(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved. b bl la an nk k p pa ag ge e How to be aGENIUSWritten by John WoodwardConsultants Dr. David Hardmanand Phil ChambersIllustrated by Serge Seidlitz and Andy Smith(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.6Your amazing brainMEET YOUR BRAIN10Mapping the brain12Left brain, right brain14Taking sides16Nerves and neurons18Brain waves20What is a genius?CONTENTSCOME TO YOUR SENSES24Brain and eyes26Tricky pictures28How you see30Simple illusions32Impossible illusions34How you hear36Sounds like?38Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart t40Taste and smell42Sensitive senses44How you feel and touch46Touch and tell 46Touch and tele mind 48Tricking theMagic tricks 502Sensing your body 524Body illusions 56Intuition io 5HOW MEMORY WORKS60How you think62What is memory?64Improve your memory66Do you remember?68Paying attention70Making associations72Albert EinsteinPROBLEM SOLVING76How you learn78Mastering mazes80Puzzling patterns82Intelligence types84George Washington Carveer86Logic88Illogical thinking90Brainteasers92Thinking inside the box94Mathematical thinking96Think of a number98The magic of math100 Spatial awareness areness102Seeing in 2-D104Thinking in 3-D106Invention108Wernher voon Braun4(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.5A WAY WITH WORDS112Learning to speak114Having a word116Using language118Words aloud120Reading and writing122Jean Franois ChampollionTHE CREATIVE MIND126What is creativity?128Are you a creative spark?130Boost your creativity132Creative exercises134Leonardo da VinciYOUR BRAIN AND YOU138Sense of self140Personality types142What about you?144What makes you tick?146Mary Anning148The unconscious150Dreams152Emotions154Mahatma Gandhi156Fear158Reading emotions160Body talk162Good and bad habits164Winning and losingTHE EVOLVING BRAIN168How we got our brains170Charles Darwin172How the brain grows174Brain surgery176Animal intelligence178Train your pet180Can machines think?182Program your friend184Glossary186Answers 190Index(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.The brain is the most astonishing part of your body. Its billions of cells control everything you think and do, including your actions, senses, emotions, memory, and language. The moreyou use it, the better it works. This book is all about how to get your brain cells buzzing and,maybe, become a genius. EmotionsFear, anger, joy, love, and other emotions might seem like automatic mental responses, but we can use our brains to control our emotions if we want.Do you remember? you remembePut your brains memory skills your brains memory skto the test. Study the picturee test. Study the picture shown inside this boys busy n inside this boys head for 45 seconds, then cover r 45 seconds, thenit up and try to answer the ry to answer thefollowing questions. No peeking! following questions. No peeking!1. Where does he like to sing? W2. Name three sports that we amesee the boy doing. boy do3. One picture shows us inside e showhis body. Which part do we see? rt do we see?4. What color is the terrifying What color is the terrifyimonster he is scared of? e is scared of?5. Who is the love of his life? s the love of his lif6. 6. What food does the boyWhat food does the boyreally, really hate?7. How many candles are andles arethere on the birthday cake? on the birthday cak8. 8Name three different Name three different animals that we see.9. What is the delicious smell outhat we see the boy sniff? boy s10. What injury makes injury mhim cry? him cry?6Automatic activityYour brain is always active, even when you are asleep. It also keeps you alive by controlling your heartbeat, temperature, breathing, and digestion.PerceptionAll of your senses are wired into your brain, which takes in the signals they send and allows you to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel the world.Check the puzzle answerson page 186.CBFAEDPerfect pair This puzzle tests yourspatial awarenessyoursense of space. Which two pieces on the far right willt together to create thishexagon shape?How did you do? Turn to page 186 to nd out. (c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.A human brainA human bra rainis the most complexis the most complex ex structure on Earth. str tru ruct cture re on EEart rt rth.ThinkingYour brain is always solving problems by connecting different ideaseven when they are not part of your own experience. Only humans can do this.MemoryEvery event or fact that grabs your attention may be stored in your memoryan amazingly efcient library of information that never runs out of space.LanguageYour brain gives you the ability to communicate and understand complex ideas using speech. You can also learn by reading words that were written long ago.7Feel lost?Life is full of puzzlingproblemssuch as how to get to the middle ofthis tricky maze. Its youra-maze-ing brain thathelps you nd theanswers.MovementYour brain triggers and organizes your movements, so your actions are smooth and efcient. Most of this happens without you thinking about it.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Galen of Pergamun A Greek surgeon named Galen of Pergamun was one of the rst people to suspect that the brain was an important organ and that it controlled memories and emotions. Galen lived between 129 and 200 CE, in what is now Turkey, where he treated the gory injuries of gladiators.lamus Thaly signalsmus relays sensory The thalamrebrum ur body to your ce fromyo from your body to your cerebrum, where they are decoded and analyzed.Pituitary glanndThis releases chemicals calleed hormones into your blood. Theey control many functions, includinnggrowth and body development.Your braain is the most complex organ in yyour bbooddyyaaaa ssppoonnggyy ppiinnkk mmaassss mmaaddee uupp ooff bbiillions of microoscopic nerve cells linked togetheer in anelectronnic network. Each part has its ownn job, but it is the biggest part, the cerebrum, tthat is responssible for your thoughts and actions.Fish Bird HumanOrigin of genius Compared to other animals, tthe human brain has a much bigger cerebrum (shown in orangeabove). This is what makes uss intelligent, because we use the cerebrum for consscious thought. 10Brain stemConnected to the spinal cord,the brain stem links the restof the body to the brain and controls heartbeat and breathing.Men Me Mening inges es ss Th hhheese ese elay lay layers ers cu cushionn the thbbra br in aga aaga ag agaainst shock.amus ypothala Hyof your brainis is the partThi Thisleep, hunger,at regulates s thaerature. d body tempe anYour bbrain is 77 percent water. Yo rain is 77 percent water. Your rain is 77 percent wat u in is 77 percent water bb Yo p bb a a u t t u 77 percent wate 77 percent water r r er i i Yo Your bbbbra rain is 77 per erc rcent wwater err.B(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.CerebellumThis complex folded This complex folded structure helps control balance and movement.to 2 pints (1 litre) ofUp t p Up to 2 pints (1 litre) ofU o 2 pints (1 litre) o Up to 2 pints (1 litre U ints (1 litre) of Up Up to tto 2 pints ts (1 litr tre re) e) of d fows through yourblood fows through yourl fows through yo ood fows through you d ws through you b ows through yo bloodd g b d f ws thr u h ur bloodd fows ws thro rough your rain every minute. brrain every minute. rrain every minute b a n every mnute r i i bra rrain eve ver ery ry minute. e.ain Th t b The outer br TlyThe cerebrum is heavil Taseolded in order to incre fwhichhe total surface area, w tlls. Its packed with brain ce ishe lefts divided into halves, th is andnd right hemispheres, abesach consists of four lob eaions. at have different functi thaBlood supplyThe brain needs a constant supply of oxygen to fuel its activities. This is delivered in the blood via the bodys circulatory system of arteries, veins, and capillaries. Around one fth of the bodys entire quota of oxygenated blood is reserved for the brain.11Cor orpus ss ca ccallo ll sum sum A b bbb A aaaand and ofof ner er er ervveve be bersrs tha that l t link in nnk inth theetwo two si sides des of of th the c e cere ere e re rebbru bru b mmSkull Forms a protectivepcasing around the brainSSSSub bara ara raachn cc oid sp space ceThis i iis ss lle led w d w with ith ith sho sho ock-absorb or ing ing u uid. id.Spinal al c co cordrdd rdd rdd Frontal lobe Vital to h h li thought, personallity, speech, and emotionTemporal lobe Mostlyconcernedd with the recognitionn of soundtal lobe ParieProcessesmation from the senses,informcially from the skin,especles, and joints musctal lobe Occipit Receives nerves from the eyes and signalsrets visual information interprCerebrumThe biggest part of the brain controls all our conscious actions and thoughts, analyzes sensory data, and stores memories.lum Cerebel(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.LEFT BRAIN SKILLS IN The left side of your brain is deresponsible for the more logical, brational aspects of your thinking, aas well as your verbal skills. s y12The cerebrum is divided into two halves, connected by a o two halve mbridge of nerve bers. For some functions, each half is wired ns, each rveto the opposite side of the body, but other skills and thoughtandside ofprocesses are controlled by only one half of the brain. n. n d by only one al cortex Left visuaata from Processes daual eld right visThis scan shows brain activity (red areas) in the right hemisphere.A trained musician uses the left hemisphere more.Rational thoughtThinking and reacting in a rational acting in a rationalway appears to be mostly a left-brain appears to be mostly a left- ears to be toactivity. It allows you to analyze aze a activproblem to nd an answer.Language e Your ability to express yourself Yoin words is usually controlled by the frontal lobe of the leftcerebral hemisphere. ceMathematical skills skills themStudies show that the left side of the es show that the left side of thebrain is much better at dealing with bnumbers than the right side, and it isresponsible for mathematical skills.ientic thought t Scical scientic thinking is the ic thinking is the e Logiof the left side of the brain, of the left s job o job oough most science also science also althoves being creative. involvWriting skillsLike spoken language, writing skills age, writing skithat involve organizing ideas andthat involve oexpressing them in words are largelycontrolled by the left hemisphere.Two minds? Many mental activities involve both sides of the brain, but the side that is most involved may vary. These two scans show the brain activity of two people while listening to music. The one on the left is using their right hemisphere much more, indicating a more intuitive approach, while the other person may be more analytical.Lefeft visual eldRigght side of each eye sees the left visual eldLEFT EFT LEFTBRALeft op ptic tractCarries d data fromright vis sual eld(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.13Optic nerveSends visual signals to braineld Right visual eLeft sidech of eachht eye sees the rightvisiiual eldtract Right optic a from Carries dataeld left visual Right-handed worldThe left brain controls the right hand, and since most people are right-handed, this suggests that