THE ROOTS OF THE SELF

Robert Ornstein

(c) Robert Ornstein, 1995

Why ideas of The Bell Curve are often deceptive, but why sex differences in the self are real. How normal thought shades into the psychotic. Why family life has little effect on our future. Are left-handers really different?

Robert Ornstein, psychologist, neurobiologist, and bestselling author, builds on the dazzling observations of modern genetics, biology and psychology to offer a brilliant, witty, and wonderfully informative science of the self. Fast, fun, friendly, and with the power to transform the way we see ourselves, others, and the world around us, The Roots of Self unravels age-old mysteries and reveals untold possibilities.

Presenting a new personality theory grounded in the latest research on child development, genetics and brain organization, Ornstein challenges, many popular assumptions in a brilliant, exciting, and conversationally written synthesis.'
--Publisher's Weekly

'A most arresting look at the self by one of the most witty and original psychologists writing today.'
--Booklist

'Beautifully written.... Not self-help but a help to understanding the self. [Ornstein's] insights are startling, original, and certain to change how we think about ourselves and others.'
--Paul Ekman, Ph.D.

'An intriguing and edifying meditation on how and why we have become the most individuated species.'
--Howard Gardner, Harvard University