Synopses & Reviews
One of the finest science writers Ive ever read.”
Los Angeles TimesEllard has a knack for distilling obscure scientific theories into practical wisdom.” New York Times Book Review
[Ellard] mak[es] even the most mundane entomological experiment or exegesis of psychological geekspeak feel fresh and fascinating.” NPR
Colin Ellard is one of the worlds foremost thinkers on the neuroscience of urban design. Here he offers an entirely new way to understand our citiesand ourselves.” CHARLES MONTGOMERY, author of Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design
Our surroundings can powerfully affect our thoughts, emotions, and physical responses, whether were awed by the Grand Canyon or Hagia Sophia, panicked in a crowded room, soothed by a walk in the park, or tempted in casinos and shopping malls. In Places of the Heart, Colin Ellard explores how our homes, workplaces, cities, and natureplaces we escape to and cant escape fromhave influenced us throughout history, and how our brains and bodies respond to different types of real and virtual space. As he describes the insight he and other scientists have gained from new technologies, he assesses the influence these technologies will have on our evolving environment and asks what kind of world we are, and should be, creating.
Colin Ellard is the author of You Are Here: Why We Can Find Our Way to the Moon, but Get Lost in the Mall. A cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Waterloo and director of its Urban Realities Laboratory, he lives in Kitchener, Ontario.
Review
Advance Praise for Places of the HeartA Selection of the Library of Science, History, and Military Book Clubs
If you care about your city and your happiness, read every page of this fascinating book. Places of the Heart offers a thrilling journey through the pathways of our cities and the human mind. This is no flight of fancy. Its an evidence-based exploration of how the places we inhabit change our minds and bodies. Colin Ellard is one of the worlds foremost thinkers on the neuroscience of urban design. Here he offers an entirely new way to understand our citiesand ourselves.” CHARLES MONTGOMERY, author of Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design
This beautifully written book grabs the reader from the start, with personal stories from the authors life interwoven with history, archaeology, technology, and design.” ESTHER M. STERNBERG, MD, author of Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-Being
Praise for Colin Ellard
One of the finest science writers Ive ever read.” Los Angeles Times
Delightfully lucid. . . . Ellard has a knack for distilling obscure scientific theories into practical wisdom.” New York Times Book Review
[Ellard] mak[es] even the most mundane entomological experiment or exegesis of psychological geekspeak feel fresh and fascinating.” NPR
[Ellard] entertain[s] us with an explanation of the cold, hard science [and] artfully constructed exploration[s] of how our relationship to spaces plays a huge part in making us human.” Quill and Quire
Fascinating.” Globe and Mail
Smart.” Cleveland Plain Dealer
Delightful.” Publishers Weekly
Ellard writes with admirable clarity.” Kirkus Reviews
As an architect . . . [Ellard] took me on a journey to places Id never even considered before.” SARAH SUSANKA, author of The Not So Big House
Synopsis
A neuroscientist illuminates how we make and are made by the world both real and virtual
Synopsis
Library of Science Book Club selectionDiscover magazine "What to Read" selection "A really great book." --IRA FLATOW, Science Friday
"One of the finest science writers I've ever read." --Los Angeles Times
"Ellard has a knack for distilling obscure scientific theories into practical wisdom." --New York Times Book Review
" Ellard] mak es] even the most mundane entomological experiment or exegesis of psychological geekspeak feel fresh and fascinating." --NPR
"Colin Ellard is one of the world's foremost thinkers on the neuroscience of urban design. Here he offers an entirely new way to understand our cities--and ourselves." --CHARLES MONTGOMERY, author of Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design
Our surroundings can powerfully affect our thoughts, emotions, and physical responses, whether we're awed by the Grand Canyon or Hagia Sophia, panicked in a crowded room, soothed by a walk in the park, or tempted in casinos and shopping malls. In Places of the Heart, Colin Ellard explores how our homes, workplaces, cities, and nature--places we escape to and can't escape from--have influenced us throughout history, and how our brains and bodies respond to different types of real and virtual space. As he describes the insight he and other scientists have gained from new technologies, he assesses the influence these technologies will have on our evolving environment and asks what kind of world we are, and should be, creating.
Colin Ellard is the author of You Are Here: Why We Can Find Our Way to the Moon, but Get Lost in the Mall. A cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Waterloo and director of its Urban Realities Laboratory, he lives in Kitchener, Ontario.
Synopsis
Colin Ellard is that rare combination of active research scientist, talented popular science writer, engaging public speaker, and go-to media expert:
A practicing neuroscientist, Ellard conducts field research by leading urban walking tours and putting his data on display, often in museum settings, around the globe.
A writer, he contributes to outlets ranging from Nautilus to the Guardian, and keeps a blog at Psychology Today.
A speaker and expert, he has delivered a TED Talk, is regularly interviewed by outlets such as NPR, Time, and Scientific American, and is consulted as an expert by media outlets such as Discovery News, Travel+Leisure, Women's Health, and Slate. Places of the Heart, a book with broad appeal, features:
Original, cutting-edge research about human happiness
Expansive history about how our emotions have shaped the way we construct our surroundings and the ways new technology will change the future of design
Fascinating facts about why we love natural spaces, hate sharp angles, and more
Clear and practical applications for how we build everything from a home and a city to virtual environments
Insight into ways we can avoid ethical collisions at the intersections of science, technology, and architectureSynopsis
Lust, fear, and awe are just some of emotions that our surroundings can arouse. From Stonehenge to 21st-century virtual environments, neuroscientist Ellard explores the psychology behind our behavior in different settings, the ways marketers channel our emotional responses, and the developing technologies that promise to enhance the way we understand the psyche in our ever-evolving landscape.
About the Author
Colin Ellard, who works at the intersection of neuroscience and architectural and environmental design, is the author of You Are Here: Why We Can Find Our Way to the Moon, but Get Lost in the Mall and Places of the Heart: The Psychogeography of Everyday Life (forthcoming from Bellevue Literary Press). He has published scientific work in international journals in North America, Europe, and Asia for the past twenty-five years and has also contributed to the public discussion of environmental psychology through his work with museums and the media. A cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Waterloo and director of its Urban Realities Laboratory, Ellard lives in Kitchener, Ontario.