Easily the most influential book published in the nineteenthcentury, Darwin’s The Origin of Species is also that mostunusual phenomenon, an altogether readable discussion of ascientific subject. On its appearance in 1859 it was immediatelyrecognized by enthusiasts and detractors alike as a work of thegreatest importance: the revolutionary theory of evolution by meansof natural selection that it presented provoked a furious reactionthat continues to this day. The Origin of Species is here published together withDarwin’s earlier Voyage of the ‘Beagle’. This 1839 accountof the journeys to South America and the Pacific islands that firstput Darwin on the track of his remarkable theories derives an addedcharm from his vivid de*ion of his travels in exotic placesand his eye for the piquant detail.
Starred Review。 What Aczel did for mathematician Fermat(Fermat’s Last Theorem)he now does for Descartes in this splendidstudy about the French philosopher and mathematician (1596–1650)most famous for his paradigm-smashing declaration, “I think;therefore, I am。” Part historical sketch, part biography and partdetective story, Aczel’s chronicle of Descartes’s hidden workhinges on his lost secret notebook。 Of 16 pages of codedmanu*, one and a half were copied in 1676 by fellowphilosopher and mathematician Leibniz。 For him, Descartes’sin*ion of the cryptic letters“GFRC” immediately revealed hisassociation with the occult fraternity of the Rosicrucians—Leibnizwas also a member。 The notebook also revealed to Leibniz adiscovery made by Descartes that would have transformedmathematics。 As Aczel so deftly demonstrates, Descartes'smathematical theories were paths to an understanding the order andmystery of the cosmos, and he kept the notebook hidden because itcont
One of the major neuropsychological models of personality,developed by world-renowned psychologist Professor Jeffrey Gray, isbased upon individual differences in reactions to punishing andrewarding stimuli. This biological theory of personality - nowwidely known as 'Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory' (RST) - has hada major influence on motivation, emotion and psychopathologyresearch. In 2000, RST was substantially revised by Jeffrey Gray,together with Neil McNaughton, and this revised theory proposedthree principal motivation/emotion systems: the'Fight-Flight-Freeze System' (FFFS), the 'Behavioural ApproachSystem' (BAS) and the 'Behavioural Inhibition System' (BIS). Thisis the first book to summarise the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theoryof personality and bring together leading researchers in the field.It summarizes all of the pre-2000 RST research findings, explainsand elaborates the implications of the 2000 theory for personalitypsychology and lays out the future research agenda for RST.