- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Pier 9, Murdoch Books; 2007 Publication edition (15 Sep 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0760787042
- ISBN-13: 978-1740458108
- ASIN: 1740458109
- Product Dimensions: 26.2 x 18.4 x 2.4 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 408,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
A Left-Handed History of the World
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
"About 10 per cent of the general population is left-handed. However 16 per cent of American presidents have been lefties and a disproportionately high number of left-handers feature in influential moments through history, from Julius Caesar to Bill Gates. Through fascinating case studies of notables from ancient to modern times, Ed Wright explains the secret of lefty success. Psychology meets history in this fascinating and popular look at being left-handed and its effects on our world."
About the Author
Ed Wright is a social commentator and regular contributor to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian, and the Australian Financial Review. He was the co-founder of the satirical Strewth magazine and has a PhD in American Literature from the University of Sydney. He is the author of History's Greatest Scandals, published by Murdoch Books in 2006.
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3 reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Lefty Vanity Booster
24 Feb 2009
Format:Paperback
Ed Wright does some speculation about characteristics of lefties. There is a lack of scientific references to studies and statistics to prove his point that lefties are different from right handers in their behavior and thinking. I thought he overstreched sometimes to fit lefty characteristics into his thesis and to see patterns that might not be there. This is fun coffee table book with some great artwork and pictures. Wright pulls out some of the most famous and successful lefthanders in history and talks about the similar characteristics that they share with other lefties. Being left handed is a mixed bag. It increases chances of being brilliant, but also increases chances of being insane or antisocial, for instance. Lefty traits often are intuitiveness, empathy, visual spatial ability, lateral thinking, hot temper, solitariness, iconoclasm, self teaching, experimentation, and fantasies. (Lateral thinking involves making unorthodox connections between unrelated things.) Lefties are also overrepresented in prisons and in tendencies to be homosexual. Lefties are prone to schizophrenia and addictions. They are good at math and science in general.
I will name some names of vaunted lefties.
I thought most interesting lefty stories were Nietzsche, Henry Ford, John McEnroe, and Isaac Newton. Nietzsche's goal of overturning Christianity could be related to his left handed way of turning things inside out. Was Henry Ford's paranoia inextricably linked to his innovativeness? The tennis matches between the right-handed Borg and McEnroe was a good story about how a right handers and lefties play against each other. Was McEnroe anger based on egotism or self- loathing? Did Isaac Newton's anti-social behavior and fantasies make him more brilliant?
There have been some left handed presidents such as Truman, Reagan, Ford, Bush, Obama, and Clinton. Empathy and acting skills in lefthanders may explain their ability to become President. A lot of actors are left-handed. Unorthodox strategies and the ability to visual battle fields explain successes of lefty generals such as Caesar, Napoleon, and Alexander the Great.
Wright suggest that lefthanders are harbingers of change that breaks through the orthodoxy, rigidness, oppression of the right handed world that righthanders are comfortable in, Perhaps this explains the rage in lefthanders. Lefthanders also do well in emerging trends in business or music before orthodox patterns have been set.
I suppose it's cool to be disadvantaged these days. Are lefthanders just another dubious victim of oppression? I never felt that being left handed was a big deal, but no one tried to "right" me, so I don't feel persecuted like the lefties of the past. Strong pressure to make lefthanders "right" existed in the past revealing society's strong urge to force others into conformity. About ten percent of human population is left handed. 50 Percent are left handed among other mammals.
I will name some names of vaunted lefties.
I thought most interesting lefty stories were Nietzsche, Henry Ford, John McEnroe, and Isaac Newton. Nietzsche's goal of overturning Christianity could be related to his left handed way of turning things inside out. Was Henry Ford's paranoia inextricably linked to his innovativeness? The tennis matches between the right-handed Borg and McEnroe was a good story about how a right handers and lefties play against each other. Was McEnroe anger based on egotism or self- loathing? Did Isaac Newton's anti-social behavior and fantasies make him more brilliant?
There have been some left handed presidents such as Truman, Reagan, Ford, Bush, Obama, and Clinton. Empathy and acting skills in lefthanders may explain their ability to become President. A lot of actors are left-handed. Unorthodox strategies and the ability to visual battle fields explain successes of lefty generals such as Caesar, Napoleon, and Alexander the Great.
Wright suggest that lefthanders are harbingers of change that breaks through the orthodoxy, rigidness, oppression of the right handed world that righthanders are comfortable in, Perhaps this explains the rage in lefthanders. Lefthanders also do well in emerging trends in business or music before orthodox patterns have been set.
I suppose it's cool to be disadvantaged these days. Are lefthanders just another dubious victim of oppression? I never felt that being left handed was a big deal, but no one tried to "right" me, so I don't feel persecuted like the lefties of the past. Strong pressure to make lefthanders "right" existed in the past revealing society's strong urge to force others into conformity. About ten percent of human population is left handed. 50 Percent are left handed among other mammals.
Too much psycho-babble for me.
22 May 2012
Format:Paperback
It looked like a good book in the bookstore so I bought it.
I started with the section on Isaac Newton, read it for a while and was on the point of chucking it when I came to psycho-bable such as:
"It could be said that, unable to solve the problem of himself, he abandoned that exercise and proceeded to solve some of the most vital problems in science."
Or sociological pronouncements such as:
"Formal education, however, is about teaching the paths of communication through which individuals come to participate in their cultures."
Thank goodness this is not true or our children would fail to learn science, mathematics, or the practical arts.
However, the book seemed to have a lot of interesting material, although my trust in its validity was weakened by statements like the above. So I persisted.
Later I read that:
"... every object in the universe draws every other object toward it, most likely in proportion to its mass. This theory became known as the universal law of gravity."
Well not quite, they are drawn together in direct proportion to the products of their masses, and in inverse proportion to the square of the distance between their centers of gravity.
It was here that I gave it up. Not a book for me.
Lots of nice pictures, though.
I started with the section on Isaac Newton, read it for a while and was on the point of chucking it when I came to psycho-bable such as:
"It could be said that, unable to solve the problem of himself, he abandoned that exercise and proceeded to solve some of the most vital problems in science."
Or sociological pronouncements such as:
"Formal education, however, is about teaching the paths of communication through which individuals come to participate in their cultures."
Thank goodness this is not true or our children would fail to learn science, mathematics, or the practical arts.
However, the book seemed to have a lot of interesting material, although my trust in its validity was weakened by statements like the above. So I persisted.
Later I read that:
"... every object in the universe draws every other object toward it, most likely in proportion to its mass. This theory became known as the universal law of gravity."
Well not quite, they are drawn together in direct proportion to the products of their masses, and in inverse proportion to the square of the distance between their centers of gravity.
It was here that I gave it up. Not a book for me.
Lots of nice pictures, though.
Right choose
6 May 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It's not a simple book about left-handres.Mixing biography of the most famous left-handers with his behavior.Amazing reading.Right choose.
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