the left brain is usually dominant. So do left-handers use their right-brain skills more? There is no proof of this, and many left-handers have no trouble using language and logic.Imaginatio aginationYour creative imagination is mostly creative imag ydirected by the right hemisphere dir ,although expressing that imaginationn involves left-brain skills. sSpatial skills sYour ability to visualize and work with three-dimensionalshapes is strongly linked to the right side of your brain. thInsight hThose moments of insight when momyou connect two very differentnneideas probably come from the i ably come frright half of your brain.t Ar Arsual art is related to spatial skills, Visnd the right side of your brain is anrobably more active when you arerobably more active when you arepr prrawing, painting, or looking at art. drMusic ccLike visual art, music involves a lo olves tof right-brain activitybut trained ained musicians also use their left brains ns s to master musical theory. ry. y. ry. y.ossed wires Cro d wi osside of each eye isThe left s side o he lehe left side of yourconnected to t cted to nnedataa from the rightbrain, but it picks uput it p buteld. Each side of theside of your headthe right visual the thher side of the head. brain processes images from the oth es i s im ims of the opposite hand.Each side also controls the muscles alsso ortex Righthh visual coaProcesses datafrom left visual eldRIGHT RI IGBRAINILLS RIIGHT BRAIN SKI Srain seems to be the focus of Thee right side oof your b ou sughts and emotional, intuitiveyouur more creati t ve thou t aportant for spatial awareness. ressponses. It is also im ont(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Most people are either left- or right-handed, but did you know that you can also have adominant foot and a preferred eye? In both physical and mental tasks, the left and right sides of your brain are far from equal, and it is very rare for someone to be able to use both hands or feet equally well. Try the following tests to nd which side you are on tests to nd which side you are on.14TAKING SIDESBest foot forwardThe easiest way of nding whichof your feet is dominant is to kicck a soccer ball, but you usually taakethe rst step of a ight of stairs swith your stronger foot, too. Youur preferred foot may not be on the same side as your dominannt handyou can be left-footed anndyright-handed or vice versa.ng things with the Try doingthing things with thethhTry doingthiTrTryry dodoioin ngingngngthththithihin iingngsgswitwit iththththehepposite hand to normal, such as oppositehpposite hand to normal, such asspositehpopositeosppositeitppositehpp pppppopoppositeoppoppppppopospososiosisit it iteitetehahhanandndtototononorormrmamalal, l,susucuchchasasswitching the hand that you hold swswitwit itctchchihin ingng ththehehahanandndththahatat tyoyououhoholold ldyour fork with or putting your yoyouoururforfororkrk witwit iththororprpupututtttitttintingng yoyouoururwatch on the other arm. This forces watch on the other arm. This forceswawatatctchchononththeheotoththeherererararmrm m.ThThihishisforfororcrcecesesesyour brain to learn new ways yoyouoururbrbraraiain intototole leaeararnrnnenewewewwawayaysysof doing things and creates of doing things and createsofofdfdodoioin ingng ththihin ingngsgsanandndcrcrereaeatatetesesesmore connections between momororerecocononnnnenecectctict tiotiononsnsbebetetwtweweeeenenthe two sides of your brain.ththehetwtwowosisid idedesesesofofyfyoyouoururbrbraraiain in n.Eye-motionLook straight at the nose of the girl in each ofthese pictures. In which one do you think she lookshappier? Most people nd that she looks happier inthe bottom image, which shows her smiling on theleft side of the picture. This is because information from your left visual eld gets processed in your brains right hemisphere, which is also dominantfor interpreting emotions.BRAIN GAMES(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.15Handy testAmbidexterity is the ability to use both hands equally well. To see if you are ambidextrous try the exercise below. Take a pencil in your right hand and ask a friend to time you for 15 seconds. Starting top right, work your way along the line, putting as many dots as you can in the white circles. Then do the same on the other side with your left hand and compare the results. You will get the farthest along the line with your dominant hand, but you may surprise yourself by just how well you did with your weaker hand. If you found that you got just as far with each hand, you are probably ambidextrous.Having one hand as strong as the otherHavi ving one hand as str tro rong as the other er can give you an advantage in somecan give ve you an adva vantag age in some sports. In baseball, for example, ansport rts rtts. In baseb eball, fo for ex example, e, anambidextrous hitter can switch hands ambidex ext xtr tro rous hitt tt tter er can switch hands dsto strike the ball from the best side. to to str tri rike the ball fr fro fr rom the bes es est side. e.Right handstartLeft handstartEE ee you ye ser which is your dominantToo discoveye, hold up your index ngereto eye level and look past ittnto the distance. Then closeiach eye, one at a time. Youeaill see that with your weakerwye, your nger will appeareyump, whereas with yourto juger eye, it will stay in place.strontronger eye gures out theYour stn of things, while the weakerpositionps with depth perception.eye helpThe left side of your brain assigns simple shapesto common objectsfor example, an almond shape for an eye. So if you draw a face the right way up, youprobably draw the features based on what you think they look like rather than what you see. When you lookat a face upside down, however, the right side of yourbrain works harder to understand the unfamiliar image and you draw the shapes and lines you actually see.Trick your brainThis exercise reveals how your brain sometimes tricks you into taking shortcuts. First, draw this upside-down picture of a face. Then turn the face the right way up and draw it again. When you compare the two pictures, you may be surprisedto nd that the upside-down version is the most accurate.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Broad view Broad viewSome geniuses do one thing extremely well,but others excel at many things. Thomas Jeffersonthe main author of the U.S. Declaration of Independence in 1776wasa philosopher, archaeologist, architect, andinventor, as well as a politician who becamepresident of the United States. Determination DeterminationBorn in Poland in 1867, Marie Curie wasdetermined to be a scientist, even though such a career was not considered suitablefor a woman in the 1800s. She fought povertyand prejudice to win two Nobel Prizes forher pioneering work on radioactivity.Child prodigy Child prodigySome people just seem to be born geniuses.Garry Kasparov was only 13 when he won theRussian junior chess championship in 1976,and he became the youngest-ever world champion in 1985. He had a natural talent, but he worked hard to make the most of it.EncouragementAmerican sistterrs Venus and Serena Williams are am mong the greatest of allammong the greatest of alltennis players. TThey showed amazing talent from a young age, but they owe a lot of their success to their parents,h iwho coached and encouraged them to build on their skills.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Come to YourSensesCome to Your(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved. (c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.We are visual creatures. We identify most things by sightWe are visual creatures. We identify most things by sight and we think mainly in visual terms. So for most of us, sight is our dominant sense. This means that a lot of the information we commit to memory is in the form of visual images. But how do the brain and eyes work together to create these images?wo24Automatic control Each eye has two lenses. The cornea at the front forms one lens. Behind this is another lens made of transparent jelly, suspended by muscles that automatically change its shape to focus on close or distant objects. The colored iris controls the light entering the eye by automatically dilating (widening) or contracting the pupil at the centre.Image convertorYour eye is a ball of transparent jelly lined with light-sensitive cells. Light rays enter your eye through lenses that focus an upside-down image on the cells. These cells respond by generating tiny electrical signals that pass down a bundleof nerve bers to your brain. The cells exposed to parts of the image that are light generate bigger signals than cells ra exposed to dark parts, just like the pixels in a digital camerarasensor. The cells turn the image into an electronic code that your brain can process.Eye muscle One of six muscles that rotate theeye in its socketCornea The dow atwinde the front of the e partlye eyet focuses th image. the Reected lightVisible objects reect light into reeect light intoo your eyes..Irisn the eMuscles iniris c si sizezechange the he of th upil e centr tral al pupil.Clear view Light reected from anything you see is focused by the cornea and lens to bform a clear optical image. fThis is projected upsideTdown on the back of the eye.dChoroid A network of blood vessels spreads through this middle layer of the eye.Sclera The whiteof the eye forms a tough outer layer.Retina The inner lining is a sheet oflight-sensitive cells.Pupil P pening The ollowsn the iris al ie eye.light into th lLens L lastic lensThe elape to changes sha che image. ne-focus t DilatedpupilContractedpupil(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.25Seeing in color The cone cells in the retina respond to different strengths of basic colors such as red, green, and blue. The signals they send to the brain represent millions of dots of these colors. The brain combines the dots to create all the other colors of the spectrum, as in this simplied diagram.Dark adaptation When you turn the light off in your room at night, you cant see much. However, as the minutes tick by, yo youu ar aree ab able le t too se seee mo more re aand nd m mor oree.This is because the sensory cells in your eyes can adapt to the low lightlevelbut it takes time. If you turn the light back on, you get dazzled because your eyes have adapted to the dark. They must readapt tothe light, but they do this much more quickly.Strange effectsBright lights and contrasting patterns can cause strange optical effects. For example, if you stare at something for a minute and then close your eyes, you see a negativeafterimage. Each color is replaced by its opposite, so the yellow and red owers shown below appear blue and cyan. This is a side effect of the way your brain processes color.Visual cortex The part of the brain that processes visual data Opt p ic nerve Bundle of nerve bers linked to the sensory cellsSensory cells The image is focused on a sheet of light-sensitive cells called the retina. Some of the cells (rods) are very sensitive to dim light, while others (cones) detect color.Mental image The cells of the retina convert light into electrical signals. These pass to the visual cortex of the brain, which turns them into an upright mental image.Blind spotThe point where the optic nerve leaves the eye cannot detect light, but your brain invents information to ll thegap. You can test this using the diagram above. Hold the book at arms length, close your right eye, and focus on the cross. Slowly move the book toward you. The center of the wheel will disappear when it falls on your blind spotbut your brain will ll the gap with spokes of the wheel.There are around 126 million Th Ther ere erre are re aro round 126 millionsensory cells in each eye sen ensory ry cel ells ls in ea each ey eye e e120 million rods and120 million rods and 120 million ro rods ds andsix million cones.six million co cones es es.