With his organisation Edge.org, the literary agent and all-purpose intellectual impresario John Brockman has brought together the most influential thinkers of our age. Every year he sets them a question, this year that question was:
What Scientific Concept Would Improve Everybody's Cognitive Toolkit?
Their answers are collected in this book and explore philosophy, psychology, economics, and other disciplines - and all share one aim: to provide the most reliable ways of gaining knowledge about anything, whether it be human behaviour, corporate behaviour, the fate of the planet, or the future of the universe.