Author: Simon Baron-Cohen
Format: Hardback (board colour: ). Plain endpapers (colour: ). Size: about 14.1cm W x 22.3cm H x 2.8cm T. Pages: xiii + 263. Bibliography. Index. Dust-jacket.
Publisher: Penguin Group - Allen Lane
ISBN: 0-713-99671-4
Status: New

Contents page

Dust-jacket notes about this book and its author:
 
FRONT FLAP:

What really makes men and women different?
 
We all know the opposite sex can be a baffling, even infuriating, species. Why do most men use the phone to exchange information rather than have a chat? Why do women love talking about relationships and feelings with their girlfriends while men seem strangely drawn to computer games, new gadgets, discussing driving routes or the football results? And why are women better at understanding body language? Can it really all just be down to our upbringing?
 
Here leading psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen confirms what most of us had suspected all along: that male and female brains are different. This groundbreaking and controversial study reveals the scientific evidence (present even in one-day-old babies) which proves that female-type brains are better at empathizing and communicating, while male brains are stronger at understanding and building Systems - not just computers and machinery, but abstract systems such as politics and music.
 
And, most revolutionary of all, The Essential Difference also puts forward the compelling new theory that autism (and the related condition of Asperger's Syndrome) is actually an example of the extreme male brain. It can explain why those who live with this condition are brilliant at analysing the most complex systems, yet cannot relate to the emotional lives of those they live with. Understanding our essential difference, Simon Baron-Cohen concludes, may help us not just to make sense of our partners' foibles, but to solve one of the most mysterious scientific riddles of our time.
 
REAR FLAP:
 
Simon Baron-Cohen is Professor at Cambridge University in the fields of psychology and psychiatry. He is also the co-director of the Autism Research Centre there. He has carried out research into both autism and sex differences, over a twenty-year career. He is the author of Mindblindness.
 
REAR COVER:
 
'After decades of gender wars one might think that nothing new could be written about men;s and women's minds. But Simon Baron-Cohen, one of the most brilliant research psychologists of his generation, offers a new way of thinking about this perennially fascinating topic. Baron-Cohen presents a striking new theory with insightful connections to brain science, evolution and everyday life. And unlike many books on this vexed subject, it is neither politically correct nor politically oblivious' Steven Pinker
 
'His evidence - including an insight into autism as the "male" extreme - is magisterial. This book is a must for everyone who believes that male and female are "social constructs." And it's a treat for everyone who doesn't.' Helena Cronin