Right Hand, Left Hand

by Chris Mc Manus (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2002

  $5.90

  Chris McManus's dazzlingly written debut provides the answers to an array of familiar, almost childish, questions: Why are most people right-handed? Why do the British drive on the left? Why are human bodies symmetrical on the outside, but not on the inside? What is the relationship between handedness and speech disorders, such as stuttering? Right Hand, Left Hand uses sources as diverse as the paintings of Rembrandt and the drawings of Leonardo, the origins of medieval iconography, the history of medicine, cognitive science, molecular biology, particle physics, and the history of sport to explain the vast repertoire of 'left-right' symbolism that permeates our everyday lives. The book answers wonderfully deep and simple questions about why the universe, the human body, and our minds and cultures are so full of distinctions between left and right.

• Used

  Paperback
  2003

  $3.26

  Winner of the Aventis Science Book Prize. 'A scientific detective story, a brilliant cross between Edgar Allan Poe and Gray's anatomy' J G Ballard, New Stateman Books of the Year

  - Why are most people right-handed? Do left-handers behave differently from right-handers?
  - Why is the heart on the left-hand side of the body?
  - Why is each side of the human brain so different?
  - Why do the British drive on the left? Why do European languages go from left to right, while Arabic ones read the other way?
  - Why do clocks go clockwise?
  - What is the relationship between handedness and speech disorders, such as stuttering?

  RIGHT HAND, LEFT HAND uses sources as diverse as the paintings of Rembrandt and the sculpture of Michelangelo, the behaviour of Canadian cichlid fish and the story of early cartography. Modern cognitive science, the history of the Wimbledon tennis championship and the biographies of great musicians are also used to explain the vast repertoire of 'left-right' symbolism that permeates our everyday lives.

• New

  Paperback
  2003

  $14.11

  Winner of the Aventis Science Book Prize. 'A scientific detective story, a brilliant cross between Edgar Allan Poe and Gray's anatomy' J G Ballard, New Stateman Books of the Year

  - Why are most people right-handed? Do left-handers behave differently from right-handers?
  - Why is the heart on the left-hand side of the body?
  - Why is each side of the human brain so different?
  - Why do the British drive on the left? Why do European languages go from left to right, while Arabic ones read the other way?
  - Why do clocks go clockwise?
  - What is the relationship between handedness and speech disorders, such as stuttering?

  RIGHT HAND, LEFT HAND uses sources as diverse as the paintings of Rembrandt and the sculpture of Michelangelo, the behaviour of Canadian cichlid fish and the story of early cartography. Modern cognitive science, the history of the Wimbledon tennis championship and the biographies of great musicians are also used to explain the vast repertoire of 'left-right' symbolism that permeates our everyday lives.