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.PICTURESThe optical illusions in this gallery all play tricks on what your eyes and brainthink they are seeing. They stimulate the eyes in such a way that still images seem to move, colors change, and things appear where they shouldnt.TRICKYDid that move?The patterns in this picture appear to bemoving, but not if you stare at any spot fora few seconds. This demonstrates what iscalled peripheral vision drift. Our brains perceive the colors and contrasts as moving when we are not looking directly at them,but the effect ends when we train our eyes our eyes on one spot. Is it straight?The horizontal lines in this illusion appear to be wavy,but they are all perfectly straightuse a ruler and see for yourself! Our brains interpret the lines as being wavy owing to the disjointed black-and-white linesrunning from top to bottom, which can also makesome horizontal bands look closer than others.BRAIN GAMES26(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Ouch!If you move your eyes aroundd this pattern, called the Ouchi illusion, the circle in the middle seems to move or separate from the rrectangular background,and even hovers in front of itt. This illusion is not fully understood, but it probably aarises from the brain being unsure of where the ci ircle ends when you are not looking directly at it. Jumping goldshStare at the pink dot in the centre of the goldshs head for 15 seconds and then look at the black dot in the empty bowl. You should see thegoldsh in its new home. This happens because an impression of the goldsh, called an afterimage, is still left on the back of your eye.Color contrastsWhich of these green crosses is lighter? Most people wouldsay the cross on the right. It might seem strange, but there isactually no difference between them. This illusion is known assimultaneous contrast, and it shows that the way we perceivecolors is based on their surroundings.Seeing spotsThis picture is called a scintillating grid because whenyou look at it, dark spots seem to ash (scintillate) in the intersections between the squares. The reason for this is yet to be explained, but if you tilt your head to either side, it seems to lessen the effect.27(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Your eyes turn visual images intoo an electronic code that can be processed and stored in your brain. It is thiss mental processing that determines howw you see the world. Without it, you could not make sense of all the shapes s and colors. Your brain also responds to some visual effectsby translating them into othertypes of information. This enableesyou to judge things like depth, shape, and distance.HOW YOU SEE28Binocular visionEach eye sees a slightly different image of the world. Try closing one eye and framing a distant object with your hands. Then open that eye and close the other. You will nd that your hands are framing a different view. The images below show the different views of the same setting seen by each eye The left eye can views of the same setting seen by each eye. The left eye can see the palm trees behind the boat, while the right eye sees the owering trees. You might expect this to confuse your brain, but it combines the images to create a 3-D view.ParallaxIf you close one eye and look at a scene without moving your head, it looks atlike a picture. But if you move your head from side to side, you get an impressionof depth. This is because objects that are closer to your eye seem to move more than objects that are farther away, andyour brain translates the difference intoa perception of depth. This parallax effect is obvious if you look out of the sidewindow of a moving carnearby objectslike these pillars zip past, but distant objects like the trees move hardly at all.Perspective Another way your brain judges distance is by decoding perspective. A thThis is the effect you get when you look up at a tall building and the walls seem to lean toward one anothereven though you know they are vertical. Your brain makes an automatic calculation based on this knowledge and turns it into a perception of height.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved. (c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Aerial perspective In landscapes with long views, your brain can use another clue to assess distance. Called aerial perspective, it describes the way the color of distant objects is affected by moisture or dust in the air. It is obvious in hilly regions, as seen in this picture, where the distant hills look paler and bluer than those closer to the camera. When astronauts visited the Moon, which has the absence of this effect made them think that distant no air, the absence of this efn they actually were. hills were much closer than29Light and shade Objects are usually lit from above, casting shadows that vary aaccording to their shape. Your abrain uses this to judge shapes, benabling you to tell the difference ebetween a ball and a at disk. bThe reaction is so instinctive that Teven works with 2-D images. it hese shapes look like a dent Thurrounded by bumps, but if suou turn the page upside down, yoey look like a single bump thurrounded by dents. suOptical illuOticalillusions Information stored in your memory helps you make senslou make sense of what you see. But it can also confuse you by applying the wrong set of rules. In this desert mirage, the blue water is really part of the sky. It appears in the wrong place because the view is distorted by a layer of very hot air. Since you know that it cant be the sky, you assume it is a reection of the sky in a pool of water. An average person can tell theAn ave ver era errag age per ers errson can tel ell the difference between 200 colors, diff ffe fffer ere erren ence bet etwe wee een en 200 co colors rs, s,all forming part of the visible lightall fo form rming part rtrt of the vi visible lig ight spectrum from red to violet. spec ect ctr cttru rum fr fro frrom re red ed to to t vi violet et. t.use up to ten different We uuspWsWuWeeWepeuseupWeuWupWepWeuseupWeupuseupto ten differentWeWeus uuseup pto to tote ten endi dif iff ffefffer ereer ren ent nt ys of judging distance way yy ywayy ys of jwysofayswgwgwaysofjudgway ysofjudging distancewways y ysof of jfjjud dg dgi ginggdi dis ist sta tance ced depth, showing how anddand depndpnpadeapnenpnpnptnddepnddepth, showing howanddddep ept pth th, sh hoowiwingghoowimportant it is to us.iimportant it is to us.iimppor ort rtart tant nt it it is isto to tous us.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved. (c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Some of the most effective ooptical illusions can be produced with simple lines and shapes. Such illusions play with our perceptions off angles, size, and shape, causing us to make unconsccious assumptions about what we see. Even when wee know how they work, the illusions are difcult to shake off. Big and smallPsychologist Edwardd Bradford Titchener discovered that our judgment about t the size of something is affected by the size of other thing gs around it. The red circles in thees in the picture here and the oone beld the oone below are the same size, but the one here looks bigger r because it is surrounded by smaller circles. Moviemakers use this simple effect to make monsters appear muc ch bigger than they actually are.Wrong directiiontiionThe Mller-Lyerillyer illusion mmisleads the brain intothinko thinking that the midd dle section of the line on the left is longer than th he one on the right. This is because the open arrrrowheads extend beyond the line, playing with hour perception of length and depth.30BRAIN GAMES(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.This illusion was discovered by German astrophysicist Johann Karl Friedrich Zllner. The four parallel vertical lines appear tilted. Scientists cannot explain why we see tilted lines when they are perfectly straight! oneTwo in on nntains two illusions. The This simple imaage containrspective, stretching black lines giv ve a sense of perspedillusion into the distannce. This creates a second ilin which the red line at the top appears to be longer thann the one at the bottom. They are, in fact, the e same size.The concentric circles in thispicture trick our brains into thinking that the image has depth. It also makes theperfectly straightp y glines of the blue square appearto bend inward.A little bitt dottyDots appear to join the crosses in this image, but the dots dont actually eexisttheyre simply gaps in the lines. Scientists ddisagree on an explanation. Do we see dots because the brain gures out theboundaries of shapes from little bits of information? Or do we see the illusioon before the brain has processed exactly whatt it is we are looking at?31Is it square?Crossed lines(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.32The water cycleThe Dutch artist M. C. Escher was inspired by optical illusions. This picture shows a circuit of water that seems to ow impossibly uphill before tumblingdown to start its journey all over again. If youlook closely, you can see that the technique used is the same as that in the Penrose triangle, below.Deathly beauty American illustrator Charles Allan Gilbert created this famous optical illusion. What do ou see in the picture? A pretty woman admiringyou slf in a mirror or a scary grinning skull? herself inBRAIN GAMES(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.TTriccky triangleTThis illusion wwas crreated by matthematician RRoger Penrosse. All three straighht beamms of the triaangle aappear in fronnt and behindd one aanother at the same time, and they meeet at rright anngles tto one anotheer. It wwould be imposssible foor this object to exisst in 3--D.Look at these pictures and objects. What do you see? Is there one image or two? Is the water really owing uphill? Illusions are not always as they seem at rst glance. The brain can ip between two options as it tries to make sense of the impossible.33ILLUSIONSMPOSSIBLE Crrazyy cuubeYouu can ssee thhis shaape inn two wwaysas a small ccube ssittingg on thhe inside of a bigger cube or as a singgle larrge cuube with a smmall cube-ssize chhunk mmissinng from its bottomm corner. TThis deesign rst apppearedd in a oor mosaic found in theanccient RRoman ruinns of PPompeeii, Italy.Face-to-face?When the eyes and brain focus on an object,they separate it from its background, but its not clear which is the object in this illusion. Some people see a white vase on a black background, while others see two black people looking at each other on a white background. Twwo or threee?Likee Penrooses trianglee, this oobject cannott be ccreatedd in 3-D. You see twwo diffeerent perrspectivves at once, yyet its imposssibleto t themm togetther. Thhree roound prongs at oone endd become a rrectanggular sshape at the other. Nobbody iss reallyy sure wwho rst creatted thiss illusionits a puzzle fromm startt to nish!