The Left Stuff: How the Left-Handed Have Survived and Thrived in a Right-Handed World

by Melissa Roth

Overview

Weaving cultural history and scientific exploration together, The Left Stuff takes you on an adventure to discover the truth about why humans choose one hand over the other. From high-tech neuroscience labs to the rain forests of Africa to the bullpens of Major League Baseball, journalist Melissa Roth investigates how societies and genetics encourage us to choose sides. The Left Stuff gets to the heart of why humans are predominantly right-handed-and why a stubborn minority has persevered against the weight of history and the forces of evolution. Fascinating, provocative, and insightful, this book is a well-crafted and engaging narrative of how modern science has put the power of understanding in the palms of our hands.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781590771464
Publisher:	M. Evans & Company
Publication date:	09/15/2009
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	9
	Author's Note	11
Chapter 1	The Left-Handed Renaissance	15
Chapter 2	The Right-Wing Conspiracy: The Historical Bias Against the Left Hand	23
Chapter 3	Who Are the Left-Handed? Deconstructing Lefty	43
Chapter 4	Lefty on the Inside: Handedness and the Brain	63
Chapter 5	Nature or Nurture: What Makes a Lefty?	101
Chapter 6	The Tipping Point: Evolution and Handedness	131
Chapter 7	The Triumph of the Lefties: How Southpaws Survived and Thrived	159
	Afterword	197
	Appendix	201
	Endnotes	203
	Additional Resources	231
	Index	233
	About the Author	239

Editorial Reviews

The Left Stuff is fascinating and insightful. After reading it, you may find yourself more confused about whether you're right- or left-handed, but you'll have learned a lot about yourself and the incredible entity that is your brain.

Grand Rapids Press