Welcome to Upgrade Me 2.0

I don't really have favourites among my books. While there are some like First Scientist, my book on Roger Bacon, that are always going to be a bit specialist, and others like my most recent, Inflight Science, that have particularly wide appeal, I hope they are all going to sell well. But just occasionally, for some reason, a book doesn't get that sales drive.

This happened to Upgrade Me. If I did have favourites, this would probably be one of them. What I usually try to do is explain science in a way that makes approachable. With Upgrade Me I admit (and perhaps this was the problem) I also did some theorizing. Yes it was based on good science/history, but I was setting out to show why I feel that biologists have got it wrong when they say that we haven't evolved in 100,000 years - because our technology has transformed us in a kind of artificial evolution.

Take a simple example. A while ago I was walking the Ridgeway with a friend. It was a really hot day. According to my natural capabilities, I should have been in trouble. I was losing a lot of fluid, and there was no water available on that stretch of the path. But I had a 50p water bottle and that meant I was fine. I had used that basic technology to enhance my natural capabilities. And the same goes from everything from the ability to fly to the way we can extend out brains' capabilities.


The Kindle cover - okay, not so slick, but all my own work...

I think this is a fascinating subject and though the book didn't sell well (possibly because it was only ever in hardback, and there was no UK edition), I regularly receive emails asking me where readers can get hold of copies.

I'm delighted to say that Upgrade Me is now available again in an incredibly good value for money Kindle edition. We're talking £3.50 from the UK shop and $4.99 for the US store.

If, like me, you haven't got a Kindle, never fear. There are also free Kindle reading apps for iPhone, iPad and Android, and even reader programs for boring old PCs and Macs. So you can still get your hands on a bargain version and read it.

If you fancy snapping one up (or just trying out a free sample) take a look at the book's page on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Comments

Why I hate opera

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Is 5x3 the same as 3x5?

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Why backgammon is a better game than chess

I freely admit that chess, for those who enjoy it, is a wonderful game, but I honestly believe that as a game , backgammon is better (and this isn't just because I'm a lot better at playing backgammon than chess). Having relatively recently written a book on game theory, I have given quite a lot of thought to the nature of games, and from that I'd say that chess has two significant weaknesses compared with backgammon. One is the lack of randomness. Because backgammon includes the roll of the dice, it introduces a random factor into the play. Of course, a game that is totally random provides very little enjoyment. Tossing a coin isn't at all entertaining. But the clever thing about backgammon is that the randomness is contributory without dominating - there is still plenty of room for skill (apart from very flukey dice throws, I can always be beaten by a really good backgammon player), but the introduction of a random factor makes it more life-like, with more of a sense...

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