(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Can you hear something? From whispering voices to a phone ringing, yours ears pick up all sorts of sounds. Try the following activities and nd out how much information we process through our ears.Noisy bottlesWhat was that?You cannot hear any sounds inYo You cannot hea ear any sounds ds inspace. This is because soundspacee. Th This is bec ecause soundneeds a medium to travelneed eds ds a med edium to to tr tra ravvel el through, such as air or water. thro rough, such as air or wwater er. r.Test your hearing ability by identifying these challenging sounds.You will need:3DSHU7DSH6FLVVRUV7KUHHHPSW\ERWWOHV8QFRRNHGULFH'ULHGEHDQV8QFRRNHGSDVWD(PSW\EDJ)ULHQGVWRSDUWLFLSDWHHow good is your sense of hearing?Throughout your life, your brain stores information it encounters, enabling you to identify the sounds you come across.([SHULPHQWZLWKhigh- and low-pitched sounds when you do this activity. You will need:7KUHHHPSW\glass bottles 3LWFKHURIZDWHU37ep 1 Steeach bottle with a Fill fferent amount of water,dif difeaving one empty. Ifleou blow across the top yf the empty bottle, itomakes a low-pitchedmound. If you add a littlesoquid and then blow, theliqch is higherthe morepitcliquid, the higher the pitch.liquidep 1 Stell each bottle with aFildifferent materialthe dduncooked rice, dried beans, and uncooked pasta. Let the participants hear each shaken bottle once. Then wrap them in paper before placing them in the bag.tStep 2Ask your volunteers ss to close their eyes a and pick the bottles out, one by one. Can theey identify what is inside the bottles by shaking them?Step 2If you tap the sides of the same bottles, you get the opposite effect: the empty bottle has the highest pitch, while the fullest bottlehas the lowest pitch.There is less air when the bottle is half full, so the air vibrates faster, with higher pitch. When the bottle is empty, the vibration is slower and the pitch lower. But when you tap the bottle, it is the glass and water that are vibrating to create the sound. The greater the amount of water, the lower the pitch.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Some people seem to have a genius for music and can play it superbly when they are very young. A few are even able to compose complex orchestral music when they are only childrensomething that most people would nd impossible. The most celebrated of these musical geniuses is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of the greatest composers who ever lived.Wolfgang AmadeusMozart38Fun and gamesDespite his musical genius, Mozart did not have aone-track mind. He enjoyed horse riding, dancing, and billiards. When he started earning serious money in Vienna, he bought a billiard table as wellas a new piano. He was well known for his senseof humor, partly because he enjoyed practicaljokes. He also liked showy clothes and was once decribed as appearing onstage with his crimson pelisse and gold-laced cocked hat.Child prodigy Born in Austria in 1756, Mozart was the son of a professional musician, so he was in the right family to learn his art. He could read music before he could read words, and began playing and composing music at the age of ve. His sister was also a musician, and when Wolfgang was six, their father took them around Europe to show them off as child prodigies.Wolfgang at the age of six, performing with his sister, Nanneri, and their father, Leopold, during their rst trip to Paris, France, in 1762.Improvising talent Mozart was terric at dreaming up variations on a musical theme while he was playing. According to a witness who saw him perform as a teenager, he would improvise like this for more than an hour, with such skill that even accomplished musicians were astounded. But to him this talent for tting musical ideas together was just a party trick. The real challenge was to compose original, exciting music, which took a little longer.In 1787, Emperor Joseph IIIn 1787, Em Emper ero ror J r Josep eph IIof Austria made Mozart hisof Austr tri ria made Moz ozart rtrt hiscourt composer. court rtrt composer er. r.Perched on a thick pillow, the young Mozart demonstrates his skill at the organ to an aristocratic audience.This portrait of Mozart at the age of around26 shows his love for ne clothing.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved. (c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.40Simple tastesYour taste buds can distinguish between only ve taste sensations: salty, sour, sweet, bitter, and umani(savory). This combination is toolimited to account for all the differentlitastes that you experience, and this is because your sense of smell also plays animportant role in tasting your food. Infections such as colds and the u can make youtemporarily lose your sense of smellland then you nd that you cannottaste much either.Cerebral cortex Analyzes and relatessmells and tastesfactory bulbathers scentand passes to the brainSALTYSWEETUMANIBITT TERSOURRYour senses of taste and smell are closely connected, and they both help you enjoy your food. But yourr sensee of smell is vital in other ways. It alerts you to danger and helps you recognize familiar places, things, and evven ven people. Your brain reacts surprisingly strongly to smelll, especially smells that you memorized long ago.OlfGasignals them Taste bud Most of the receptor cells that detect taste are concentrated on the tongue in clusters called taste buds. There are around 10,000 of these, each containing 50 to 100 banana-shaped cells with tiny taste hairs at the top. When you eat, saliva and dissolved food seep into each taste bud through a tiny pore. The cells react to chemicals in the food by sending nerve impulses to the brain.Taste poreNerve berTaste receptor cellTaste hairNerve bers Gather data from taste budsOlfactory receptors Detect scent mol molecu ecules les in in molecules in the airNasalchamberTongue(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.41Scent siignalsred to that of many animals,compa The humman sense of smell is poor ur sense of taste, enabling youth than you but it is much more rened tScent molecules are carried inscents.to detect thousands of sthe in, they are detected by twoou breat the air, and when yols located high up in your nasalptor cell patches of receprom these cells pass through thebers fr cavity. Nerve ry bulb, where more nerve cells olfactor skull to the d scent signals to the brain. he coded transfer thtinctive reactionInstactory bulb is part of the limbic system at The olfof the brain stem. The limbic system is an the top the brain that plays an important role in area of y and emotion. This explains why scents memorymger powerful emotions and awaken dormant an triggcas. Scent information also passes to the cortex emoriesmen to be analyzed consciously, but this takes the braiof tthan the instinctive reaction.longer a lot Professional sensesSome people earn a living by their noses.They include the makers of perfumes and, not so obviously, wine tasters and tea blenders. The blenders of ne teas, for may taste the teas, but theirexample, mcan barely identify them.taste buds heir rened sense of smell They use th ywhich combinations haveto decide wavor. the best aThalamus Receives taste signaals from the medulla ex and ssends them to the cortWe all have ourWWe all havve our own unique smell own unique smel ellidentity. This is identity. Th This isdetermined by factors det eter erm rmined ed by fa fact cto tors rssuch as genes, diet,such as genes, diet, such as genes es ess, diet ett,and skin type.and skin typee.Medulla Receives taste signaals and relays themto the thalamusBrainn stem(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Unlike the other senses, smell and taste function by detecting chemical substances. Our sense of smell enables us to distinguish up to 10,000 different scents, and there are people who have an extra-sensitive sense of smell and taste. Try these activities and nd outmore about your senses of smell and taste.42SENSES ENSESSEN SENSITIVEStep 1Ask an adult to help youmake the Jell-O. Whenthey have set, place them on a plate. Step 2Put a blindfold on the rstperson, making sure he orshe does not see the Jell-Obeforehand. Then ask your f i d d id if h friend to taste and identify the avors. Record the results.In the weightlessIn th the we wei eig ightl tles es essenvironment of space,en envi viro ronmen ent of space, e,food aromas dontfo food aro romas as do dont often reach the nose, oft fte ftten ten re rea eachh th the nose, e,so astronauts missso as astr tro trronauts ts mis issout on a lot ofout on a lot of favors. food favors. fo food favo vors rs. rss.Step 1Ask the rst volunteer too sample the food, rinsing his or hher mouthout with water in between tastes.Record the responses.When you cant sme ell whatyou are eating, it is harrder to recognize food avorss. So if your nose is blocked beecause you have a cold, for exaample,food often tastes blaand.Step 2Repeat Step 1 with thesecond volunteer, but t this time ask your friend to holdhis or her nose closed. . Who had a better sense of taaste?A blocked nose ACan a blockednose affect yoursense of taste? Follow the stepsbelow and nd out.You will need:6HOHFWLRQRIIRRGVwith varying degreesof taste and avor*ODVVRIZDWHU7ZRIULHQGVSeeing is believing!How good are you atidentifying what youare eating?You will need:6HOHFWLRQRIDYRUHGJell-O6RPHSODWHVDQGVSRRQV%OLQGIROG7ZRIULHQGV3HQDQGSDSHUBRAIN GAMES(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.3 43 We are used toseeing foods incertain colors, andthis helps identifytheir avors.Step 3Ask the second person to identify the avors. This volunteer should not be blindfolded. Record his or her answers, too.Step 4Compare the differencesbetween the two experiments. Did the blindfolded person make any mistakes or take longer in identifying the avors?Step 1For each item, put two samples of it in two different bowls. Mix the bowls around.Our sense of smell ismuch more sensitive thanour sense of tastearound 10,000 times moresensitive. It alerts usto danger by detecting poisonous odors and wecan even identify whether food is ripe or rotten byp ysmell alone.Step 1Pat the tongue of one ofyour volunteers dry with the paper towel so thatno part of the tonguestop side has saliva on it. The second person cantaste the food as normal.Chemicals from foodcan reach your taste buds only if they have beendissolved in saliva. Step 2Ask the two subjects to taste the dry food and then record their responses as t h h th to how much avor they can taste.A child has aroundA child has aro round 10,000 taste buds, while10,000 taste buds ds, s, wh while an adult may havean adult may have ve only 5,000. only 5,000.Smell STry this test and nd out how good yoursense of smell is.You will need:%OLQGIROG$WOHDVWVL[ERZOVDQGthree items with strong smells such as a banana,coffee grounds, owers, or soap$IULHQGThe chemical factor TFind out if saliva helps you whenit comes to tasting food.You will need:3DSHUWRZHO6HOHFWLRQRIGU\IRRGVsuch as cookies, cakes, or crackers7ZRIULHQGVStep 2%OLQGIROG\RXUIULHQGand ask him or her to identify which two itemssmell the same. How good was your friendssense of smell?