{"title":"Matt Ridley","description":"Matt Ridley has worked as a science editor, Washington correspondent, and American editor for the Economist. A research fellow of the Institute for Economic Affairs and a Trustee of the International Centre for Life, he lives in Northumberland, England.","products":[{"product_id":"viral-the-search-for-the-origin-of-covid-19-paperback","title":"Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19 - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Chan and Ridley write with an urgency...that inspires gripping depictions of what viruses are, how infectious-disease laboratories work and wonderfully lucid descriptions of bats. . . . They powerfully recount how dangerous pathogens can both leak from a lab and emerge in nature.\" (\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eUnderstanding how Covid-19 started is crucial for the future of humankind. \u003ci\u003eViral\u003c\/i\u003e is the most incisive and authoritative book about the search for the source of the virus.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA new virus descended on the human species in 2019 wreaking unprecedented havoc. Finding out where it came from and how it first jumped into people is an urgent priority, but early expectations that this would prove an easy question to answer have been dashed. Nearly two years into the pandemic, the crucial mystery of the origin of SARS-CoV-2 is not only unresolved but has deepened.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e In this uniquely insightful book, a scientist and a writer join forces to try to get to the bottom of how a virus whose closest relations live in bats in subtropical southern China somehow managed to begin spreading among people more than 1,500 kilometres away in the city of Wuhan. They grapple with the baffling fact that the virus left none of the expected traces that such outbreaks usually create: no infected market animals or wildlife, no chains of early cases in travellers to the city, no smouldering epidemic in a rural area, no rapid adaptation of the virus to its new host--human beings.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e To try to solve this pressing mystery, \u003ci\u003eViral\u003c\/i\u003e delves deep into the events of 2019 leading up to 2021, the details of what went on in animal markets and virology laboratories, the records and data hidden from sight within archived Chinese theses and websites, and the clues that can be coaxed from the very text of the virus's own genetic code.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e The result is a gripping detective story that takes the reader deeper and deeper into a metaphorical cave of mystery. One by one the authors explore promising tunnels only to show that they are blind alleys, until, miles beneath the surface, they find themselves tantalisingly close to a shaft that leads to the light.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe Mojiang Mine Mystery: \u003c\/b\u003e Delve into the strange 2012 outbreak where six miners fell ill--and three died--after working in a bat-infested mineshaft, the very same location where the closest known relative to SARS-CoV-2 was later discovered.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe Lab-Leak Hypothesis: \u003c\/b\u003e Examine the compelling circumstantial evidence pointing to a research-related incident in Wuhan, from missing databases to the timeline of experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eGain-of-Function Research: \u003c\/b\u003e Uncover the controversial science of making viruses more dangerous in a lab and explore whether this well-intentioned research, meant to prevent a pandemic, might have inadvertently started one.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe Furin Cleavage Site: \u003c\/b\u003e Unravel the genetic clues within the virus itself, including a unique feature that makes it so infectious to humans--a feature conspicuously absent from its closest relatives but common in laboratory experiments.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51376787390687,"sku":"9780063139138","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/PEuX9-ySrg9780063139138.webp?v=1789225336"},{"product_id":"the-red-queen-sex-and-the-evolution-of-human-nature-paperback","title":"The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"A terrific book, witty and lucid, and brimming with provocative conjectures.\" (\u003cem\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/em\u003e) from the author of the acclaimed \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestseller \u003cem\u003eGenome\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBrilliantly written, \u003cem\u003eThe Red Queen\u003c\/em\u003e compels us to rethink everything from the persistence of sexism to the endurance of romantic love.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReferring to Lewis Carroll's \u003cem\u003eRed Queen\u003c\/em\u003e from \u003cem\u003eThrough the Looking-Glass\u003c\/em\u003e, a character who has to keep running to stay in the same place, Matt Ridley demonstrates why sex is humanity's best strategy for outwitting its constantly mutating internal predators. \u003cem\u003eThe Red Queen\u003c\/em\u003e answers dozens of other riddles of human nature and culture--including why men propose marriage, the method behind our maddening notions of beauty, and the disquieting fact that a woman is more likely to conceive a child by an adulterous lover than by her husband. \u003cem\u003eThe Red Queen\u003c\/em\u003e offers an extraordinary new way of interpreting the human condition and how it has evolved.