Product details
- ISBN 9781783353248
- Dimensions: 129 x 198mm
- Publication Date: 01 Jan 2026
- Publisher: Guardian Faber Publishing
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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10th Anniversary Edition
From neuroscientist and internationally bestselling author Dean Burnett comes The Idiot Brain, an accessible, witty examination of how our brains get things wrong - and why that's absolutely fine.
WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION AND AFTERWORD
'A great read.' JON RONSON
'A wonderful introduction to neuroscience.' INDEPENDENT
Have you wondered why we recognise people's faces but forget their names?
Or why we get motion sickness? Or jet lag, too, for that matter.
And why do we overthink even the smallest things in our lives?
For something supposedly so brilliant and evolutionarily advanced, the human brain is pretty messy, fallible and disorganised. In The Idiot Brain, neuroscientist Dean Burnett celebrates the imperfections of the human brain in all their glory, and the impact of these quirks on our daily lives.
Covering anxiety, memory, intelligence and personality, this expertly researched and entertainingly written book is for anyone who has wondered why their brain seems to get things wrong, and what on earth it's really up to.
Dean Burnett is a neuroscientist, blogger, sometimes-comedian and author. He is currently an honorary research fellow at the Cardiff University Psychology School. His books have been international bestsellers and have sold in twenty-seven countries.
Burnett is a regular columnist for the BBC Science Focus Magazine and hosts the podcast Why Does This Thing Exist? with Simon Feeley; he previously wrote the science column 'Brain Flapping' for The Guardian, which was read over sixteen million times.