(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Your skin is the largest organ in your body. It haas many functions, including acting as a protectivee barrier against infection, but it also provides yoou with vital information about your environment. It does this by using millions of sensory receptoor cells that detect different types of stimulifrommm the most delicate tap to the sharp shock of painn.44HThalamusSensitivee skinHuman skin has at leastt six types of sensory receptors. Some arre branched nnerve endings, while others are nerve bers np that end in tiny disks or cappsules that psules thatdetect different types of ppressure,vibration, stretching, tempperature change, and physical damagge. Some nerve endings are wrapped aroound the roots of hairs and sense their response to touch and air moovement.There are aroundTh Ther ere re are re aro round 18 million skin sensors 18 million skin sensors rsaltogether, constantlyalto tog oget ether er, r, constanttlysending informationsending info form rmationto the brain. to to the bra rain.Fingertip controlSome parts of your skin are much more sensitive than others. If something touches your leg, you can certainly feel it, but the sensation is not very precise. By contrast, your ngertips are highly sensitive, giving you the sense of touch that allows you to feel textures and, in the case of blind people, to read Braille. al network Signy signals from the skin are sent through Sensorynching nerves of the peripheral nervous the branto the spinal cord and then to thesystem s. The thalamus passes them on to the thalamusensory cortex, which is located in thesomatic se thalamus acts as a relay station, as itbrain. Thr all sensory information except smell.does forFree nerve endings Sense touch, pressure,pain, and temmperaturei Hair root sensorsDDetect hair movementMerkells diskResponds tto lighttouch and preessure(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Sensory mapThis odd-looking gure shows how your brainreacts to touch on various parts of your body. It looksstrange because the size of each body part is related to the num mber of touch sensors that it has rat ther than its physical size. Your han nds are shown much bigger than your feet because they are much more s sensitive.45Hair shaft ects Projefaceabove skin surfouchand reacts to toent and air movemeThe leasttivesensit The lea sens T e leas tt t n h e e e e v i i a t t v e e e e le e e ve i i Th The lea east sensittivve part of yo ody our bo y part of y r rt y y oo oo o u art d ur boo oo part o b d a u t u d r r f part rtrt of yoooour boooodyfis the mi ofiddlefs l o the mdd h e e ii i o dd t ddle e e e i i f is the miiddle of your bback. y k. your a u c bb o bba u k r your bbbback.g pain Feelingt your skinNerve endings throughoutchemicalsregister pain by reacting to cmines thatcalled prostaglandins and histamells. Thereare released fromdamaged ce are released from damaged ceses. One isare two types of pain responsu jerk yourshort and sharp to make youe in a reexhand away from a candle amd starts afteraction. The other is slower andistent pain andthe reex, giving more persble long-term harm. warning us of possibHabituationAlthough your brainreacts strongly to new sensory information from your skin,it adapts to some constant or repetitive messages to make them less distracting. This effect happens with all the senses but is most easily tested using touch. If you put a pencil in the palm of yourhand, for example, you get an instant sensation, but within seconds this wearsoff to leave just a low-key awareness. This is because some skin sensors soonstop sending signals, but others dont.uscle Meissners corpuA touch receptor e found in sensitiveareas of skinpusclePacinian corpSensitive to pressure and vibrationsEpidermis Outer layerof skinDermiss Containsblood vessels,glands, andnerve endings(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Artist at work!Can you judge thesize, texture, and shape of an object bytouch alone? Try this activity and nd out.You will need:%R[ZLWKDKROH6RPHREMHFWVVXFKas a feather, apple,ERRNDQGZDOOHW3HQFLODQGSDSHU$IULHQGBRAIN GAMES46Grab bag+RZJRRGLV\RXUVHQVHof touch in helping youidentify objects?You will need:%R[ZLWKWZRKROHVFXWRXWRUDSLOORZFDVH6HOHFWLRQRILWHPVLQDOOVL]HVVXFKas a cup, spoon, ball, apple, sponge,rock, pinecone, and feather d feather6RFNVRUUXEEHUJORYHV$IULHQGStep 1Have your friend place a hand inside the box DQGSLFNDQLWHPTOUCHStep 13ODFHDIHZLWHPVLQWKHEER[RUSLOORZFDVHH$VNyour friend too put his or her hands inside the boxx and try to identify thee objectsIURPWRXFKDORQHSStep 21RZDVN\RXUIULHQG 1o put socks or rubber toloves on his or her gands and touch the hHPV+RZGRHVWKLV LWhange the success rate? chAND TELLWWWeeWWWWhhaavvveevvmmoorrreeerrrrttttooouucchhrrreeeerrrrccceepppeeettttooorrrsssrrrrriinnooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrffffffffffffnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggggggggeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssssrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrttttttttttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnyyyyyyyyywwwhhhhhhhhwe e e er r r r re e e e e ee e er r r re e el l l le e es se eo on nt th he eb bo od dy y y y y y y. . . .We have differenttypes of receptors under our skin. These enable us to nd out a lot aboutan object just by touch alonewhether an object is soft or hard, itsshape, and how big it is.By covering your hands, itt iser to tell what you are touching. hardeis because you are reducing theThis imount of tactile informatio onambeing sent to your brain.Step 2With eyes closed, ask your friend to feel theobject and then sketch WKHVKDSHDQGGLPHQVLRQVRIWKHLWHP$VNKLPRUher to describe the texture of the object, too.Step 3&RPSDUHWKHQLVKHGGUDZLQJZLWKWKHRULJLQDOLW + W LWHP+RZDFFXUDWHZDV\RXUIULHQG"(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Follow the steps ofthis experiment andsee how your thermalreceptors detect changes intemperature.You will need: Three ploslic cups ce-cold woler, wormwoler, ond hol woler ol104122 F (4050 C).Ask an adult to checkthe temperature witha thermometer. SlopwolchSensitive touch e touchThis oclivily d demonslroles how some parts of your body ore more sensilive than others.You will need: l poper clipHot or cold?Your forearmm is not as sensitive as your ngers, so it feels as if the points of thepaper clip are togetheror you might feel onlyy one point. The nger that has been placed in cold water perceives the water as warm, while the nger placed in hot water perceives it as cool. This is because the receptors are not d t ti th t t t detecting the water temperature. Instead, they are comparing it to the previous temperatures.Step 1with t theFill each of the cups wwolerr.cold, worm, ond hol wour leeftPlace a nger from yor and d ahand in the cold watet hand innger from your righthe nngers lhe hol woler. Leove ler for r immersed in the watearound a minute.Step 2 Step 2Remove bolh ngers ond dipthem in the cup of warm water.Does your body detect anychanges in temperature?Your enlire body is covered wilh louch receplors, sensing differenl lypes of sensolionspressure, poin, ond lemperolure. You con explore yoursense of louch wilh lhe following oclivilies. 47Step 1 Slhe poper clip. Then Slroighlen oul the tips are around bend it so that part. 0.5 in (1 cm) apStep 2es or look owoy. Then run0lose your eyefrom the tip of your indexthe paper clip your polm, ond up lo your nger, olong yd you feel both the pointsforearm. Coullip on your forearm?of the paper cSSSSSSSSSooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnniiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaallllllllssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaavvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeeevvvvvdddddddddddddiiiiiiiifffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffeeeeeeeeeeeeeeefffffffffffffrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnntttttttwwwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyysssssssooooooofffffffffffeeefffffeeeellleeeiinngg..CCaatttssstttt,,sfffoofffffrreeexxxeeeeaammppllee,,euusseetthheeeiiirrwwwhhhiisskkeeeerrrrreeeeesssrrrrr..(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.48Criminal tricksWe associate magic tricks with performance artists, but condence tricksters and pickpockets use similar techniques. If you cant see how a trick is done when you are watching a magician, you certainly wont recognize it when someone distracts your attention in the street and his or her partner steals your money. So watch out!Real or fake?Anything magical is something that seems to break the laws of nature, such as making things disappear or reading someones mind. Some people really believe in magic, just as they may believe in ghosts. Some religious cults such as voodoo are based on magic. But most of us recognize that magic is some sort of trickery, even if we cant see how itsdoneand that is part of the fun.IllusionA magician tosses a ball in the air twice while following it with his eyes. But he fakes a third toss, moving his eyes as if watching the ball, and to you, the ball appears to vanish.This illusion works because there is a slight delay in visual data reaching your brain. The brain compensates by inventing some data to ll the gapsometimes its incorrect.