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReferring to Lewis Carroll's \u003cem\u003eRed Queen\u003c\/em\u003e from \u003cem\u003eThrough the Looking-Glass\u003c\/em\u003e, a character who has to keep running to stay in the same place, Matt Ridley demonstrates why sex is humanity's best strategy for outwitting its constantly mutating internal predators. \u003cem\u003eThe Red Queen\u003c\/em\u003e answers dozens of other riddles of human nature and culture -- including why men propose marriage, the method behind our maddening notions of beauty, and the disquieting fact that a woman is more likely to conceive a child by an adulterous lover than by her husband. Brilliantly written, \u003cem\u003eThe Red Queen\u003c\/em\u003e offers an extraordinary new way of interpreting the human condition and how it has evolved.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51379059753183,"sku":"9780060556570","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/VfKT-E1n0A9780060556570.webp?v=1789268458"},{"product_id":"genome-the-autobiography-of-a-species-in-23-chapters-paperback","title":"Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Ridley leaps from chromosome to chromosome in a handy summation of our ever increasing understanding of the roles that genes play in disease, behavior, sexual differences, and even intelligence. . . . . He addresses not only the ethical quandaries faced by contemporary scientists but the reductionist danger in equating inheritability with inevitability.\" -- \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe genome's been mapped. But what does it mean? \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eMatt Ridley's \u003ci\u003eGenome\u003c\/i\u003e is the book that explains it all: what it is, how it works, and what it portends for the future\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eArguably the most significant scientific discovery of the new century, the mapping of the twenty-three pairs of chromosomes that make up the human genome--our complete set of DNA--raises almost as many questions as it answers. Questions that will profoundly impact the way we think about disease, about longevity, and about free will. Questions that will affect the rest of your life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this work of popular science, \u003ci\u003eGenome\u003c\/i\u003e offers extraordinary insight into the ramifications of this incredible breakthrough. By picking one newly discovered gene from each pair of chromosomes and telling its story, Matt Ridley recounts the history of our species and its evolution from the dawn of life to the brink of future medicine. From Huntington's disease to cancer, from the applications of gene therapy to the horrors of eugenics, Ridley probes the scientific, philosophical, and moral issues arising as a result of the mapping of the genome. It will help you understand what this scientific milestone means for you, for your children, and for humankind.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis landmark book in science writing illuminates: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe Human Genome Explained: \u003c\/b\u003e Journey through all twenty-three pairs of human chromosomes as Ridley unpacks the story and purpose of a single gene from each.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eHuman Origins: \u003c\/b\u003e Discover how our DNA acts as a historical document, revealing the story of our species and its ancestors from the dawn of life.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eGenes, Disease, and Free Will: \u003c\/b\u003e Explore the profound scientific and philosophical questions raised by our genetic code, from the roots of disease to the nature of free will.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe Future of Medicine: \u003c\/b\u003e Gain extraordinary insight into the future of medicine, from the applications of gene therapy to the complex moral questions of eugenics.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe genome's been mapped.\u003cbr\u003eBut what does it mean?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eArguably the most significant scientific discovery of the new century, the mapping of the twenty-three pairs of chromosomes that make up the human genome raises almost as many questions as it answers. Questions that will profoundly impact the way we think about disease, about longevity, and about free will. Questions that will affect the rest of your life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eGenome\u003c\/em\u003e offers extraordinary insight into the ramifications of this incredible breakthrough. By picking one newly discovered gene from each pair of chromosomes and telling its story, Matt Ridley recounts the history of our species and its ancestors from the dawn of life to the brink of future medicine. From Huntington's disease to cancer, from the applications of gene therapy to the horrors of eugenics, Matt Ridley probes the scientific, philosophical, and moral issues arising as a result of the mapping of the genome. It will help you understand what this scientific milestone means for you, for your children, and for humankind.