Right Hand, Left Hand

Chris McManus's dazzlingly written debut takes familiar, almost childish, questions and for the first time for a popular audience answers them: - Why are most people right-handed? Do left-handers behave differently to right-handers? - Why is the heart on the left-hand side of the body? - Why is each side of the human brain so different? - Why do the British drive on the left? Why do European languages go from left to right, while Arabic ones read the other way? - Why do clocks go clockwise? - What is the relationship between handedness and speech disorders, such as stuttering? Right Hand, Left Hand uses sources as diverse as the paintings of Rembrandt and the sculpture of Michelangelo, the behaviour of Canadian cichlid fish and the story of early cartography. Modern cognitive science, the history of the Wimbledon tennis championship and the biographies of great musicians are also used to explain the vast repertoire of 'left-right' symbolism that permeates our everyday lives.

Winner of Aventis Prizes for Science Books: General Prize 2003
Winner of Aventis Prize for Science Books 2003

“A fascinating and immensely readable exploration of the whole topic-- New Scientist”

A fascinating and immensely readable exploration of the whole topic NEW SCIENTIST
A scientific detective story, a brilliant cross between Edgar Allan Poe and Gray's anatomy NEW STATESMAN BOOKS OF THE YEAR
Limpidly written, dryly witty and extraordinarily wide-reaching, this is surely the most inclusive and erudite popular account of asymmetry yet produced SPECTATOR
A fascinating study of the origins of asymmetry in life, culture and myth TLS
Spanning disciplines from genetics to folklore, McManus's account of 'handedness' must be one of the most intellectually capricious science books this year SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY
Wonderful book...He has done a marvellous job of summarising and integrating a wide range of findings from various disciplines addressing questions on the nature of right and left NATURE
An excellent mix of hard science and engaging games and tricks, and a treasury of anecdotes -- Margaret Drabble

Chris McManus is Professor of Psychology and Medical Education at University College, London. He is the author of the leading textbook Psychology in Medicine and is the co-editor of The Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine. He is one of the world's foremost experts on handedness and lateralization.

Chris McManus's dazzlingly written debut takes familiar, almost childish, questions and for the first time for a popular audience answers them: - Why are most people right-handed? Do left-handers behave differently to right-handers? - Why is the heart on the left-hand side of the body? - Why is each side of the human brain so different? - Why do the British drive on the left? Why do European languages go from left to right, while Arabic ones read the other way? - Why do clocks go clockwise? - What is the relationship between handedness and speech disorders, such as stuttering? Right Hand, Left Hand uses sources as diverse as the paintings of Rembrandt and the sculpture of Michelangelo, the behaviour of Canadian cichlid fish and the story of early cartography. Modern cognitive science, the history of the Wimbledon tennis championship and the biographies of great musicians are also used to explain the vast repertoire of 'left-right' symbolism that permeates our everyday lives.

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