Personality
Brotherton, Rob, Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories, 2016, Bloomsbury Sigma
Christian, Brian, and Tom Griffiths, Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions, 2017, William Collins
Dunbar, Robin, How Religion Evolved: And Why It Endures, 2023, Pelican
Gray, John, Seven Types of Atheism, 2019, Penguin
Mitchell, Kevin J., Innate: How the Wiring of Our Brains Shapes Who We Are, 2020, Princeton University Press
Yeo, Giles, Gene Eating: The Science of Obesity and the Truth about Diets, 2020, Orion Spring
Index
A note about the index: The pages referenced in this index refer to the page numbers in the print edition. Clicking on a page number will take you to the ebook location that corresponds to the beginning of that page in the print edition. For a comprehensive list of locations of any word or phrase, use your reading system’s search function.
Page numbers in bold refer to illustrations.
abiogenesis 172
abstract ideas 300
acorn flour 328
actin 217
Adamson, George 13
murder of 365
Adamson, Joy 13
Addenbrooke’s Hospital 14
adder’s tongue fern 232
adrenalin 412
advantageous mutations 229
age and aging 260
agriculture 332–3, 334, 337
Albon, Steve 224–5
alchemy 101–2
algae 249
all-sky map 88
Alpha Centauri 130, 139
Altai Mountains 35–6
amino acids 125, 178, 396, 396–7, 400
amniotes 252
Ana (housemate) 224
anatomical structure, interpretation challenge 303
Anchiornis huxleyi 219
Andromeda Galaxy 136
animals
body sizes 331–2
consciousness in 262–3, 263, 265, 267, 269–70, 294–5
decision-making 286–7
domestication 332–3
lacking brains 293
motivations 286–7
persecution 330–1
antelope 255
anthropic principle 392
anthropogenic climate change 164–5
anthropologists 303, 334
antimatter 69, 94–6
anti-predation behaviours 318
anti-quarks 94
antlions 233–4
Arabidopsis thaliana 232
archaea 215, 240
archaeologists 301
argon 104–5
art 314, 320, 321, 412–13
artificial chemicals 99
artificial intelligence 17, 55–6, 211, 385
asexual reproduction 241
asteroid belt, and Jupiter’s Grand Tack 147
asteroids 139–40
astronomical unit 147
ATG 230
atheism 407
atlas blue butterfly 232
atmospheric composition 151–2, 163–4, 238–9
atmospheric oxygen 163–4, 238–40, 397–8
atmospheric pressure 152
atmospheric zones 150–1, 157
atoms and atomic structure 62
ancient Greek understanding 101
complexity 117
formation of 6, 72, 90
ground state 117–18
orbitals 114–16
properties 108–9
quantum behaviour 105–12, 112
reactivity 117–22
size 120–2
solar system analogy 113
splitting 16
stability 117–18
structure 64, 65–6, 113–15, 115
wave function 108–11
wave-particle duality 106–12, 112
ATP 185–7, 207, 209
ATP synthase 186–7
Australia 132–4, 172–3, 322
Australian Tourism Board 133
Australopithecine species 308–10, 311, 313, 317, 318
Australopithecus afarensis 309
Australopithecus anamensis 308
autocatalysts 203
autocatalytic reactions 200–3, 205, 207, 209
axial spin 153
axial tilt 153–4
aye-aye 254, 255
azidoazide azide 96, 100
bacteria 215, 244, 249, 398, 399
bad behaviour 368–9, 408, 409–10
balloon metaphor 89–90
bananas, antimatter production 95–6
Barnard’s Star 139
best friends 288
beta particles 72, 96
big bang 86
biological diversity 213
biological legacies 174–5
biologists 372
biology, randomness in 388
birds 219, 303
birth order, and personality 351–2
bison 255–6
black holes 82, 137
body shape, change over lifetime 235–7
Bolt, Usain 342
bonobos 307
Bosch, Carl 337
bosons 72, 75
Botox 99
botulinum toxin 99
bow and arrow 326–7
brain
3D models 355
age related changes 355–6
cell numbers 274
comparison with computers 385, 388
complexity 272, 295
and consciousness 264, 265, 270–85
cost 319
decision-making 285–7
efficiency 285
electrical activity 267–70, 277–8
evolution of 293–6
frame of reference system 282–3
information flows 277–9
lack of mechanistic understanding of 354
Neanderthals 319
neuron overlap 279–80
personality traits and 353–5
prediction mechanism 283–4
primary role 272
simulation of the world 270–2, 281–4
size increase 296, 319
brain development 234, 347
brain injuries, and personality traits 354–5
brain scanners 267–70
brain structure 262, 272–80, 275, 279
brainstem 272
Broca’s area 312
cerebellum 273
cerebrum 273
glial cells 273–4
hippocampus 284
neocortex 273, 280–4, 296, 311, 315, 384–5
neuron networks 274–80, 279, 355
neuron orientation 280
neurons 273–5, 275, 280, 283–4, 295–6, 347, 355, 384–5
synapses 275, 277–8, 353–4, 385
brain-imaging studies 355
breeding failure, causes of 226–7
Brexit 408
Broca’s area 312
building blocks 69
Bungle Bungle mountain range, Western Australia 132–4
bureaucracy 298–300
burial practices 304, 317, 335
calcium-40 96
Cambrian explosion 247–9
Candidatus Prometheoarchaeum syntrophicum strain MK-D1 215–18, 221
Canham, Charlie 142–3
canine distemper virus 52–3, 54–5
carbohydrates 239
carbon 65, 92
atomic structure 122–3
covalent bonds 119, 123
ground state 123
isotopes 123
and life 122–3
carbon cycle 337
carbon dioxide 66, 151, 165–6
carbon dioxide emissions 251
carbonyl chloride 99
Castor star system 130
Çatalhöyük 20, 324–5, 334–5
catalysts 125
cations 118
cause and effect 371
cave art 303, 321, 327
Cavendish, Henry 102
cells
brain 274
clumping 245
differentiation 242–4
division 346–7
endocytosis 217
energy sources 207–8
enlargement 239–40
eukaryote 240
evolution 217
membranes 205, 396
multicellular life 242–7
non-reproductive cells 183–4
number in human body 4
organizational structure 240
reproductive cells 183–4
steady state 199
types 244
cerebral malaria 13–14, 365, 367, 403
Chalmers, David 261
chance events 2, 385–6
character 341
charm 74–5
ChatGPT 385
chemical bonds 103, 118–20
chemical reactions 65–6, 96–7, 103
activation energy 126
electromagnetic force and 97, 128
electrons and 117–19
endothermic 124
and energy 124–5
exothermic 124
and life 122–9, 175, 186–7, 207–8
rate of 126
chemicals, artificial 99
chemistry
development of 101–4
mechanistic understanding 372