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

Product Information

On thinking outside the box, Millie likens the process of decision-making to machine learning, where “algorithms excel by their ability to be unstructured, to thrive amid complexity and randomness and respond effectively to changes in circumstances. Like the author, I was drawn to study science but this just removed me further from my peers who were more interested in sports and celebrities. Also some of the handwritten diagram annotations were not easy to read, so overall the diagram/doodles didn't add much to the book. My mum is a biochemist and this maybe why I begin to switch off whenever someone starts to monologue about proteins.

What didn't work was the evident connection between the scientific principles and related behaviours. As a painter this has inspired me to explore in images the mystery of the people, objects and landscapes of foreign lands, people speaking a different language which I have slowly had to learn. Can’t believe some of these reviews, how can you complain about a book not being what you thought it was when you haven’t made the effort to read the description?

There is so much to learn from what we see and what we don’t see as people, and my unique perspective can shed light on previously overlooked connections. I will say we do have very different personalities, I'm sure partly innate and partly due to the difference in our ages, resulting diagnosis being more available and likely than when I was eight years old.

This was a really unique and special book about Millie's personal journey getting to grips with the complex world around her through the lens of science. It's startling, but illuminating, to look at human social behavior from the viewpoint of how proteins in our cells behave--individuality, teamwork, and adaptability, and the ways acting more like those proteins can help us live happier, more productive lives.Sometimes there’s no alternative but to let out some of the noise that is pounding through my brain: banging my head against the table, screaming and shaking, running around in circles. I doubt she felt that secure when she was growing up though little time is spent in the book on the pain of not fitting in. So it was a thank-you letter to my mum and also a love letter to science, to highlight how understanding and support can change someone’s life, by seeing what a person is, as opposed to what they should be.

It's not easy reading if you don't like science, (and even if you do), but if you take the trip with her it's a fascinating way to look at things.Although she experienced social alienation due to being on the autism spectrum, Millie’s voice is clear and optimistic — setting an example for all of us on how to live our best lives. This is a good model of how to deal with anxiety- make yourself a prism and separate the different components of anxiety to make it more manageable and understandable. This is an intriguing book, written from the perspective of someone who has had to self-consciously learn much of what most of us take for granted.

I'm also not convinced the author was the best person to narrate it; on the one hand it's her personal experience but on the other a professional narrator can transform the listening experience. I think I wouldn't have minded this book as much if I had known that it was essentially going to be a self-help/memoir. The author uses complex (to a lay person like me) analogies about proteins and thermodynamics to explain people but.

Being on the autism spectrum, Millie realized at a young age that she felt like a stranger in her own species, someone who understood the words but couldn’t speak the language. Things are often repeated with vague paraphrasings in lieu of actual explanations and thoughts are sometimes dropped half baked just to move on to the next. Thoughtful, incisive and important: this is a must-read for an accessible education in human understanding.