Rebellion

. . tiny differences in the nature of individuals require that each of usdiscovers, arranges, and sustains his or her unique partnerships andterritories. Because of this uniqueness you must actively steer your life rather that just letting it happen. None of us is mere clay for environment's thumbs and even the youngest of ten children is a one-off architect who renovates his parents.

Using clarity, humor, and personal examples, Dr. James Brody shows why you simplify or complicate your life, form partnerships and social networks, and sometimes conform or not. He also explains why certain aspects of physics are your best friends, why your commonsense handles them so well, why women displace men, and why you shouldn't believe bell curves! To illustrate, Brody includes stories from his clients as well as from biologists Charles and Erasmus Darwin, authors William and Henry James, anthropologists Mary Leakey and Loren Eiseley, and Nobel-winners Richard Feynman and Rita Levi-Montalcini.

". a rich tapestry of human behavior, but done in a way that gives significance to individualism using models that physics and mathematics offer. Phase transitions, emergent networks, condensates, swarming, and other models are in the arsenal that he develops in the first half of the book and applies in its second half to evolution and behavior genetics, conflict and suicide, and resilience and personal will. This is serious work, yet it is not difficult to read. I highly recommend it."
-Bryen Lorenz, Ph.D., Professor of Electrical Engineering, Widener University