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved. (c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.We rely on our senses to tell us about our surroundings. However, our senses can be fooled, and we can easily miss a trick if our brains are concentrating on something else. Magicians distract their audiences to take attention away from what is really going on. Try these tricks to nd out if you, too, can fool the senses.50Step 4 SSAsk your friend to turn over theAremaining card and then openrhe envelope to reveal how yourttamazing prediction came true. aStep 1Secretly place the Queen ofDiamonds so that it is the third card from the top in the deck of cards. Write down the name of the card on a piece of paper and put it in an envelope.Step 3Ask your friend to point to twocards. If the rst two cards are chosen, remove them and go toStep 4. If the rst and third cards are chosen, remove the middle one.If the second and third cards are chosen, remove the rst one. Thenask your friend to choose anothercardwhichever one is chosen, make sure you remove the one make sure you remove the one that isnt the Queen of Diamonds. Can you trick someone into picking a specic card but make their decision appear random? You will need:'HFNRIFDUGV3HQDQGSDSHU(QYHORSH$IULHQGStep 2 Step 23UHWHQGWRVKXIHWKHFDUGV$VNyour friend to deal out the topsix cards into two rows of three. Watch to see where the Queen ofDiamonds lands. Ask your friendto point to a row and condentlytake away the row that doesnt have the Queen of Diamonds.The card force If you perform in a condentmanner, your friend will beconvinced that you are doing whathe or she has asked you to do.In fact, you are doing exactly whatyou need to do in order for theQueen of Diamonds to be picked.BRAIN GAMES(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.51Step 3Ask your friend to say which handthe coin is under. Lift your handsto reveal the answer! Step 2Quickly turn over both hands, icking the coin from under theleft hand to under the right hand.Step 1Place the coin on the table and the cup over the coin. Tell your friend you will make the coin disappear.Step 1In front of your friend, place the coinin the palm of your left hand, near p y ,the thumb.Step 2Wrap the paper tightly around the cup so that you can see the shape of the cup underneath the paper.Step 3Lift up the cup and the paperto show that the coin is still there. While you and yourfriend are still looking at thecoin, move the paper and cup over the edge of the table and drop the cup out of thepaper into your lap.Step 4Place the paper (which is still in theshape of the cup) back over the coin. Then smash your hand down on thepaper to show that the cup hasvanished. Say, Oops, Ive made the wrong thing disappear! Only you know that you made the right objectvanish after all.Can you make something vanish? Youll need to try this a fewtimes before the trick works perfectly.You will need:$FRLQ7DEOH&KDLU3DSHU3ODVWLFFXS$IULHQGWheres the cup?You need quickactions and plentyof practice to make this trick work.You will need:$FRLQ$IULHQGThe magic coinBecause you havedirected all the attentionto the coin, not the cup, your friends brain isnt focusing on what is really happening.Because the coin was not seen to move, your friend is tricked into thinking that it is still under your left hand.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.We normally think that we have ve senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. But we also feel things that do not seem related to a particular sense. They are like an awareness of your body. Most of these sensations affect your unconscious mind, but that doesnt make them unimportant. Without your sense of balance, for example, you could not stand upright.BalanceYour inner ear contains three bony tubes that form loops called semicircular canals. Each tube ends in a bulge, or ampulla, containing sensors that detect the movement of uid in the loopwhich depends on your bodys movement. Similar receptors called maculae detect how upright you are. Your brain uses these signals to correct your balance.Motion sicknessIntense stimulation of your balance sensors by something like a roller-coaster ride can cause motion sickness. This is made worse if your eyes and ears give your brain conicting information. Watching the horizon enables the brain to make sense of the movement, and may help.AmpullaContains sensors that detect bodymovementVestibular nerve Delivers balance sensor data to your brainMaculaHas sensors that detect whether you are uprightI l organs nternausually aware of our internal organs,We are not l get sensations from our stomachs. b ll but we alle vague feelings that mark the Some aree of food, but hunger pangs are morepassageDigestive problems can cause pain, useful. er organs may also hurt if they areand othed or diseased. A disorder releasesdamageals that are detected by nerve endings chemicayed to the brain as pain. and rela52Semicircular canalssFilled with uid that moves when your body moves(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.54Hard to resistThis test demonstrates one of the many ways the brain defends the body from possibleharmonly in this case, there is no harm at all. Step 1Ask a friend to stretch an arm outstraight. Then ask him or her to resist you as you press down onhis or her wrist with two ngers your friend will be able to resist the force you are exerting on hishor her arm.Step 2riend to put one foot Now ask your frr a pile of books oron a low step (o d repeat the test.magazines) andPinocchio noseEver wondered what it would be like to have a nose as long as Pinocchios? Try this and nd out. Step 1Blindfold yourrself and thenstand behind a friend. Step 2With one hand, reach around to tap aand rub your friends nose. Exactly copy yoourmovements with your other hannd on your own nose. After a short time, youu should start too feel that your friends nose iss yours.Thats one longg nose!Sometimes your brain has a mind of its own. It can stop you from doing something that you want to do or make you feel things that are not actually there. Try the following experiments and witness for yourself the mysterious brain at work.ILLUSIONSBODYThe Aristotle illusion is one of ThThe Ariristotottltle illusionisone of the oldest known body illusions. Herethe oldesesest knownwnbodyillusions.Herereerresshow it works: cross your fngershow it woworkrksks:crcrorossyour fngererserrsand touch a small round object, like and touch a small round object, like and tototucha small roround objbjecectct,ctt,like a pea, and it will feel like you are a peaea,and it wiwill fefeeeelel like youarere touching two peas!touching two peas!tototuching twowopeaeas! Your brain uses youur sense of touch to gure out where your nose is. When the sensationssfrom touching your frienndsnose interfere with thhemessages from touchinng your own nose, youry,yrbrain begins to think yoour nose has grown to whereyour friends nose is!BRAIN GAMES(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Telepathy Apparent telepathy is probably caused by a combination of sensory awareness and shared experience. Twins often seem telepathic because they share the same history and thought patterns. aWe often believe things without having any idea why. You might get a feeling that youare being followed, or arrive at an inspired solution to a problem. We call this intuition, telepathy, or sometimes a sixth sense. These intuitive perceptions are probably the result of rapid unconscious mental processesusing either information gathered by your senses or data stored deep in your memory. INTUITIONFemale and maleWomen are usually thought to be more intuitive than men. But psychological tests show that this is not true,and men score just as well.It is simply that women like t i t iti to appear more intuitive,especially among friends.Whats up? Theressomething wrong! Thehouse doesnt feelright at all!56Sixth senseHave you ever felt that something was wrong without understanding how you knew it? This sixth sense effect can be quite creepy, but it is probably created by your brain picking up some clue from your other senses and alertingyour alarm response without giving you the full picture.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Benzene moleculesstructureInspired thinkingAn expert chess player may seem to make the right move using intuition rather than logic. But this inspired thinking is more likely to be the result of intense study and experience, which enables the player to recognize particular arrangements of the chess pieces on the board. This automatically triggers a memory of the next move, which usually turns out to be the right one. rk Dream wore may Occasionally peopletion to aeven dream the solutr of 1861, problem. In the winterKekul wasGerman chemist AugustGructure of atrying to gure out the st tle dozing in benzene molecule. Whild f k ed of a snaket f th h d ont of the re, he dreame froto Kekul, biting its tail. According e that thethis gave him the clueof carbonmolecule was a ring ooms. and hydrogen atoWhat? A balloon?I thought I was imaginingit, but theres denitely something going on!Wait a minute! It smells like someonehas been baking acake. Why wouldthey be doing that?Surprise!Woof!Out of the blueSometimes someone grapplingwith a problem nds that the solution seems to come out of the blueafter working on something elsefor a while. This is probably becauseirrelevant details get forgotten, so the main elements of the problem comeinto sharper focus. The person mayalso come across new informationthat makes everything slot into place. 57(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved. (c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Memory Works(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Our senses are constantly receiving informationeiving about the world around us. Most is irrelevant, sos. Moour brains lter and sort it, leaving only the data thatort requires our close attention. The information that wettegather in this way is stored in our memories and is s the basis of conscious thought.uTHINKNKHOW YOU AttentionThe data gathered by your senses passes s into your sensory memory. Visual data isa iheld there for less than a second, beforebefbeing erased if you do not pay attention to it.entioAttention is the vital rst stage in the mentalage inprocessing of any sensory input. If you dontensory pay attention, perhaps because you are ention, pthinking about something else, thethinformation simply goes out of your head.Filter and focusocusfoHaving paid attention, your brain lters out n irrelevant information and focuses on the cuimportant data. This is often an unconscious uprocessfor example, a icker of movement f in this pool catches your attention and you hes your attention and you ooinstinctively focus on the swimming animal.nstinctively focg aPeople who go blind ndPeople who go blinddddddPePeoeople whwhogoblind ddoften continue to oftftftencontinue totosee things because seethingsbececause the brain is wired the brarainiswirereded to process visualtotoprorocesesessvivisualinformation.infoformrmation.60(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Joining the dotsOften you see only part of the picture and have to ll int of the picture and have to lthe rest using data stored in your memory. A few clues rest using data are often enough, because your brain is programmed to make sense of sketchy information that might be to make sense oimportant to your safety. In this case, the animals safety. In thhead looks familiar, so you mentally ll in the rest of entalits body as that of a snake, which might be dangerous. mThis happens before you get a good view of it.et a goLabelingWhen your brain registers sensory data asimportant, it instantly labels it as a particular typeabels it as a paof experience or problem. This helps it devise a erience or prorapid response without getting bogged down inrapdetail. So once you realize that this is a snake, yyou dont go through a mental checklist to alchecklisttoassure yourself that you are right. You label it, and take a step back. After all, some snakes are venomous.StereotypesSteLabeling leads us to create mental models ofto creall kinds of things, from animals to people andngs, fallkindsofthingsfromanimalstopeopleandssocial groups. These are called stereotypes.grouPeople are scared of snakes because they thinkople arall snakes conform to a venomous stereotype.In fact, this is a harmless grass snake, showing that the stereotype is often wrong.The brains habit of creating stereotypes can be destructive, leading to social problems such as racial prejudice.Conscious thought is only a fraction Conscious thought is only a fractionConsciousthougught isonlya frfrafrractctctionof what is going on inside your brainof whwhat isgoing oninside your brarainunconscious thought is constantly goingunconscious