Shane O'Mara

In Praise of Walking

  • In Praise of Walking

  • 'Informative and persuasive enough to rouse the most ardent couch pototo' New Scientist


    Walking upright on two feet is a uniquely human skill. It defines us as a species.

    It enabled us to walk out of Africa and to spread as far as Alaska and Australia. It freed our hands and freed our minds. We put one foot in front of the other without thinking – yet how many of us know how we do that, or appreciate the advantages it gives us? In this hymn to walking, neuroscientist Shane O’Mara invites us to marvel at the benefits it confers on our bodies and minds, and urges us to appreciate – and exercise – our miraculous ability.

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Shane O’Mara is Professor of Experimental Brain Research at Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin. He is Principal Investigator in, and was Director of the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, one of Europe’s leading research centres for neuroscience. He is also a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator and a Science Foundation Ireland Principal Investigator. He is the author of two previous books, Why Torture Doesn’t Work: The Neuroscience of Interrogation and A Brain for Business – A Brain for Life. He has also written many scientific papers, as well as for the newspapers and magazines. He loves to walk wherever and whenever he can, with long urban walks in any walkable city a particular favourite. @smomara1 www.shaneomara.com

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