Penguin Books Australia

This is the riddle that drove Douglas Hofstadter to write this extraordinary book. In order to impart his original and personal view on the core mystery of human existence – our intangible sensation of 'I'-ness – Hofstadter defines the playful yet seemingly paradoxical notion of 'strange loop', and explicates this idea using...

The Rough Guide to the Brain answers all the important questions: how does the memory work? Are we addicted to television? What is Alzheimer's Disease? Can machines read our minds? The human brain, with all its inherent complexity, has taken on near mythical status. Its 100 billion nerve cells, forged by nature and refined over millions of years, allow humans the capacity to survive, create culture...

In 2008, as the price of oil surged above $140 a barrel, experts said it would soon hit $200; a few months later it plunged to $30. In 1967, they said the USSR would have one of the fastest-growing economies in the year 2000; in 2000, the USSR did not exist. In 1911, it was pronounced that there would be no more wars in Europe.

A reasoned yet urgent call to embrace and protect the essential, practical human quality that has been drummed out of our lives: wisdom.

It's in our nature to want to succeed. It's also human nature to want to do right. But we've lost how to balance the two. How do we get it back?

People spend vast amounts of money, time and energy to achieve and maintain beauty, and yet despite its undisputed  importance few of us devote similar efforts to be interesting. It is often thought that intelligence, beauty and confidence make you more interesting. This is not true. Being interesting is actually a state of mind.

In How to be More Interesting, lateral-thinking guru Edward de Bono...

Most of our everyday decision-making tends to be confrontational. Whether in large meetings, one-to-one or even in our own heads, opposite view points are pitted against each other. Ultimately, there must be a winner and a loser.

In I Am Right, You Are Wrong, lateral-thinking guru Edward de Bono challenges this 'rock logic' of rigid categories and point-scoring arguments which is both destructive and...

The greatest gift we can give our children is the ability to think for themselves.

Edward de Bono, the lateral-thinking pioneer, shows in a simple and practical way how any parent can develop the thinking skills of their children. This is not about winning arguments, learning facts or articulation, but about constructive thinking, making the right choices and decisions, planning and creativity.

This...

In schools we are taught to meet problems head-on: what Edward de Bono calls 'vertical thinking'. This works well in simple situations – but we are at a loss when this approach fails.  Lateral thinking is all about freeing up your imagination.

Through a series of special techniques, in groups or working alone, Edward de Bono shows us how to look at problems from a variety of angles and in...

From confusing manuals to uninterpretable jargon and bureaucratic red-tape, modern life can be highly complicated and frustrating. For many of us it is almost impossible to make sense of.

In Simplicity, lateral-thinking guru Edward de Bono shows us how to bring clarity into our increasingly complicated lives. Through his ten rules of simplicity, he encourages us to be creative and break down the complex...

Our happiness and success depend on clear thinking. But too many of us are compromised by confusion, trying to do too much at once, and not knowing what to do next.

In Teach Yourself to Think, Edward de Bono shows that good thinking depends on a simple five-stage process that anyone can learn. It will enable you to assess your goals, sort available information, identify the available choices, make...

'If you want to understand how we remember, and how we can all learn to remember better, then read this book'  Jonah Lehrer 

Can anyone get a perfect memory? Joshua Foer used to be like most of us, forgetting phone numbers and mislaying keys. Then he learnt the art of memory training, and a year later found himself in the finals of the US Memory Championship. He also discovered a truth we...