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51379070107871,"sku":"9780060894085","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/TUOBvGOeFD9780060894085.webp?v=1789268485"},{"product_id":"francis-crick-discoverer-of-the-genetic-code-paperback","title":"Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePart of the acclaimed Eminent Lives series, Francis Crick is the first biography of the eminent scientist, co-discoverer of the double helix structure of DNA. Written by Matt Ridley, the award-winning author of the national bestseller Genome, Francis Crick traces his life from middle class mediocrity in the English Midlands through a lackluster education and six years designing magnetic mines for the Royal Navy to his leap into biology at the age of 31 and his enormous success, providing \"a considerably more complete and colorful portrait of Crick than has existed before.\" (New York Times)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis landmark work in the history of science reveals the man behind the discovery: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe Race for the Double Helix: \u003c\/b\u003e Explore the intense partnership with James Watson and the competitive drive that led them to one of the 20th century's greatest scientific breakthroughs.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eFrom Codebreaker to Code Cracker: \u003c\/b\u003e Discover Crick's surprising wartime years designing magnetic mines for the Royal Navy and how his scientific mind later turned to cracking the very code of life itself.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eScience and Controversy: \u003c\/b\u003e Delve into the complex collaborations, including the pivotal and often-debated role of Rosalind Franklin's data in the DNA discovery.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eLife After the Nobel: \u003c\/b\u003e Follow Crick's journey beyond DNA, from defining the \"Central Dogma\" of biology to his final decades tackling his second great mystery: the neurological basis of human consciousness.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrancis Crick--the quiet genius who led a revolution in biology by discovering, quite literally, the secret of life--will be bracketed with Galileo, Darwin, and Einstein as one of the greatest scientists of all time. In his fascinating biography of the scientific pioneer who uncovered the genetic code--the digital cipher at the heart of heredity that distinguishes living from non-living things--acclaimed bestselling science writer Matt Ridley traces Crick's life from middle-class mediocrity in the English Midlands through a lackluster education and six years designing magnetic mines for the Royal Navy to his leap into biology at the age of thirty-one and its astonishing consequences. In the process, Ridley sheds a brilliant light on the man who forever changed our world and how we understand it.\u003c\/p\u003e--Nicholas Wade, New York Times\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrancis Crick--the quiet genius who led a revolution in biology by discovering, quite literally, the secret of life--will be bracketed with Galileo, Darwin, and Einstein as one of the greatest scientists of all time. In his fascinating biography of the scientific pioneer who uncovered the genetic code--the digital cipher at the heart of heredity that distinguishes living from non-living things--acclaimed bestselling science writer Matt Ridley traces Crick's life from middle-class mediocrity in the English Midlands through a lackluster education and six years designing magnetic mines for the Royal Navy to his leap into biology at the age of thirty-one and its astonishing consequences. In the process, Ridley sheds a brilliant light on the man who forever changed our world and how we understand it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51379070697695,"sku":"9780061148453","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/TiwqnyoDzE9780061148453.webp?v=1789268487"},{"product_id":"the-evolution-of-everything-how-new-ideas-emerge-paperback","title":"The Evolution of Everything: How New Ideas Emerge - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Mr. Ridley's best and most important work to date...there is something profoundly democratic and egalitarian--even anti-elitist--in this bottom-up approach: Everyone can have a role in bringing about change.\" --\u003cem\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eThe Rational Optimist \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eGenome \u003c\/em\u003ereturns with a fascinating argument for evolution that definitively dispels a dangerous, widespread myth: that we can command and control our world\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHuman society evolves. Change in technology, language, morality, and society is incremental, inexorable, gradual, and spontaneous. It follows a narrative, going from one stage to the next, and it largely happens by trial and error--a version of natural selection. Much of the human world is the result of human action but not of human design: it emerges from the interactions of millions, not from the plans of a few.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on fascinating evidence from science, economics, history, politics, and philosophy, Matt Ridley demolishes conventional assumptions that the great events and trends of our day are dictated by those on high. On the contrary, our most important achievements develop from the bottom up. The Industrial Revolution, cell phones, the rise of Asia, and the Internet were never planned; they happened. Languages emerged and evolved by a form of natural selection, as did common law. Torture, racism, slavery, and pedophilia--all once widely regarded as acceptable--are now seen as immoral despite the decline of religion in recent decades.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this wide-ranging, erudite book, Ridley brilliantly makes the case for evolution, rather than design, as the force that has shaped much of our culture, our technology, our minds, and that even now is shaping our future.