Panicology

Are you afraid you might succumb to bird flu? Worried that a life ofpoverty awaits you in old age? Concerned that you might not be havingas much sex as the French? Anxious that our planet is under threat fromclimate change or a collision with an asteroid? If any, or all, ofthese things worry you, you're not alone. Anxiety is a part of modernlife. But why? We're living longer, safer, and healthier lives than atany time in human history. So what is there to worry about? In this witty...
More Description

Are you afraid you might succumb to bird flu? Worried that a life ofpoverty awaits you in old age? Concerned that you might not be havingas much sex as the French? Anxious that our planet is under threat fromclimate change or a collision with an asteroid? If any, or all, ofthese things worry you, you're not alone. Anxiety is a part of modernlife. But why? We're living longer, safer, and healthier lives than atany time in human history. So what is there to worry about? In this witty and revealing book, Simon Briscoe and HughAldersey-Williams strip away the hysteria that surrounds over forty oftoday's most common scare stories, from overpopulation and murderrates to fish shortages and obesity levels, and show the extraordinaryextent to which statistics are manipulated or misrepresented by vestedinterests and the media, eager to exploit our fears. And mostimportantly they offer a toolkit for skepticism—ways of helping readerssort out what really is worth panicking about from the stuff thatreally isn't.