Society & Culture

Do we have a literacy crisis?Fierce debates in the media over how to teach children to read and write have reached new heights in recent years. The intensity of the debates is not surprising as literacy education matters to everyone, but there is collateral damage. Public confidence in literacy teachers has been undermined an... read more

Behavioral economist and New York Times bestselling author of Predictably Irrational Dan Ariely returns to offer a much-needed take on the irrational decisions that influence our dating lives, our workplace experiences, and our general behaviour, up close and personal. Behavioral economist and New York Times bestselling auth... read more

The Big Switch, Nicholas Carr's best-selling look at the new computer revolution, makes a simple and profound statement: Computing is turning into a utility, and the effects of this transition will ultimately change society as completely as the advent of cheap electricity did. From the software business to the newspaper b... read more

Described by Oliver Sacks as 'one of the best scientist-writers of our time', Robert M. Sapolsky here presents the human animal in all its quirkiness and diversity. In these remarkable essays, Sapolsky once again deploys his compassion and insights into the human condition to tell us who, why and how we are. Monkeyluv to... read more

Insightful, witty, and fascinating, The Invisible Gorilla closely examines the false impressions that most profoundly influence our lives and gives practical advice on how we can minimize their negative impact. If a gorilla walked out into the middle of a basketball pitch, you'd notice it. Wouldn't you? If a serious violen... read more

Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, and the Rise of the Environmental Movement Rachel Carson's Silent Spring antagonised some of the most powerful interests in the nation ? including the farm block and the agricultural chemical industry ? and helped launch the modern environmental movement. Mark Hamilton Lytle explores th... read more

Throughout his career as a novelist, William Boyd has never stopped writing non-fiction, providing a fascinating counterpoint to the world of his novels.
Bamboo gathers together Boyd's writing on literature, art, the movie business, television, people he has met, places he has visited and autobiographical reflections on... read more

Many people are now dismayed by the relaxed attitude of governments here and abroad towards truth telling. In Australia, examples include WMD and Iraq, 'children overboard' and the Manildra affair. Deceitful 'spin' and denial of responsibility seem to have become commonplace in political life.

<b>In October 1997 a clever young law student at ANU made a bizarre plan to murder her devoted boyfriend after a dinner party at their house. Some of the dinner guests � most of them university students � had heard rumours of... read more

It was the year of sex and drugs and rock and roll. It was also the year of the Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy assassinations, the Chicago Convention, The Tet Offensive, the French student rebellion, Civil Rights, the generation gap, the birth of the Women's movement and the beginning of the end for the Soviet Union.In ... read more

What Art Spiegelman saw in his lower Manhattan backyard on 9/11 was just the beginning of the horror for him. Panic soon gave way to fury as he watched the shameless co-opting of the tragedy by a government in the service of its own preconceived agenda. For Spiegelman, only one thing made sense--passionate dissent, and done i... read more

This book paints a picture of this largely unrecognised phenomenon from the point of view of five major sectors of society: Community (government and international institutions); Commerce (business); Resource Extraction (forestry, farming, fisheries etc.); Ecological Design (architecture, technology); Biosphere (conservation,... read more

This is a timely and groundbreaking book from the bestselling author of "The Fifth Discipline" series and "Presence". "The Necessary Revolution" reveals how corporations and organizations are, in the face of looming environmental crises and pressure from social issues, finding solutions that ensure both long- term survival an... read more

From criminology to dog training to ketchup, Malcolm Gladwell takes everyday subjects and shows us surprising new ways of looking at the world. What the Dog Saw is Gladwell at his very best Ã&... read more

Why is progress a pernicious myth? Why do beliefs that humanity can be improved end in farce or horror? Is atheism a hangover from Christian faith? John Gray, one of the most iconoclastic thinkers of our time, smashes through civilization's long cherished beliefs, overturning our view of the world and our place in it. 'The mo... read more

"The Case of the Pope" delivers a devastating indictment of the way the Vatican has run a secret legal system that shields paedophile priests from criminal trial around the world. Is the Pope morally or legally responsible for the negligence that has allowed so many terrible crimes to go unpunished? And, should he and his sea... read more

In The Good Life journalist and TV presenter Francesca Price offers a positive guide to a greener, cheaper and more sustainable life in New Zealand. She covers the ethical issues in a wide range of everyday subjects including shopping, parenting, food, building and renovating, holidays and community life. Each chapter include... read more

Economic history states that money replaced a bartering system, yet there isn't any evidence to support this axiom. Anthropologist Graeber presents a stunning reversal of this conventional wisdom. For more than 5000 years, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods. Since the beginning of the agrarian emp... read more

This is a book about humanity's power to transcend nature; and one that, ultimately, celebrates our differences.
We are constantly told that human traits - from aggression to gender differences - are 'hardwired'. In Beyond Human Nature Jesse J. Prinz reveals that it is the societies we live in, not our genes, that... read more

An anthology Malcolm Gladwell has called "riveting and indispensable," The Best Business Writing is a far-ranging survey of business's dynamic relationship with politics, culture, and life. This year's selections include John Markoff ( New York Times) on innovations in robot technology and the decline of the factory worker; ... read more