The Science of Happiness

Stefan Klein is convinced that happiness is different from fortune or chance. In his new book The Science of Happiness he sums up the insights into the subject. His newest scientific conclusion: Happiness can be learned if you know the rules by which it plays with us. * Cosmopolitan * When youve finished reading this book, the inside of your head will look different, promises Klein. And hes right. * Der Spiegel * Klein explains in a thrilling and illustrative way the complex biochemical basics of what we experience as delight, desire, love, lust and friendship on the surface of our organisms. * Die Welt * Thrilling and entertaining. * Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung * Apart from plausible strategies, the author provides the reader with insights into happy brains and genes, into friendship, children and the question, what orgasms are really good for. * Max * Thrilling and entertaining. Stefan Klein convinces with his profound knowledge. -- Bert Sakmann, Nobel Prize Winner in Medicine * Max Planck Institute * It is an extremely well-written, easy-to-read and expertly researched book on a theme which has long been begging for pop-science treatment. The author is one of Germanys leading popular science writers and enjoys a very high reputation throughout Europe. -- Alison Abbott * Nature Magazine * Mr. Klein has thoroughly researched his subject, and he writes with clarity, ease and humor about the complexities of psychology and neuroscience. I do not know of any other authors who take such a well-grounded scientific approach to the universal but seemingly elusive question of what makes us happy. -- Gretchen Vogel * Science magazine * 'Must read.' -- Lucy Clark * Sunday Telegraph * ' ... a very optimistic work.' -- Steven Carroll * The Age * The Science of Happiness 'makes a compelling case about the way our brains work that will impress or unsettle, depending on a reader's attitudes to life (or basic brain chemistry) ... For people who have assumed that we have no option but to play the hand our genes deal us, Klein's summary of the science can be liberating. However, even though he explains how neuroscience can provide us with strategies to push ourselves towards happiness, without expecting assistance from God or psychiatry, the point of the book is that it is still up to us, however the chemicals in our brain bless or curse us.' -- Stephen Matchett * The Australian * 'Klein, in a thrilling and entertaining exploration, discusses how happiness is generated in the brain and the complicated relationships between income, social conditions and satisfaction ... A brilliantly enlightening book, The Science of Happiness is, on balance, a self-help book that is assured to increase its readers happiness. "The most important task in the search for happiness is to know yourself," because everyone discovers their own answer. There are six billion people on earth, and there are six billion paths to happiness, The Science of Happiness provides a map.' -- Steve Davenport * The Program *

Stefan Klein, PhD, has studied physics and analytical philosophy and holds a doctorate in biophysics. After several years as an academic researcher, he turned to writing about science for a general audience. From 1996 to 1999 he was an editor at Der Spiegel, Germanys leading news magazine, and in 1998 he won the prestigious Georg von Holtzbrinck Prize for Science Journalism. Today Klein is recognised as one of Europes most influential science writers and journalists. His interviews with the worlds leading scientists are a regular feature in Germanys Zeit magazine. His books, which have been translated into more than 25 languages, include the #1 international bestseller The Science of Happiness, The Secret Pulse of Time, and Leonardos Legacy. A frequent speaker and university guest lecturer, he lives with his family in Berlin.