thought is constantly goinguncoconsciousthougught iscoconstantltlygoingon in the background, infuencingoninthe backkgkgroround,d,infuenencingyour behavior.your behehavivior.r.61NAME: Grass snakeLATIN NAME: Natrix natrixHABITAT: SemiaquaticNAME: Jungle carpet python JuLATIN NAME: MMorelia spilotacheyneiHABITAT:TATRainforestNOT VENOMOUSNAME: Western diamondback rattlesnakeLATIN NAME:Crotalus atroxHABITAT: TerrestrialNOT VENOMOUSVENOMOUS(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Vivid memoriesWhen you are feeling very emotional, chemical changes in your brain boost nerve activity. They strengthen the memory-forming process, creating vivid long-term memories. This iswhy you often have unusually clear recall of events that you experienced in a state of high emotion. Making memoriesMemories are formed by electrical signals making connections between i l ki ti b tnerve cells so that they form anetwork. The more often the networkis activated, the stronger it gets, creating a long-term memory.Me Memo mory ry s sto tore ressYour meemory is divided into three seectionssensory,short terrm, and long term. Only thee most important informat tion makes it into the nall section. All the rest is thh t hrown out.Input All the data from your sensesenters your sensory memory store.Sensorry memoryThis part oof memoryholds a lot of innformationfor a few secondsat most.Ignored Any information in the sensory in the sensorymemory that you ignore is thrown out right away.Attention If you pay attention to anyit itemsf of i f inform ti ation, they pass into your short-term memory.Electrical signal EStimulusPermanent PPbond bLinks formThe more the linked cellsare stimulated, the stronger the bond becomes.Memory webThe signals continue to re untila web of nerve cells is formed.This represents a single memory.Making connect tionsWhen a nerve cell llreceives a stong enough stimulus, it res an electrical signal onto a neighboring nerve cell. Your brrain processes your experiences and all the information gathered by your senses. Most of this data is discarded, but the impportant perceptions, facts, and skills are stored in your memory. This enables you to tthink, learn, and be creative.WHAT ISNerve cell62(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Long-term m L memoryAny informat A tion thaters your lo ent ng-term memory is c m carefullyed away sole that you can easily recall it.Recognition and reecallIt is much easier to recognize a memoryy you are looking for than to recall it. Look at the picture of the girl below for ve seconds and thhen cover her up. Now look for her in the photoo on theright. Even thoughh youve g gry shortseen her for a verecognizetime, you should redescribeher. But if you had to d hobably her, you would prorder. nd it a lot harInvoluntary recallHave you ever found yourself smelling Have you ever found yourself smellingsomething and suddenly rememberinga certain time or place very strongly? This sensation is called involuntary recall,because your brain has retrieved the memory by itself, without any prompting from yourconscious mind. Sounds and sights can nd sights canalso cause this, but smells are especially powerful, perhapps because the part of your br rainthat processes scent is clossely selylinked to your memory.Where do wember?rememTh d hi e the main areas mpus are The cortex and hippocammory, but differentfor mem of the brain responsibletypes of memories. differentparts of the brain store Prefrontal cortexShort-term memoriesAmygdala Unconscious and emotional memories HippoccampusSpatiall memoriesPutammen Learned skillsand pr roceduresCortexMemoriesof personal and life eventsTemporal lobe Learned factsand detailsor lose it Use it odont thinkIf you dthe data in about tterm memory,short-tst after around it is losonds. 20 secohort-term memory Shhi h li i d Th his has limited space,annd information is soonlosst if you dont thinkabbout it enough to passit on to long-term memory.63Very f eoplefew pe ry p p ff ry l y o w eople few pe Ver op w p V fe ee Ve eople few pe Ve w ery f f Ve Ver ery ry ffe few peo eeople bercan r mb rememm mem can r r r a m mem n er e e c b a e eme e e r er can rre rememmber er anyth fromhing fr y g fr fro y ro a m t n n hhi o g anyt fr fr i ff anythhing fr fr fro fr fr frrombefor agere theg forr fo a th e e the befo ag b e t e e e e e the efor f bef efo forre rre the ag age offe. ff tthhree ff . r o tthh e ee o t ree f offf tthhre reeee.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.65Trip method One way to memorize a list is to visualize a trip that you often take. Link each landmark on the trip with an item on your listthe stranger the result, the easier it is to remember! Then go through the trip in your head to remember the items.1.TreeThe leaves of the tree are pages from a book. Find a good book to read on vacation.This is a vacation to-do list, and here is how to picture each of the itemswith a landmark on a walk to school:1.Find a book to read2.Pack your sunglasses3.Mail a letter4.Buy some toothpaste5.Hang your laundry 6.Remember your sun hat7.Buy dog food g food 8.Get a haircut2.SunoowerA ower iss wearing your sungllasses. Remembeer to pack them in yo t our bag.3.Sign 3 Sign 3 Siurned intoThe sign has temindingan envelope reletter. you to mail a l4.BridgeTheres a tube of toothpaste oating under the bridge.You need to buytoothpaste.6.Scarecrow The scarecrow has your sun hat on its head. Remember to take your hat on vacation with you.7.WallImagine your dog running along the wall. Remember to buy dog food.8.BushThe bush is getting a haircut, and you need to get one, too!5.FlagsThe ying ags have become socks. You need to hang your laundry.SCHOOLOOL(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.These games test your capacity for storing numbers, words, and visual information in your memory. They also show the two different ways we rememberrecall and recognition. Recall is nding information in your memory when you need it. Recognition is knowing something when you see it.66REMEMBER?DO YOUYouve done well if youhave remembered more thanhalf the objects. More than12 is an excellent result.Step 1Starting at the top, read out loud each line of numbers, one at a time. Cover up the line and then try to repeat the numbers. Work your way downthe list until you cant remember them all.Most people can hold only seven numbers at a time in their short-termmemory, so good job if you couldremember more.Visual memoryHow good is your memory for visual images? Study these 16 pictures for 45 seconds. Then closethe book and write downas many as you can.How well did you do?Memory spanYour short-term memory canstore a certain amount of information for a limited time.This game reveals your brains ability to remember numbersand words. You may be surprised at your own abilities.4387209185469075132146307509182434807591621728406395BRAIN GAMES(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved. 67Step 2Now read out these words, one line at a time. Cover up the line and try to repeat the words. Continue down the list until your memory fails.Most people are better at rememberingwords than numbers. If you can repeat a string of eight words you have done very well. Step 1Look at the picture rightand closely study it fortwo minutes. You may ndit helpful to draw it. Thencover up the picture and tryto draw it from memory.When you think youve nished, compare yourdrawing to the picture and give yourself a point forevery line you got right.You probably did better in the second test than the rst because associating the lines with familiar shapes makes themeasier to remember.Recognition vs. recallThis game clearly shows you thedifference between recognizingand recalling information.COUNTRIESIsraelFranceIndiaRussiaCzech RepublicGermanyAfghanistanCanadaDenmarkArgentinaCAPITALS CAPITALSNew DelhiOttowaBerlinPragueCopenhagenJerusalemBuenos AiresKabulParisMoscowSpainIrelandChinaSwedenIraqNetherlands sJapanItalyEgyptGreeceMost people get a better score for recognition than f iti threcall. This is because having a list of possible answers gives your brain a shortcut to nding the informationstored in your memory.Step 1First test your recognition skills. Below are ten countries and ten capital cities. In 30 seconds, see how many you can match up andthen turn to page 186 to check your answers.Step 2Here are another ten countries, but this time you need totry to recall their capital cities in 30 seconds. Check your answers again and then compare your two scores. An artistic eyeDo you have a good memoryfor remembering visual detail? Try this test and see.Step 2Now do the same with thispicture, left, but this timelook for familiar shapesor patterns. For example,does it look like a kite?Again, after two minutescover up the picture and try to draw it. Figure outyour score again and compare it with the previous one. Bed, lamp, rugFork, plate, glass, tableSpider, tree, bird, ower, dogPencil, scissors, chair, book, sh, clockPond, moon, star, grass, worm, bike, stoneDrum, bell, ball, racket, rope, box, net, poleEye, leg, arm, foot, head, ear, toe, hair, noseBread, milk, cookie, plate, bowl, plum, spoon,apple, banana, orange(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Spot the differenceHow is your eye for detail? Look at these two pictures and see if you can spot ten differences between them. Turn to page 186 to see if you got them all.68Do you have a good memory for detail? These games will put your short-term memory to work, rst testing how well you remember the detail of a story and then how sharp your eye and brain are at spotting visual differences. Remember,none of the information will go into your memory unless you really focus your attention on the exercise.ATTENTIONPAYINGAt last the backyard looked perfect. Jenny admired the orange lanterns hanging from the trees as they glowed in the fading light and the pretty tables dotted around the yard, decorated with candles and pink roses. There was a table laden with champagne, a white chocolate cake, a whole salmon, and a tall pyramid of strawberries. Jenny began to feel excited. Her parents had no idea about the party. They thought they were just going to the movies. Suddenly, she heard a familiar noisethat lled her with alarma dog panting. Chester! She had locked him in thekitchen. How had he gotten out? A big, big, muddy, wet, and very smelly dog raced up and proudly dropped a dead shh at her feet. Jenny knew where that had coome ome fromthe Johnsons pond next dooor. Shegroaned and tried to grab Chesterss collar,but he leaped away. Between two ta ables he ables heshook his fur, splattering them bothh with mud and grass. Then he spottedoorprobably smelledthe food table and raced up to it. Paws on the table, hee tooka bite of the salmon as a hundred strawberries tumbled to the groundd.Important detailsHow well do you focus on details when you read? To nd out, read this story through carefully, but only once, then see if you can answer the questions below. BRAIN GAMES(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Questions1What time of day is it?2 How were the tables decorated?3What avor was the cake?4Who was the party for?5 Where did Jenny think Chester was?6 What is the last nameof Jennys neighbors?Look back at the story to check your answers. If you got ve rightyouve done well. A good way tohelp remember detail is to picturewhats happening in the story in your head.ead.69Freddy, a much-loved pet tortoise, aboveright, has gone right, hg. A rewardmissingen offered forhas beeurn, and the his returtoises belowfour toreen handed have bewhich one is in. But ? Turn to pageFreddy?nd out if you 186 to ht. are righB AD CStep 1Study the 14 objects on the tray for30 seconds, and then cover the picture.Step 2Now look at the tray below. Five items have been removedbut which ones? Uncover the picture above and see if you were right. Did you get them all?Whats missing?This game reveals how quickly information can disappear from your short-term memory. Whos who?How good are you at spotting tiny differences in patterns? Try solving this problem and see.