I am a professor of psychology and psychiatry at Cambridge University. I've been conducting autism research for 40 years, and this has taken me deep into understanding how the mind works, in both autistic and neurotypical people. I've focused in particular on two aspects of the mind, empathy and systemizing, to understand how these develop, how individual differences in these arise, and how we can celebrate such neurodiversity and provide support for people who struggle with these. My research spans psychology, neuroscience, genetics, endocrinology, clinical practice, education, and vulnerability.
Oliver Sacks was a pioneer in writing about the varieties of the mind, particularly describing his patients with neurological conditions and differences. In many ways, he was talking about neurodiversity even before we had a name for it. This book was written as he was dying of cancer, as he reflected on an important emotion – gratitude. He makes an eloquent case for being grateful for all the simple, beautiful things that life offers and that we often take for granted, and how the emotion of gratitude changes your relationship to the world, to others, and to yourself. This is relevant to anyone wanting to live a moral and happy life.
Oliver Sacks died in August 2015 at his home in Greenwich Village, surrounded by his close friends and family. He was 82. He spent his final days doing what he loved: playing the piano, swimming, enjoying smoked salmon - and writing . . .
As Dr Sacks looked back over his long, adventurous life his final thoughts were of gratitude. In a series of remarkable, beautifully written and uplifting meditations, in Gratitude Dr Sacks reflects on and gives thanks for a life well lived, and expresses his thoughts on growing old, facing terminal cancer and reaching the end.
This book deservedly won the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction. It is simultaneously a history of autism, and a history of the concept of neurodiversity. It reaches back to the origins of the internet and the dark history of eugenics in the Holocaust. And it reaches forward into contemporary ideas about respecting, accepting, and celebrating differences in the mind, particularly of autistic people.
Winner of the 2015 Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fictionA New York Times bestsellerForeword by Oliver SacksWhat is autism: a devastating developmental condition, a lifelong disability, or a naturally occurring form of cognitive difference akin to certain forms of genius? In truth, it is all of these things and more - and the future of our society depends on our understanding it.Following on from his groundbreaking article 'The Geek Syndrome', Wired reporter Steve Silberman unearths the secret history of autism, long suppressed by the same clinicians who became famous for discovering it, and finds surprising answers to the crucial question of…
When a young person thinking about studying psychology asks me to recommend a single book to illustrate why I love the field of psychology, I always recommend this book. Steve helped to popularise scientific books about the mind at a time when fellow academics often looked down on popular science. Thankfully such books are now seen as vital outreach, ensuring research gets out of academia and into the wider public. This book takes one aspect of the mind – the uniquely human capacity for language – and looks at it from every angle, from neuroscience to evolution, and from clinical and cultural perspectives. His writing style is wonderfully clear, often entertaining, and educational.
'Dazzling... Pinker's big idea is that language is an instinct...as innate to us as flying is to geese... Words can hardly do justice to the superlative range and liveliness of Pinker's investigations' - Independent
'A marvellously readable book... illuminates every facet of human language: its biological origin, its uniqueness to humanity, it acquisition by children, its grammatical structure, the production and perception of speech, the pathology of language disorders and the unstoppable evolution of languages and dialects' - Nature
This novel has been turned into a stage play, and both formats have helped the general public to understand the experience of what it is like to grow up as autistic. Although it is fiction, it conveys how an autistic teenager can feel on the margins, experience a sense of detachment, and see the world differently from other people. It brings out the disabilities that are part of autism, such as difficulties in social relationships and sensory overload. And it brings out the strengths that are part of autism, such as remarkable attention to and memory for detail, a narrow, deep focus on topics, and a logical search for patterns and truth. The main character is not only autistic but was also the victim of child physical abuse, and the reader should be careful not to confuse the effects of these, as they are distinct.
'Mark Haddon's portrayal of an emotionally dissociated mind is a superb achievement... Wise and bleakly funny' Ian McEwan
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a murder mystery novel like no other. The detective, and narrator, is Christopher Boone. Christopher is fifteen and has Asperger's Syndrome. He knows a very great deal about maths and very little about human beings. He loves lists, patterns and the truth. He hates the colours yellow and brown and being touched. He has never gone further than the…
Maria Cantacuzino’s favourite emotion is forgiveness. I agree with her it is a powerful emotion and a good way to live. Maria founded a unique and important charity, The Forgiveness Project, which helps victims forgive the perpetrators of their crimes by understanding their back story, and gives perpetrators a chance to understand the feelings of their victim and apologise. There is a very close link between forgiveness and empathy, because when a victim forgives a perpetrator they are setting aside the immediate desire for revenge and hate, to understand the reasons why a person might have done bad things. And when a perpetrator apologises to a victim, they are no longer seeing the person as an object but can now see the person as a subject, with feelings such as pain and loss. Maria explores the limits of forgiveness and argues there are no limits, however awful the crime. Her book changes how we think about criminals and what prisons should do, and is a recipe for how to make the world a more compassionate place.
What is forgiveness? Are some acts unforgivable? Can forgiveness take the place of revenge?
Powerful real-life stories from survivors and perpetrators of crime and violence reveal the true impact of forgiveness on ordinary people worldwide. Exploring forgiveness as an alternative to resentment or retaliation, the storytellers give an honest, moving account of their experiences and what part forgiveness has played in their lives. Despite extreme circumstances, their stories open the door to a society without revenge.
All royalties from the sale of this book go to The Forgiveness Project charity.
Why can humans alone invent? In The Pattern Seekers, I make a case that autism that autistic people have played a key role in the evolution of human progress for seventy thousand years. How? Because some of the same genes that cause autism enable the pattern-seeking that is essential to our species’ unique capacity for generative invention. However, despite their transformative contributions to society, autistic people experience exclusion from society and a lack of support for their disabilities. The consequence is that many autistic people experience poor mental health. This book is a call to action to support and celebrate autistic people in both their disabilities and their triumphs. The Pattern Seekers isn't just a new theory of human invention, but a plea to consider anew how society treats those who think differently.
A traditional mystery with a touch of cozy, The Alchemy Fire Murder is for those who like feisty women sleuths, Oxford Colleges, alchemy, strong characters, and real concerns like trafficking, wildfires, racism, and climate change. This book especially works for those fascinated by myth and witches in history. Read for a seventeenth-century alchemist in Connecticut, a lost alchemy scroll stuck in a California Museum, and a blizzard in Los Angeles.
Murder ensues when an intern is attacked after making a momentous discovery with Mary Wandwalker, an inexperienced detective commissioned to recover the treasure vital to the survival of her Oxford…
The Alchemy Fire Murder: a Mary Wandwalker Mystery
Former Archivist Mary Wandwalker hates bringing bad news. Nevertheless, she confirms to her alma mater that their prized medieval alchemy scroll, is, in fact, a seventeenth century copy. She learns that the original vanished to colonial Connecticut with alchemist, Robert Le More. Later the genuine scroll surfaces in Los Angeles. Given that the authentic artifact is needed for her Oxford college to survive, retrieving it is essential.
Mary agrees to get the real scroll back as part of a commission for her three-person Enquiry Agency. However, tragedy strikes in Los Angeles. Before Mary can legally obtain the scroll, a young…
