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ebook editions
Chapter one
Risk


Why I Traveled the World Hunting for Mutant Bugs
A researcher who works through painting tells her story.

Learning Chess at 40
What I learned trying to keep up with my 4-year-old daughter at the royal game.
Chapter two
Trouble

WeChat Is Watching
Living in China with the app that knows everything about me.

Let’s Play War
Could war games replace the real thing?

Why We Keep Playing the Lottery
Blind to the mathematical odds, we fall to the marketing gods.
Chapter three
Scrabble

The Spirit of the Inquisition Lives in Science
What a 16th-century scientist can tell us about the fate of a physicist like David Bohm.

Presenting the Scrabble Luck Calculator
Are you as good at Scrabble as you think?

To Be More Creative, Cheer Up
The way to tap your inner Hemingway is not how you think.

When We Were the Cosmos
The director of the Griffith Observatory revisits the dawn of astronomy.
Chapter four
Bridge

Playing Video Games Makes Us Fully Human
No other media meets our emotional and social needs like electronic games.

The Unique Neurology of the Sports Fan’s Brain
Why we get off on the game—and are better off for it.

Why We Need Court Jesters in Space
Behavioral scientists explain why Mars missions need humor.
Chapter five
Monopoly

We Need Insects More Than They Need Us
Inside the world of plastic-eating worms, dung-rolling beetles, and agricultural ants..

Raising the American Weakling
There are two very different interpretations of our dwindling grip strength.

Why We’re Patriotic
Whether it’s our country or our football team, we need to belong.
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