Louis Franzini and John Grossberg take readers behind the tabloid headlines and media exposes to tell the real-life stories of emotionally damaged men and women driven to horrific extremes in their efforts to gratify their basic human needs for love and attention.

Never has the term mad scientist been more fascinatingly explored than in internationally recognized popular science author Clifford Pickover's richly researched wild ride through the bizarre lives of eccentric geniuses. A few highlights: "The Pigeon Man from Manhattan" Legendary inventor Nikola Tesla had abnormally long thumbs, a peculiar love of pigeons, and a horror of women's pearls. "The Worm Man from Devonshire" Forefather of modern electric-circuit design Oliver Heaviside furnished his home with granite blocks and sometimes consumed only milk for days (as did Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison). "The Rabbit-Eater from Lichfield" Renowned scholar Samuel Johnson had so many tics and quirks that some mistook him for an idiot. In fact, his behavior matches modern definitions of obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette's syndrome. Pickover also addresses many provocative topics: the link between genius and madness, the role the brain plays in alien abduction and religious experiences, UFOs, cryonics -- even the whereabouts of Einstein's brain!

From 1859 to 1880, Joshua Abraham Norton thought he was Emperor of the United States. Ann Atkin keeps 7,500 garden gnomes in her backyard. Brooklyn artist Peter McGough dresses and acts as if it were 1895. These are just a few of the eccentrics discussed by Dr. Weeks, the world's foremost expert on the subject.

A New York Times Notable Book of 2020 A Bloomberg Best Non-Fiction Book of 2020 A Behavioral Scientist Notable Book of 2020 A Human Behavior & Evolution Society Must-Read Popular Evolution Book of 2020 A bold, epic account of how the co-evolution of psychology and culture created the peculiar Western mind that has profoundly shaped the modern world. Perhaps you are WEIRD: raised in a society that is Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. If so, you’re rather psychologically peculiar. Unlike much of the world today, and most people who have ever lived, WEIRD people are highly individualistic, self-obsessed, control-oriented, nonconformist, and analytical. They focus on themselves—their attributes, accomplishments, and aspirations—over their relationships and social roles. How did WEIRD populations become so psychologically distinct? What role did these psychological differences play in the industrial revolution and the global expansion of Europe during the last few centuries? In The WEIRDest People in the World, Joseph Henrich draws on cutting-edge research in anthropology, psychology, economics, and evolutionary biology to explore these questions and more. He illuminates the origins and evolution of family structures, marriage, and religion, and the profound impact these cultural transformations had on human psychology. Mapping these shifts through ancient history and late antiquity, Henrich reveals that the most fundamental institutions of kinship and marriage changed dramatically under pressure from the Roman Catholic Church. It was these changes that gave rise to the WEIRD psychology that would coevolve with impersonal markets, occupational specialization, and free competition—laying the foundation for the modern world. Provocative and engaging in both its broad scope and its surprising details, The WEIRDest People in the World explores how culture, institutions, and psychology shape one another, and explains what this means for both our most personal sense of who we are as individuals and also the large-scale social, political, and economic forces that drive human history. Includes black-and-white illustrations.

50th Anniversary Edition The cornerstone text in the field for 50 years, Kaplan & Sadock's Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry has consistently kept pace with the rapid growth of research and knowledge in neural science, as well as biological and psychological science. This two-volume Tenth Edition shares the expertise of over 600 renowned contributors who cover the full range of psychiatry and mental health, including neural science, genetics, neuropsychiatry, psychopharmacology, and other key areas. It remains the gold standard of reference for all those who work with the mentally ill, including psychiatrists and other physicians, psychologists, psychiatric social workers, psychiatric nurses, and other mental health professionals.

Just Kidding is for anyone who wants to learn how to use humor more effectively in their daily lives. It includes opinions, advice, and examples from comics, celebrities, and politicians. Topics include basic principles of comedy, political correctness, strategies to avoid potential pitfalls, and exercises to build humor skills.

Fourteen essays that chart humanity from the saintly to the monstrous. Extremes convincingly shows, through its bizarre tales-all documented, all true-how unnatural human nature can be. Translated by Johan Theron. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

The new 2022 edition of the most widely taught deviance text brings us into a changing political era. A new chapter on political deviance includes a section that defines political deviance, emphasizing a sociological and not an ideological definition. It also covers which sectors of the society define what constitutes political deviance; and political deviance and its relation to social change. In addition, the chapter on substance abuse provides more discussion of marijuana legalization and decriminalization. Although disease as potential deviance has been covered, the COVID-19 pandemic greatly expands discussions on this topic. Updated throughout, this new edition includes expanded coverage of Black Lives Matter, sexual harassment, the social construction of immigration, and other topics. A new section on logic, reasoning, and verification of facts is an important new feature for student critical thinking while it addresses the recent politics of truth and lying, including QAnon.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a highly functional discipline that, instead of searching for abstract, internal causes for human behavior, looks to external factors that can be influenced. Once identified, these factors can be manipulated to make meaningful, positive improvements in the lives of real people through positive behavior change. Not surprisingly behavior analysis has been applied to a wide range of human activities, from helping troubled teens to organizing industry to maximizing sports performance. ABA interventions for these diverse problems are often creative-and they tend to be effective. In this volume, some of the field's foremost practitioners offer their expert perspective on a range of topics within ABA. Each chapter is fully referenced and contains a set of reading objectives to facilitate deeper understanding and further discussion of its subject area. While these discussions will be of particular interest to academic behavior analysts and graduate students, clinicians and other practitioners will find the research review helpful and informative.

The gold standard reference for all those who work with people with mental illness, Kaplan & Sadock's Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, edited by Drs. Robert Boland and Marcia L. Verduin, has consistently kept pace with the rapid growth of research and knowledge in neural science, as well as biological and psychological science. This two-volume eleventh edition offers the expertise of more than 600 renowned contributors who cover the full range of psychiatry and mental health, including neural science, genetics, neuropsychiatry, psychopharmacology, and other key areas.