is a prerequisite for professional success, happy relationships, and psychological and physical health. Those of us with selfcontrol– in other words, people who are in a position to postpone the short-term satisfaction of personal needs in favour of long-term advantages – don’t fall victim to unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise; they don’t spend too much time in front of the television or computer screens and are not at risk of addiction. This book makes it clear how self-control works, why it is so important for a successful life and what we can do to relearn what we have forgotten. Joachim Bauer emphasises that abstinence, putting off wants and consciously tackling problems are by no means unnatural forms of self-castigation. In fact, the contrary is true: the ability to learn self-control is inherent in human beings. If it is to develop, we have to practice it from an early age – an observation that radically runs counter to the idea of children not having to make an effort, of perpetually being « enthusiastic ».

 Joachim Bauer is a university teacher and professor at the University of Freiburg. He is a doctor of internal medicine, psychosomatic medicine, psychiatry and psychotherapy. For his research work, he was awarded the renowned Organon Prize of the German Society for Biological Psychiatry.Spiegel bestselling author: More than 700,000 copies of his books sold.

THE VOYAGE OF SORCERER II de J. Craig Venter & David Ewing Duncan

An epic science and adventure story about famed genome scientist Craig Venter’s global expeditions collecting tens of millions of marine microbes and revolutionizing our understanding of the microbiome that sustains us.

THE VOYAGE OF SORCERER II:
The Expedition That Unlocked the Secrets of the Ocean’s Microbiome
by Dr. J. Craig Venter & David Ewing Duncan
Harvard University Press, September 2023
(via Aaron Priest Literary)

In THE VOYAGE OF SORCERER II, Venter and science writer David Ewing Duncan tell the remarkable story of these expeditions and of the momentous discoveries that ensued―of plant-like bacteria that get their energy from the sun, proteins that metabolize vast amounts of hydrogen, and microbes whose genes shield them from ultraviolet light. The result was a massive library of millions of unknown genes, thousands of unseen protein families, and new lineages of bacteria that revealed the unimaginable complexity of life on earth. Yet despite this exquisite diversity, Venter encountered sobering reminders of how human activity is disturbing the delicate microbial ecosystem that nurtures life on earth. In the face of unprecedented climate change, Venter and Duncan show how we can harness the microbial genome to develop alternative sources of energy, food, and medicine that might ultimately avert our destruction.

J. Craig Venter, PhD, is regarded as one of the leading scientists of the 21st century for his numerous invaluable contributions to genomic research. Dr. Venter is Founder, Chairman, and CEO of the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), a not-for-profit research organization with approximately 200 scientists and staff dedicated to human, microbial, plant, synthetic, and environmental genomic research, and the exploration of social and ethical issues in genomics. He is also the founder and CEO of Synthetic Genomics, Inc., and is the author of multiple nonfiction books. He lives in La Jolla, California.

David Ewing Duncan is an award-winning, bestselling author of nine books published in 21 languages, including Talking to Robots, Experimental Man, and The Calendar. David is the CEO and Curator of Arc Fusion, and a Health Strategist in Residence for IDEO.

18 TINY DEATHS de Bruce Goldfarb

The fascinating story of the forgotten woman who pioneered forensic science

18 TINY DEATHS: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics
by Bruce Goldfarb
Sourcebooks, February 2020

As World War II rages across the Atlantic, Frances Glessner Lee stands at the front of a wood-paneled classroom within Harvard Medical School and addresses the young men attending her seminar on the developing field of forensic science. A grandmother without a college degree, Lee may appear better suited for a life of knitting than of investigation of unexpected death. Her colleagues and students, however, know her to be an extremely intelligent and exacting researcher and teacher—the perfect candidate, despite her gender, to push the scientific investigation of unexpected death out of the dark confines of centuries-old techniques and into the light of the modern day.

Lee’s decades-long obsession with advancing the discipline of forensic science was a battle from the very beginning. In a time when many prestigious medical schools were closed to female students and young women were discouraged from entering any kind of scientific profession, Lee used her powerful social skills, family wealth, and uncompromising dedication to revolutionize a field that was usually political, often corrupt, and always deeply rooted in the primal human fear of death.

18 Tiny Deaths transports the reader back in time and tells the story of how one woman, who should never have even been allowed into the classrooms she ended up teaching in, changed the face of science forever.

GENIALE KINDSKÖPFE de Sebastian Berger

A new look at human learning

GENIALE KINDSKÖPFE
(Brilliant Baby Brain)
by Sebastian Berger
Kösel, April 2019

Babies truly are miracles in learning: Sebastian Berger introduces us to the fascinating world of early infant learning, describes the development in the brain areas that enable learning, and gives insights into the respective cognitive research. He shows that babies not only learn much faster than adults, but similar to scientists explore the world experimentally, draw their conclusions from statistical information and deduce generally valid regularities from it. From individual observations, the child gains clues to the physical laws of nature and acquires important skills such as trust and the ability to cooperate. Within only a few years, children are able to understand and navigate the physical, psychological and social world perfectly. The book opens our eyes to a new view of the fascinatin world of early infant learning, thus allowing us to better understand and appreciate children.
Professor Sebastian Berger gained his PhD in business and social psychology at the University of Cologne. This was followed by research projects at the universities in Cologne, Stanford and Lausanne, and since 2015 he has been assistant professor for organisation research at the University of Bern. His research work has been discussed globally in such media as the New York Times, Washington Post, FAZ, SZ and NZZ. The birth of his child brought the focus of his research interest to early infant development.

LIFESPAN by Dr. David Sinclair

From an acclaimed Harvard professor and one of Time’s most influential people, this paradigm-shifting book shows how almost everything we think we know about aging is wrong, offers a front-row seat to the amazing global effort to slow, stop, and reverse aging, and calls readers to consider a future where aging can be treated

LIFESPAN
The Revolutionary Science of Why We Age, and Why We Don’t Have To
by David Sinclair
Atria Books, September 2019

For decades, experts have believed that we are at the mercy of our genes, and that natural damage to our genes—the kind that inevitably happens as we get older—makes us become sick and grow old. But what if everything you think you know about aging is wrong? What if aging is a disease—and that disease is treatable? In LIFESPAN, one of the world’s foremost experts on aging and genetics reveals a groundbreaking new theory that will forever change the way we think about why we age and what we can do about it. Aging isn’t immutable; we can have far more control over it than we realize. This eye-opening and provocative work takes us to the frontlines of research that is pushing the boundaries on our perceived scientific limitations, revealing incredible breakthroughs—many from Dr. David Sinclair’s own lab—that demonstrate how we can slow down, or even reverse, the genetic clock. The key is activating newly discovered vitality genes—the decedents of an ancient survival circuit that is both the cause of aging and the key to reversing it. Dr. Sinclair shares the emerging technologies and simple lifestyle changes—such as intermittent fasting, cold exposure, and exercising with the right intensity—that have been shown to help lead to longer lives.

David Sinclair is Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Founding Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biological Mechanisms of Aging at Harvard. One of the leading innovators of his generation, he is listed by Time magazine as “one of the 100 most influential people in the world” (2014) and top 50 most important influential people in healthcare (2018). Dr. Sinclair and his work have been featured on 60 Minutes, Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fortune, and Newsweek, among others.