Brain Trust: 93 Top Scientists Reveal Lab-Tested Secrets to Surfing, Dating, Dieting, Gambling, Growing Man-Eating Plants, and More!

234 Pages·2012·3.17 MB·English

by  Garth Sundem

ALSO BY GARTH SUNDEM
The Geeks’ Guide to World Domination
Brain Candy

Copyright © 2012 by Garth Sundem
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of the
Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
Three Rivers Press and the Tugboat design are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sundem, Garth
Brain trust : 93 top scientists reveal lab-tested secrets to surfing, dating, dieting, gambling,
growing man-eating plants, and more! / Garth Sundem.
p. cm.
Summary: “Based entirely on original interviews with Nobel laureates,
MacArthur geniuses, National Science Medal winners, and other leading
scientists, Brain Trust delivers more than 100 proven, scientifically valid
tips guaranteed to make you more awesome”—Provided by publisher.
1. Science—Miscellanea. I. Title.
Q173.S947 2012
500—dc23
2011022036
eISBN: 978-0-30788614-9
Illustrations: Garth Sundem
Cover design: Kyle Kolker
Cover photographs: (shirt) © Brand × Pictures;
(scientists) Lambert/Archive Photos/Getty Images
v3.1
To the 130-ish brilliant scientists who took time from teaching, research, and their otherwise
busy lives to tutor me in how to best live mine.
CONTENTS
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
INTRODUCTION
TRANSFORM A RELATIONSHIP WITH LANGUAGE
Steven Pinker
COGNITIVE SCIENCE, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
EAT FOR EIGHT HOURS, LOSE WEIGHT
Satchidananda Panda
REGULATORY BIOLOGY, SALK INSTITUTE
HOW TO BUILD TINY, FLYING CYBORG BEETLES
Michel Maharbiz
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY
HOW TO LEARN
Robert Bjork
PSYCHOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA–LOS ANGELES
THE BODY LANGUAGE OF DOMINANCE AND LOVE
David Givens
ANTHROPOLOGY, CENTER FOR NONVERBAL STUDIES
HOW AND WHEN TO OVERRULE CHOICE
Sheena Iyengar
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL
THE COOLEST CARD TRICK EVER
Ian Stewart
MATHEMATICS, UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
HOW TO BET SPORTS
Wayne Winston
DECISION SCIENCE, INDIANA UNIVERSITY-BLOOMINGTON
AVOID CONSUMPTION QUICKSAND
Niro Sivanathan
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL
HOW TO HANG TEN
Paul Doherty
PHYSICS, THE EXPLORATORIUM
HOW TO SELL FOR BIG BUCKS ON EBAY
Gillian Ku
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL
SHOULD YOU MULTITASK?
David Strayer
COGNITIVE SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
TEACH YOUR TODDLER PERFECT PITCH
Diana Deutsch
AUDITORY PSYCHOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA–SAN DIEGO
HOW TO AGREE (AND WHY NEGOTIATIONS FAIL)
George Loewenstein
BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS, CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY
WIN THE LOTTERY
Skip Garibaldi
MATHEMATICS, EMORY UNIVERSITY
IMAGINE EATING TO EAT LESS
Casey Morewedge
DECISION SCIENCE, CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY
USE RUBBER BANDS TO BE A RADICAL ROCK CLIMBER
Hugh Herr
BIOMECHATRONICS, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
DECOUPLING “COMFORT” AND “FOOD”
Mark Wilson
PSYCHOBIOLOGY, YERKES NATIONAL PRIMATE RESEARCH CENTER
WRING AN EXTRA $20 OUT OF A USED CAR
Devin Pope
BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO BOOTH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
HAPPINESS, WHY LAWYERS DON’T VOLUNTEER, AND HOW TO FUND A NONPROFIT
Sanford DeVoe
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO ROTMAN SCHOOL OF
MANAGEMENT
THE SCIENCE OF SPEED DATING
Paul Eastwick and Eli Finkel
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
HOW TO BE A BALLER
John Fontanella
PHYSICS, UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY
HOW TO PANHANDLE
Lee Alan Dugatkin
BIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE
HOW TO TAKE A CORNER
Charles Edmondson
PHYSICS, UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY
DESTROY STUFF WITH AWESOME SUPERVILLAIN POWERS
Steve Strogatz
MATHEMATICS, CORNELL UNIVERSITY
CREATE A CULTLIKE POSSE OF WORSHIPFUL AUTOMATONS
Eli Berman
ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA–SAN DIEGO
BUILD A CYBERNETIC THIRD ARM
Yoky Matsuoka
BIOROBOTICS, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
BE A SCRABBLE JEDI
Jason Katz-Brown
QUACKLE, GOOGLE
GET YOUR SPOUSE TO DO MORE HOUSEWORK
George Akerlof
ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY
MAKE THE MOST OF THE GENES YOU GOT
Joseph Ecker
GENETICS, SALK INSTITUTE
THROW A PUNCH
Jearl Walker
PHYSICS, CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY
MAKE PEOPLE LAUGH
Robert Provine
NEUROSCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND–BALTIMORE COUNTY
SEE UNHOLY COLORS
Jay Neitz
OPHTHALMOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
DRINK MORE TO EAT LESS
Brenda Davy
NUTRITION, VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
HOW TO AVOID CAR THEFT
Ben Vollaard
CRIMINOLOGY, TILBURG UNIVERSITY
TO KNOW OTHERS, KNOW THYSELF
Julian Keenan
NEUROSCIENCE, MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY
HOW TO SPOT A LIAR
Paul Ekman
PSYCHOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA–SAN FRANCISCO
GROW HUGE CARNIVOROUS PLANTS
Louie Yang
ECOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-DAVIS
CHOOSE PEOPLE WHOSE COLLABORATION WILL BE GREATER THAN THE SUM OF THEIR
PARTS
Brian Sauser
SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT, STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
GET A JOB!