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHuman society evolves. Change in technology, language, morality, and society is incremental, inexorable, gradual, and spontaneous. It follows a narrative, going from one stage to the next, and it largely happens by trial and error--a version of natural selection. Much of the human world is the result of human action but not of human design: it emerges from the interactions of millions, not from the plans of a few.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on fascinating evidence from science, economics, history, politics, and philosophy, Matt Ridley demolishes conventional assumptions that the great events and trends of our day are dictated by those on high. On the contrary, our most important achievements develop from the bottom up. The Industrial Revolution, cell phones, the rise of Asia, and the Internet were never planned; they happened. Languages emerged and evolved by a form of natural selection, as did common law. Torture, racism, slavery, and pedophilia--all once widely regarded as acceptable--are now seen as immoral despite the decline of religion in recent decades.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this wide-ranging, erudite book, Ridley brilliantly makes the case for evolution, rather than design, as the force that has shaped much of our culture, our technology, our minds, and that even now is shaping our future.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51379085115615,"sku":"9780062296016","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/Bkw9rIzUdX9780062296016.webp?v=1789268524"},{"product_id":"the-origins-of-virtue-human-instincts-and-the-evolution-of-cooperation-paperback","title":"The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eIf, as Darwin suggests, evolution relentlessly encourages the survival of the fittest, why are humans compelled to live in cooperative, complex societies? In this fascinating examination of the roots of human trust and virtue, a zoologist and former American editor of the \u003cb\u003eEconomist\u003c\/b\u003e reveals the results of recent studies that suggest that self-interest and mutual aid are not at all incompatible. In fact, he points out, our cooperative instincts may have evolved as part of mankind's natural selfish behavior--by exchanging favors we can benefit ourselves as well as others.Brilliantly orchestrating the newest findings of geneticists, psychologists, and anthropologists, \u003cb\u003eThe Origins of Virtue\u003c\/b\u003e re-examines the everyday assumptions upon which we base our actions towards others, whether in our roles as parents, siblings, or trade partners. With the wit and brilliance of \u003cb\u003eThe Red Queen\u003c\/b\u003e, his acclaimed study of human and animal sexuality, \u003cb\u003eMatt Ridley\u003c\/b\u003e shows us how breakthroughs in computer programming, microbiology, and economics have given us a new perspective on how and why we relate to each other.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51379106644191,"sku":"9780140264456","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/b4YxcN89QG9780140264456.webp?v=1789268581"},{"product_id":"birds-sex-and-beauty-the-extraordinary-implications-of-charles-darwins-strangest-idea-hardcover","title":"Birds, Sex and Beauty: The Extraordinary Implications of Charles Darwin's Strangest Idea - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"[An] intriguing philosophical journey into a critical issue within evolutionary theory that for too long has remained unresolved.\" \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e--\u003cem\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMatt Ridley is one of our finest science writers. This book is a treat for bird lovers and evolutionary biologists alike.\" --Richard Dawkins, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Genetic Book of The Dead \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eThe God Delusion\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eGenome\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Evolution of Everything\u003c\/em\u003e revisits Darwin's revelatory theory of mate choice through the close study of the peculiar rituals of birds, and considers how this mating process complicates our own view of human evolution.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn all animals, mating is a deal. But few creatures behave as if sex is a simple, even mutually beneficial, transaction. Many more treat it with reverence, suspicion, angst, and violence. In the case of the Black Grouse, the bird at the center of Matt Ridley's investigation, the males dance and sing for hours a day, for several exhausting months, in an arduous and even deadly ritual called a \"lek.\" To prepare for the ordeal, they grow, preen and display fancy, twisted, bold-colored feathers. When achieved, consummation with a female takes seconds. So why the months of practice and preparation that is elaborate, extravagant, exhausting and elegant?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe full answer remains a mystery. Evolutionary biologists can explain why males are generally the eager sellers, females the discriminating buyers. But they struggle to explain why, in some species, this extravagance goes beyond the mere gaudy, taking on bizarre shapes, postures, and behavior. And further, why these bird displays seem beautiful to us humans, a species with seemingly no skin in the game.