The Political Class: Why it matters who our politicians are
Peter Allen
Oxford University Press

In Britain, writes Peter Allen, ¡°we continue to elect politicians who are similar to each other and unlike everyone else¡±. Many of us ¡°might as well forget the idea of holding political office altogether¡±. This is not only unfair in itself, but often leads to worse policymaking and widespread disillusion with politics. This book analyses the true nature of ¡°the political class¡±, assesses the arguments often used to justify it and considers ¡°how who politicians are is affecting the kind of society we live in¡±. In the light of the problems we see around us, it also offers bold practical suggestions about how we might put things right.

No!: The Power of Disagreement in a World That Wants to Get Along
Charlan Nemeth
Atlantic Books

Consensus may sound like a good thing, but in reality, according to University of California, Berkeley psychologist Charlan Nemeth, ¡°we make poorer decisions and think less creatively when we adopt the majority perspective¡±. If ideas and decisions are openly challenged, we are forced to reflect more carefully, explore alternative perspectives and use multiple problem-solving strategies ¨C even if we ultimately decide that the dissenter is wrong. Drawing on extensive evidence from her research with ¡°simulated juries¡± as well as real-life examples in areas ranging from plane crashes to surgical errors, Nemeth makes the case for dissent and offers useful tools for overcoming groupthink.

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Clouds Are Not Spheres: A Portrait of Beno?t Mandelbrot, the Founding Father of Fractal Geometry
Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon
World Scientific

Haunting images of fractals made visionary maverick Beno?t Mandelbrot (1924-2010) famous among people who would struggle to name another leading 20th-century mathematician. In this lavishly illustrated account, Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon ¨C a director who has made three films about Mandelbrot and also written popular books about fractals ¨C has produced a lively short survey of the man and his work. Taking in the strange worlds opened up by Julia sets, the Joseph Effect and ¡°self-squared dragons¡±, it also offers many striking illustrations of the power of fractals to illuminate everything from ferns and wave formations to stained-glass windows and the art of Salvador Dal¨ª.

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Machines of Youth: America¡¯s Car Obsession
Gary S. Cross
University of Chicago Press

For generations of young Americans, claims Gary Cross, a central element of ¡°growing up¡± was ¡°getting the driver¡¯s license, buying, driving, and maybe crashing the first car; the ritual of being picked up for the date and ¡®making out¡¯ in the front or back seat; even the pleasures of repairing, customizing, or racing that car¡±. Since car ownership became common in the US far earlier than in the rest of the world, the period from the 1930s through the 1980s represented a ¡°golden age of American teen car culture¡±, represented most clearly in the figure of ¡°the white, working-class, and largely male hot-rodder¡±. Machines of Youth recreates this fascinating but largely neglected slice of social history.

Cognitive Gadgets: The Cultural Evolution of Thinking
Cecilia Heyes
Harvard University Press

As well as physical machines, human beings have created what Cecilia Heyes calls ¡°mental machines¡±, which are ¡°embodied in our nervous systems¡± and ¡°enable our minds to go further, faster, and in different directions than the minds of any other animals¡±. Examples include causal understanding, episodic memory, imitation and the ability to read other people¡¯s minds. In setting out her theory of ¡°cultural evolutionary psychology¡±, Heyes explains the implications for what it means to be human ¨C and why ¡°human minds are more agile, but also more fragile, than was previously thought¡±.

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