Explaining Humans: Winner of the Royal Society Science Book Prize 2020

Product Information

The book is an amazing view into the world of aspies like Camilla and a great introduction to many scientific topics. Acești oameni devin „parteneri într-ale armoniei”, adică undele lor sunt suficient de asemănătoare încât să le permită să se completeze reciproc, depășind cu eleganță eventualele diferențe și explorând împreună ceea ce îi unește. The fruition is this book that is part memoir, part instruction manual and a love letter to science while illuminating the power of being on the autism spectrum — a must-read for all of us, whether neurotypical or neurodiverse.

If I didn’t feel a need for such explanation I could perhaps overlook this mismatch but I was really hoping the author could provide me with one.This is an intriguing book, written from the perspective of someone who has had to self-consciously learn much of what most of us take for granted. Only downside is that the book prize 2020 is not a sticker but actually printed on, the hardback is really pretty otherwise! Things are often repeated with vague paraphrasings in lieu of actual explanations and thoughts are sometimes dropped half baked just to move on to the next.

For a book written by someone whose career is in an intellectually rigorous discipline, it lacks both rigour and discipline. This book seems to rest on this premise (we could all do with reflecting on its advice and guidance) yet also encourages us not to dwell too long on it - to try things out, reflect, adjust, go again. If I could finish my assignment, even if I had trouble sitting still in my seat, no one would have labeled me ADHD. Applying science to the problems of human relationships, the perils of perfectionism and the pitfalls of social etiquette, Millie has written a joyous, funny and hugely insightful text for all of us - whether neurotypical or neurodiverse.It was also an intriguing read because she told little stories about her own experiences as examples that I found to be hilarious and connected so much to. However, it does not make for good general discourse, and that along with her disanalogous supporting arguments ruin the message of this otherwise promising project. As the father of a recently-diagnosed son with ASD and having forgotten most of the physics I was taught at university, this joyous book delivered many moments of enlightenment and inspiration. but, apart from that it's an excellently, written book with quite funny parts as she has a giggle at herself.

So I would have given it 3 stars, it wasn't too bad apart from the strong "not like other girls" vibes that I picked up from Dr Pang. Winning doesn’t feel real yet, but it does feel like an incredible honour, to be up there with people I admire. The title (and blurb) are rather misleading: there isn’t much explaining of humans going on, rather, scientific ideas and principles are roughly applied as coping mechanisms. The protein model is an invaluable life lesson — teaching us that individuality is fundamental to effective teamwork and all we need to do is trust more in our personality and perspective to short-circuit many of the inhibitions that hold us back. I will say we do have very different personalities, I'm sure partly innate and partly due to the difference in our ages, resulting diagnosis being more available and likely than when I was eight years old.I think this is a bit of a stretch to be enjoyable, it's just someone with some arbitrary views that seems to think they're special and I couldn't really find value. Challenged by her conditions, Pang has used models to help guide her, and it all makes sense even from a non-autistic perspective.