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUsing an early morning \"lek\" as his starting point, Ridley explores the scientific research into the evolution of bright colors, exotic ornaments, and elaborate displays in birds around the world. Charles Darwin thought the purpose of such displays was to \"charm\" females. Though Darwin's theory was initially dismissed and buried for decades, recent scientific research has proven him newly right--there is a powerful evolutionary force quite distinct from natural selection: mate choice. In \u003cem\u003eBirds, Sex and Beauty\u003c\/em\u003e, Ridley reopens the history of Darwin's vexed theory, laying bare a century of disagreement about an idea so powerful, so weird, and so wonderful, we may have yet to fully understand its implications.\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51379347194079,"sku":"9780063342989","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/mm6bAyhI59780063342989.webp?v=1789272398"},{"product_id":"the-rational-optimist-how-prosperity-evolves-paperback","title":"The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A delightful and fascinating book filled with insight and wit, which will make you think twice and cheer up.\" -- Steven Pinker\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn a bold and provocative interpretation of economic history, Matt Ridley, the New York Times-bestselling author of Genome and The Red Queen, makes the case for an economics of hope, arguing that the benefits of commerce, technology, innovation, and change--what Ridley calls cultural evolution--will inevitably increase human prosperity. Fans of the works of Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs, and Steel), Niall Ferguson (The Ascent of Money), and Thomas Friedman (The World Is Flat) will find much to ponder and enjoy in The Rational Optimist.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor two hundred years the pessimists have dominated public discourse, insisting that things will soon be getting much worse. But in fact, life is getting better--and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down all across the globe. Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people's lives as never before.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn astute, refreshing, and revelatory work of nonfiction that covers the entire sweep of human history--from the Stone Age to the Internet--The Rational Optimist will change your way of thinking about the world for the better.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe Collective Brain: \u003c\/b\u003e Discover how the uniquely human habit of exchange and specialisation created a collective intelligence, sparking innovation and driving prosperity for the last 100,000 years.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eAn Economics of Hope: \u003c\/b\u003e Read the counterintuitive and evidence-based argument that challenges centuries of pessimism, proving that food availability, income, and lifespan are up while disease, child mortality, and violence are down.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe Evolution of Prosperity: \u003c\/b\u003e Journey through the entire sweep of human history, from the Stone Age to the Internet, to understand how commerce, technology, and the division of labour have consistently raised our standard of living.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eEscaping Malthus's Trap: \u003c\/b\u003e Uncover why humanity's progress is an accelerating and sustainable process, and why--despite crises and catastrophes--our future is brighter than we think.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor two hundred years the pessimists have dominated public discourse, insisting that things will soon be getting much worse. But in fact, life is getting better--and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down all across the globe. Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people's lives as never before.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn his bold and bracing exploration into how human culture evolves positively through exchange and specialization, bestselling author Matt Ridley does more than describe how things are getting better. He explains why. An astute, refreshing, and revelatory work that covers the entire sweep of human history--from the Stone Age to the Internet--\u003cem\u003eThe Rational Optimist\u003c\/em\u003e will change your way of thinking about the world for the better. \u003c\/p\u003e--\u003cem\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/em\u003e (London)\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor two hundred years the pessimists have dominated public discourse, insisting that things will soon be getting much worse. But in fact, life is getting better--and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down all across the globe. Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people's lives as never before.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn his bold and bracing exploration into how human culture evolves positively through exchange and specialization, bestselling author Matt Ridley does more than describe how things are getting better. He explains why. An astute, refreshing, and revelatory work that covers the entire sweep of human history--from the Stone Age to the Internet--\u003cem\u003eThe Rational Optimist\u003c\/em\u003e will change your way of thinking about the world for the better. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51381283487967,"sku":"9780061452062","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/vUdzy6hyml9780061452062.webp?v=1789282865"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/matt-ridley.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}