Book review: The Science Of Happiness

Stefan Klein Scribe Publications, £12.99; ebook, €18.68

If you have ever wondered how the chemical soup and electrical impulses in your brain affect your mood and outlook, then Stefan Klein can help you understand. He explains (mostly in layman’s terms) the latest thinking in neuroscience and what it tells us about being human.

Psychologists have been trying to understand the causes of negative emotions and psychological problems for years.

While this is most definitely not a self-help book, understanding how some of the protective elements of evolution can turn on us allows us to put our own behaviour in the frame.

Our ability to deceive ourselves about what truly makes us happy is curious. We don’t seem to know ourselves as well as we think, but, reading Klein, you’ll see the evidence that living in an equal, civic-minded community, having a good, stable relationship, exercising, making the most of variety, and living in the moment can all make you happier.