Richard Stephens

What do you know about sex lives of lab rats? Or why swearwords should be prescribed by doctors? How about why hangovers can make you drink more, or why rollercoasters can reduce symptoms of asthma? Black Sheep: The Secret Benefits of Being Bad provides a weird and wonderful tour of fascinating research from the world of psychological science. There will be ingenious methodology and the dazzling findings across sex, addiction, bad language and fast driving. There will be drunkenness, hangovers, love, victory, split-second emergencies and close brushes with death. And on top of that there will be plenty of interesting ideas and findings many of which you won't see coming. Reading this book will change how you think about sex, driving, love and drugs and you'll never look at stress and boredom the same way again.

The Secret Benefits of Being Bad

Black Sheep

Pietro Elisei

Adriano Bisello

Daniele Vettorato

This book presents cutting-edge work on innovative planning methodologies, tools and experiences aimed at supporting the transition of our cities and regions towards a more smart and sustainable dimension. This book comprises a selection of the best papers presented at the international conference “Smart and Sustainable Planning for Cities and Regions 2015”, held in November 2015 in Bolzano, Italy. Contributions from different research fields within urban and regional planning from the scientific as well as the professional community are presented: energy planning for cities and regions, how to couple the energy-climate goals with the development or renovation of the built environment and how to tackle the vulnerability to climate change; smart and sustainable technologies, big data, integrated infrastructures and mobility management, from holistic geospatial tools to innovative apps and Internet of Things; benefits, costs and opportunities of urban transition toward a more smart and sustainable dimension, accounting and assessment of values and trade-offs within the decision making processes; governance for smart and sustainable growth, fostering place-based policy-making, active and effective stakeholders’ participation, co-production and public-private partnerships; cooperation and demonstration projects: their role in fostering the adoption of new approaches and technologies, towards the development of win-win solutions.

Results of SSPCR 2015

Smart and Sustainable Planning for Cities and Regions

Dorothy De Salis

The Story of Alleyne's School, Stevenage 1558-1989

"An Innings Well Played"

Richard Stephens became the focus of international media attention in 2009 for his research on the psychological benefits of swearing as a response to pain. Now, fresh from winning the 2014 Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize, Richard's first popular science book uncovers other pieces of surprising and occasionally bizarre scientific enquiry showing that what we at first perceive as bad can, in fact, be good. More pub conversation than science book, Richard's writing style is very accessible - both engaging and humorous. Think wasting time is bad? Not always! Research shows that taking time out can help you solve difficult problems. And if you can't be bothered tidying up, well fine, research shows that people are more creative in a messy environment. Swearing is rude but research shows that in some situations it can be a form of politeness. Swearing can also be used as a tool of persuasion. Black Sheep casts a slant on a range of human experiences from life to death, sex to romance, from speed thrills to halting boredom and from drinking alcohol (in moderation) to headily excessive bad language. This is a fascinating left-field tour of the world of psychological science. Get ready for the many hidden benefits of being bad that you really won't have seen coming.

Black Sheep: The Hidden Benefits of Being Bad

Richard Stephens

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