Product details
- ISBN 9781836431732
- Dimensions: 153 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 11 Jun 2026
- Publisher: Oneworld Publications
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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'Elegant and accessible.' Daniel J. Levitin, author of This Is Your Brain on Music
But why is it so evocative? There’s no logical reason why a rousing, percussive tune should invoke swashbuckling pirates, or a slow melody on the flute remind you of a summer day from childhood. And yet, as research shows, it consistently does – and what’s more, if you hear pirates, others likely hear pirates as well.
For all that listening to music can feel like an intensely subjective experience, it holds objective, measurable power over the way our brains function. Exploring the strange and magical science of music perception, musician and psychologist Elizabeth Margulis examines the nature of ‘musical daydreams’. From the intense link between music and memory (music is more likely to prompt Proustian-style flashbacks than food, madeleines or otherwise) to why you keep returning to the music you loved at sixteen – and for that matter, the music your parents loved at sixteen – Transported reveals the compelling new science behind why music is so integral to who we are.
'Timely... there couldn’t be a better moment to explore the power of music to free our minds, inspire our imaginations, and awaken lost memories.' Renée Fleming
'Fascinating... Her book is the message in a bottle, urging us to connect more deeply with our inattention.' Wall Street Journal
Elizabeth Margulis is Professor of Music, with affiliate appointments in Psychology and Neuroscience, at Princeton University, where she directs the Music Cognition Lab. Her research has been featured on Netflix’s Music: Explained and NPR’s All Things Considered, alongside the New York Times and BBC. She is the author of On Repeat and The Psychology of Music, which has been translated into six languages.
