Organic Reaction Mechanisms 2008. An annual survey covering the literature dated January to December 2008

Why is it that the behaviour of teenagers can be so odd? As they grow older, young children steadily improve their sense of how to behave, and then all of a sudden, they can become totally uncommunicative, wildly emotional and completely unpredictable.We used to think that erratic teenage behaviour was due to a sudden surge in hormones, but modern neuroscience shows us that this isn’t true. The Teenage Brain is a journey through the new discoveries that show us exactly what happens to the brain in this crucial period, how it dictates teenagers’ behaviour, and how the experiences of our teenage years are what shape our attitudes, and often our happiness in later life.Many of our ideas about our growing brains are completely re-written. They don’t stop developing at the end of our teens – they keep adapting until we are in our mid-twenties. They are wired back to front, with the most important parts, the parts that we associate with good judgement, concentration, organization and emotional and behavioural control being connected last of all.The Teenage brain is a powerful animal primed for learning, but this creates problems. Addiction is a form of learning, and Frances Jensen, Professor of Pediatric Neurology at the teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School reveals exactly what lies behind all aspects of teenage behaviour and its lasting effects – from drugs, lack of sleep and smoking to multi-tasking and stress.As a mother and a scientist, Professor Jensen offers both exciting science and practical suggestions for how parents, teens and schools can help teenagers weather the storms of adolescence, and get the most out of their incredible brains.

In this groundbreaking and absorbing book Dr. Sharon Moalem, delves back into the evolution of man to offer a radical perspective on survival, the human body, and our understanding of disease. Survival of the Sickest will change the way you think about your body.Dr. Moalem investigates peculiar and puzzling features of human biology to reveal the answers to such provocative questions as:• Why do we need to pee when we’re cold?• Can a person rust to death?• Why are Greeks hairier than Africans?• Can the tanning salon lower cholesterol?• Why are leeches back in vogue?• Can sunglasses cause sunburns?• Who gets drunk faster – Europeans or Asians?In considering the question of why diseases exist, Dr Moalem proposes that most common diseases came into existence for very good reasons. Diabetes, hemochromatosis, cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia may all exist because, at some time in our past, they helped our ancestors survive some grand challenge to human existence. In turn, he also discovers that genetic and cultural differences have led to each race having different and unique ways of reacting to their environment and subsequently how they become susceptible to certain diseases.Survival of the Sickest is a book about life – yours, ours and every little living thing under the sun. About how we all got here, where we're all going and what we can do about it. Revelatory and written in an utterly engaging fashion, Sharon Moalem's book will change the way you think about your body.

‘Inferior is more than just a book. It’s a battle cry – and right now, it’s having a galvanising effect on its core fanbase’ ObserverAre women more nurturing than men?Are men more promiscuous than women?Are males the naturally dominant sex?And can science give us an impartial answer to these questions?Taking us on an eye-opening journey through science, Inferior challenges our preconceptions about men and women, investigating the ferocious gender wars that burn in biology, psychology and anthropology. Angela Saini revisits the landmark experiments that have informed our understanding, lays bare the problem of bias in research, and speaks to the scientists finally exploring the truth about the female sex.The result is an enlightening and deeply empowering account of women’s minds, bodies and evolutionary history. Interrogating what these revelations mean for us as individuals and as a society, Inferior unveils a fresh view of science in which women are included, rather than excluded.

Over the years, millions of school children must have written out their address in the same way – their house number and street, their town, their country, their continent, planet Earth, the universe… Following this simplest of patterns, taking each line of the address as a starting point, Tim Radford explores our place in the scheme of things – why we are attached to a particular geographical place and what significance do we have when faced with the realms of astronomy and astrophysics. Fascinating, entertaining and completely original, The Address Book tackles some of the most fundamental questions facing us, and allows us see ourselves completely afresh.

We are bombarded with images of poverty, terrorism, war and collapsing states. Do we ever question what the root cause of these problems might be? Noreena Hertz, one of the world's leading experts on economic globalization, tackles Third World Debt as a problem which must be resolved if we are ever to see global stability.For every $1 the west gives to developing countries in aid, developing countries pay the west $9 in debt service.At the beginning of the new millennium we are witnessing a global debt crisis of unprecedented size. Sub-Saharan Africa owes $200 billion, Brazil $223.8 billion, Argentina $155 billion. Why does this matter? In this shocking, ground-breaking book, Noreena Hertz shows that these numbers matter because they account for millions of people dying of AIDS; for the rainforests being cut down; for poverty, illiteracy, terrorism and war. These numbers matter because they will affect all of our lives if the balance is not redressed.‘IOU’ is a story of avarice but also of vulnerability; of power asymmetries and misuse of power; of corrupt dictators and careless lenders; of Cold War interests and Wall Street pressure; of third world governments who get given it, and third world people who have no access to it. Noreena Hertz, one of the world's leading experts on economic globalisation, argues that this is not an issue of left or right: it is an issue of right versus wrong; of peace versus war. It must be addressed now.