Jo Marchant Books

In 1900 a group of sponge divers blown off course in the Mediterranean discovered an Ancient Greek shipwreck near the island of Antikythera dating from around 70 BC. Lying unnoticed for months amongst their hard-won haul was what appeared to be a formless lump of corroded rock, which turned out to be the most stunning scientific artefact we have from antiquity. For more than a century this 'Antikythera mechanism' - an ancient computer - puzzled academics, but now, more than 2000 years after the device was lost at sea, scientists have pieced together its intricate workings. In Decoding the Heavens, Jo Marchant tells for the first time the story of the 100-year quest to understand the Antikythera mechanism. Along the way she unearths a diverse cast of remarkable characters - ranging from Archimedes to Jacques Cousteau - and explores the deep roots of modern technology not only in Ancient Greece, the Islamic world and medieval Europe.

A journey through the history of science and man's relationship with the night sky and the cosmos beyond, from the author of Royal Society Prize-shortlisted Cure.

"A rigorous, skeptical, deeply reported look at the new science behind the mind's extraordinary ability to heal the body Have you ever felt a surge of adrenaline after narrowly avoiding an accident? Salivated at the sight (or thought) of a sour lemon? Felt turned on just from hearing your partner's voice? If so, then you've experienced how dramatically the workings of your mind can affect your body. Yet while we accept that stress or anxiety can damage our health, the idea of "healing thoughts" was long ago hijacked by New Age gurus and spiritual healers. Recently, however, serious scientists from a range of fields have been uncovering evidence that our thoughts, emotions, and beliefs can ease pain, heal wounds, fend off infection and heart disease, even slow the progression of AIDS and some cancers. In Cure, award-winning science writer Jo Marchant travels the world to meet the physicians, patients, and researchers on the cutting edge of this new world of medicine. We learn how meditation protects against depression and dementia, how social connections increase life expectancy, and how patients who feel cared for recover from surgery faster. We meet Iraq war veterans who are using a virtual arctic world to treat their burns and children whose ADHD is kept under control with half the normal dose of medication. We watch as a transplant patient uses the smell of lavender to calm his hostile immune system and an Olympic runner shaves vital seconds off his time through mind-power alone. Drawing on the very latest research, Marchant explores the vast potential of the mind's ability to heal, acknowledges its limitations, and explains how we can make use of the findings in our own lives"-- Provided by publisher

Wer zu viel Stress hat, ruiniert seinen Körper. Wer positiv denkt, hat gute Chancen, schneller gesund zu werden. Wer an etwas glaubt im Leben, wird seltener krank. Diese und andere Weisheiten waren lange die Domäne esoterischer Ratgeber; Schulmedizin und Naturwissenschaften machten einen weiten Bogen um sie. Inzwischen aber interessieren sich Neurologen, Mediziner, Biologen und Psychologen dafür, und es wird immer deutlicher, dass das meiste davon sich bestätigt . Schon ist beweisbar, dass positives Denken, gute Gefühle und starker Glaube Schmerzen lindern können, Wundheilung beschleunigen, vor Infektionen oder Herzkrankheiten schützen und sogar den Verlauf von AIDS und einiger Krebserkrankungen verlangsamen. Die uns innewohnenden Selbstheilungskräfte können aktiv genutzt werden. Jo Marchant hat die ganze Welt bereist, traditionelle und alternative Mediziner und ihre Patienten besucht und mit Biologen, Psychologen und Neurologen über die neuesten Forschungen gesprochen. Sie nimmt uns mit in eine neue Welt der Medizin, in der darüber geforscht wird, wie Schulmedizin und alternative Medizin zusammenarbeiten können - zum Wohle der Patienten. Auf dem jüngsten Stand der Forschung lotet Jo Marchant das Potential unserer Selbstheilungskräfte aus und zeigt, wie wir das neue Wissen für unser eigenes Leben nutzen können.