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.70After just one sighting, BritishAftftfterer jerrjust one sigighting,Briritishmemory maestro Dominic OBrienmememoryrymaesesestrtroroDominic OBririenenrecalled a sequence of 2,808 shuffed rerececalleded a seqequenence of 2,808shuffffffeded playing cards with only eight errors.playing cardrdsdswiwithonlyeieigight ererrerrrorrrorsrs.Numbers and picturesAssociating numbers with similar-shaped pictures can make it easier to remember phone numbers, an important date, or a number used on a padlock for example. Number pictures can also help you remember lists. This is how the technique works.BRAIN GAMESStep 3You can also use number pictures to help you with lists. Imagine you need to buy six eggs,three cartons of milk, two bananas, and eight stamps. Visualize the objects on the list with the number picturesa rabbit eating an egg, a worm drinking milk, a swan with a bananain its beak, and a stamp with the picture ofa doughnut on it, for example. The crazierthe picture, the better, because its more its more likely to stick in your mind. Step 1 Study the number pictures weve created below and try to memorize them. Or invent your own number pictures and learn them.0 = mouth1= 1crocodile2 =swan3 = worm4 = 4 arm5 = face6 =rabbit7 = giraffe8 = doughnuts9 = snailMaking links between objectscalled associationis a useful way to remember things that you might otherwise forget. The following exercises show you how to make associations that match numbers to pictures, organize words into groups, or link a person with an image so that you never forget a name. MAKINGASSOCIATAAIONSStep 2Now study this number for 30 seconds andtry to see it in pictures. Then cover up the number and try to write it down. Did you ndit easy to remember using associations? 8371(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.71Step 2Here is a new list. This time, sort the items into smaller groups. One way would be to divide the list into two groupsbig or small items. After 30 seconds, cover the list and try to write down all ten items. Was that easier?PyramidTwigGreenhouseInsectGoldshTractorNail ButtonElephantCarpetStep 1Study the list of ten items below for 30 seconds. Then cover it up and try to write down as many of the items as you can remember. Check the list and make a note of your score.Names to facesIf you nd it difcult to remember peoples names, try associating a name with a picture. If you meet a girl named Daisy, think of her holding the ower. Or link a persons name with an object they might have (Doug with a dog) or make up a rhyme (Mike on a bike) to help you.The brain has aThThe brarainhasabuilt-in ability tobuiin ability to bbbbuuuuuuuiiilt-iiinnaaaabbbbiiilliiittyyyttoooobbbbuuiiilt-iiinnaaaabbbbiiilliiittyytototooocorecognize faces.recooognize faces.rereccecoogoognizize fafaceseses.Forming a groupIf you have a long list of words to remember, try breaking the list down into smaller groups.Step 1 Look at the people above and make up your own associations for them, based on the ideas above. SStep2tep 2 owNow look at the faces belo. Can you h thremember whos who withhe help of your associations?MMikeikeDougDougLucyLucyLouisLouisMMaryaryJohnJohnPinMountainTreeEyelashBananaShipCastleMouseBookAirplane If there are no obvious groups, you could imagine items paired together. For example, you could remember a mouse with eyelashesor a ship carrying a banana.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.When you think of genius, you think of Einstein. Thisis partly because his ideas are beyond most peoples understandingthe bending of light and the distortion of space, for example. He is most famous for his theories of relativity, which explain how the universe works, and for the equation E=mc2, which has become an icon of inspired atical thinking. Translating extraordinary ideas mathematical thinnking. Transllating ehis genius. into cclear mathemmatics was paart of hAlbert Einstein72Day jobb h i nd Einstein studdied physics and mathematicss, and then got worrk in the patent ofce in Bern, Switze erland,ph less decidding whether otherr people s invenntions were worthwwhile. Meanwhile he waas thinking hard abbout physics and the nature of the universe in his spare i hi sparetime, as a hobby rather than a job.The fact that he was not working ata university, where he would have had to focus on the ideas of the professors, meant that he was free to come upwith his own theories.Bright iddeaed what it would At the agefAt the age of oonly 16, Einstein wondere186,000 miles be like to travvel at the speed of light: ed that if you (300,000 kmm) per second. He realizeond. He realizespeed, and were tltraveled awway from a clock at this sclocks hands able to loook back and see it, the e image of the would neever movebecause thmovebecause thenever catch up hands after they moved would m to stand still. wiith you. Time would seemthink like this.It takes giIt takes genius to Relativity Einstein was fascinated by the nature of light, space, and time. His conclusions were mind-bogglingthat time can slow down, space is curved, gravity is a distortion of space and time, and nothing is xed except the speed of light. These ideas formed the core of his theories of relativity.This portrait shows EhenEinstein in 1893 when he was 14 and alrea ady fascinated by math.Einstein was born in Germany in 1879, the son of an engineer. Einsteins fascination with physics began at the age ofEinsteins fascination with physics began at the age of Ei Einstei eins fa fascination wi with th physics cs beg egan at th the ag age of fve, when he watched the twitching needle of a compass fve, when he watched the twitching needle of a compa fve ve, e, wh when en he wa watc tched ed th the twi witc tching nee eed edle of a co compassand realized that space was full of unseen forces. and realized that space was full of unseen force and re rea ealiz ized ed th that space wa was fu full of unsee een en fo forc rces es es.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved. (c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.Learning is vital to survival. We often think it is all aboutskills like reading and writing, but it also involves developing life skills such as safely crossing the street, dealing with other people, and managing money.ey. We learn these things through a combination of conscious effort and unconscious reactions, andeverything we learn becomes part of our long-term memory.76LEARNHOW WELearning curveWhen we are young, we all have to learn a hugeamount about the world in a short time. We learnbasic skills like walking, eating, and avoiding harm.We discover that everything we do makes other things happen, and we learn how to predict thisand maybe avoid it. We learn much more in our rst few years than we do in all of the rest of our lives. AssociationYou learn by making connections between different experiences and skills, creating a web of associated ideas in your brain. When one part of the web is activated, it res up the rest. If you decide to buy a magazine, for example, this idea triggers an association with the store, the bicycle you will use to get there, the route, the money you will need, and so on.Association also allows you to link the abstract ideas you learn in your classes at school.Find walletHow much will it cost? How much will it cost? Take money Take moneyConditioningIf an experience always follows a particularr event, or does so only once but is veryupsetting, this can create such astrong link in the brain that you reactautomatically to the event if it happens again. So, for example, if you have been stung by a wasp, you get nervouswhen you see another oneor any insectwith yellow and black stripes. This basic form of learning is called conditioning.Memory circuitsThe basic wiring of the brain is formed at birth, but whenever you learn something, the wiring changes. A group of nerve cells links together to form a network that lets you repeat the action whenever you want. But if you never use it again, the network may eventually stop working.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.77in the practice Put If you keep repeating something to yourself, pyou will remember it. This is because the repetition links brain cells into a memorycircuit. You can learn a skill like playing the pianoin the same way, creating circuits in your brain thatenable you to play each tune. Repetitive practicecan be dull, but its benets last a long time. Musicians can stop playing for a year or more, yet quickly pick up the skills if they start playing again.Which store?Go to sto st st stt st s reBuy a magazineTravel by bikeWhich route? Take lockRemember helmett of your brain triples The weight your brain trip g f your brain triples T of your brain tripl w t of your brain t t ur brain he weigh es e e in tri i of your brain trip g t of your brain t w e e we e e we r brain tri i f b i Th The weig ightt of your bra rain tr tri riples es esr frst three years of lifeduring your y g y frst three years of lif r rr rst three years of l y o uring you t three yea during you hree years of life i o during yo a uring you t t during you ee years of life ring your frst three year i f t th f lif duri ring yourr fr frs frrst thre ree yea ears rs of life fe learn more skills. as youas yy skills. s learn more skill y o ou a a m u earn more ski o a a u earn more ski as yyou lea earn rn more re skills ls.ImitationChildren are programmed to imitate the actions of others, especially adults. A lot of this mimicry can seem pointless, such as putting a doll to bed, but we learn a lot in this way. Eventually we graduate from pretend play to actually helping perform tasks such as gardening and cooking.(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.The brains ability to learnhelps us solve all sorts of problems, including how to nd our way out of a maze.Giant hedge mazes are popular attractionsitseems that people like thefeeling of getting lost for a while, as long as they caneventually nd their way to freedom, of course! Seeif you can make your waythrough this collectionof miniature mazes.If you get lost, nd thesolutions on page 186. 78MAZESMASTERINGThe one-hand ruleTo get through a maze where all the walls are connected to the outer boundary, you can use the one-hand rule. To do this, always keep a hand onone wall as you goit doesnt m