Play, Stuart Brown, MD
Play, Stuart Brown, MD
1 Rating(s)
List: $16.99 | Sale: $11.89
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Play
How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul

Author: Stuart Brown, MD, Christopher Vaughan

Narrator: Michael Hinton

Unabridged: 7 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 05/16/2017


Synopsis

From a leading expert, a groundbreaking book on the science of play, and its essential role in fueling our happiness and intelligence throughout our lives.

We've all seen the happiness on the face of a child while playing in the school yard. Or the blissful abandon of a golden retriever racing across a lawn. This is the joy of play. By definition, play is purposeless, all-consuming, and fun. But as Dr. Stuart Brown illustrates, play is anything but trivial. It is a biological drive as integral to our health as sleep or nutrition. We are designed by nature to flourish through play.

Particularly in tough times, we need to play more than ever, as it's the very means by which we prepare for the unexpected, search out new solutions, and remain optimistic. A fascinating blend of cutting-edge neuroscience, biology, psychology, social science, and inspiring human stories of the transformative power of play, this book proves why play just might be the most important work we can ever do.

About Stuart Brown, MD

Stuart Brown, MD, is trained in general and internal medicine, psychiatry, and clinical research. He first discovered the importance of play by discerning its absence in a carefully studied group. He later became founding Clinical Director and Chief of Psychiatry at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center and an Associate Professor at UCSD in San Diego, California.

As he ended his clinical career, he believed that play could be the key to discovering the giftedness that is in everyone, but he realized that identifying the importance of play hadn't fully revealed what play is. So, in 1989 upon leaving clinical medicine, he decided to pursue play in greater depth.

With the support of the National Geographic Society and Jane Goodall, he observed animal play in the wild. He became acquainted with the premier animal play experts in the world, and began to see play as a long evolved behavior important for the well-being and survival of animals.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Dan on January 25, 2010

This book was recommended to me by a friend who just had a baby boy last year. He told me that it was great for new parents because it teaches how play is so important to young children. However, the book was also engaging to him because it talks about how play is so important for adults as well. He......more

Goodreads review by Lars on December 31, 2009

'Play' starts out strong, connecting animal play to that of humans and our inherited need for play. '...[T:]here is a strong positive link,' he tells us, 'between brain size and playfulness for mammals in general.' Brown quotes Robert Fagen, preeminent animal behaviorist, to get at the cause for tha......more

Goodreads review by Tim on November 06, 2009

If I could give half star reviews , this would've gotten 3 1/2 stars instead of four. I enjoyed the concepts being discussed, and agree with the overall premise - that play is an essential and underappreciated part of life. It just would've been nice to have more specifics about the studies he mentio......more