In this "compelling scientific detective story," a leading neuroscientist looks for the nature of human kindness in the brains of heroes and psychopaths (Wall Street Journal). At fourteen, Amber could boast of killing her guinea pig, threatening to burn down her home, and seducing men in exchange for gifts. She used the tools she had available to get what she wanted, and, she didn't care about the damage she inflicted. A few miles away, Lenny Skutnik was so concerned about the life of a drowning woman that he jumped into the ice-cold river to save her. How could Amber care so little about others' lives, while Lenny cared so much? Abigail Marsh studied the brains of both psychopathic children and extreme altruists and found that the answer lies in our ability to recognize others' fear. And as The Fear Factor argues, by studying people who demonstrate heroic and evil behaviors, we can learn more about how human morality is coded in the brain. A path-breaking read, The Fear Factor is essential for anyone seeking to understand the heights and depths of human nature.

They’re not the students strolling across the bucolic liberal arts campuses where their grandfathers played football. They are first-generation college students—children of immigrants and blue-collar workers—who know that their hopes for success hinge on a degree. But college is expensive, unfamiliar, and intimidating. Inexperienced students expect tough classes and demanding, remote faculty. They may not know what an assignment means, what a score indicates, or that a single grade is not a definitive measure of ability. And they certainly don’t feel entitled to be there. They do not presume success, and if they have a problem, they don’t expect to receive help or even a second chance. Rebecca D. Cox draws on five years of interviews and observations at community colleges. She shows how students and their instructors misunderstand and ultimately fail one another, despite good intentions. Most memorably, she describes how easily students can feel defeated—by their real-world responsibilities and by the demands of college—and come to conclude that they just don’t belong there after all. Eye-opening even for experienced faculty and administrators, The College Fear Factor reveals how the traditional college culture can actually pose obstacles to students’ success, and suggests strategies for effectively explaining academic expectations.

How can kids swim with slimy snakes, munch on wiggly worms, and play their favorite party game? By playing Fear Factor Mad Libs: Ultimate Gross Out!Kids love the daring and disgusting, and Fear Factor Mad Libs: Ultimate Gross Out!serves up both, along with a big helping of fun! As a follow-up to our best-selling Fear Factor Mad Libs, kids will love grossing themselves out with the show’s signature “delicacy” challenges! To tie into the premiere of Fear Factor’s fifth season in September 2004, Fear Factor Mad Libs: Ultimate Gross Out!is sure to make Mad Libsfans ______ to their_____________________________!

Now readers can recreate Fear Factor in their kitchens with these wholly original recipes that look gross, but taste great. Start the day with a breakfast of delectable 100-year-old eggs. For lunch there are recipes for Rat Stew and Blood and Bile Cocktail. And for dinner why not try a bowl of Slippery Octopus Salad. Great for turning parties, sleepovers and ordinary dinners into fun and frightening feasts, The Fear Factor Cookbook will have everyone screaming for more.

Much of what we fear springs from erroneous beliefs, misunderstandings, and lies. But you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free! Fear will cause you to hide and disappear deep down inside. What's even more sinister, it can kill you. This book is not a promise that all fear will be wiped away like a spot on a mirror because ironically, some fear is good for us. It is intended to de-paralyze you to move beyond your fear and soar! "This class has been meaningful to me because coming in I actually felt my fears were over. However, I've found out that fears hide themselves behind other words. The class was very informative and well executed by the instructor, and because of attending, I'm now encouraged to step out of my self-imposed limitations." ~Minister Carl Diggs "I was afraid of death until I took this class." ~Dr. Lillie Jenkins

At the nexus of high finance and sophisticated computer programming, a terrifying future may be unfolding even now. Dr. Alex Hoffmann’s name is carefully guarded from the general public, but within the secretive inner circles of the ultrarich he is a legend. He has developed a revolutionary form of artificial intelligence that predicts movements in the financial markets with uncanny accuracy. His hedge fund, based in Geneva, makes billions. But one morning before dawn, a sinister intruder breaches the elaborate security of his lakeside mansion, and so begins a waking nightmare of paranoia and violence as Hoffmann attempts, with increasing desperation, to discover who is trying to destroy him. Fiendishly smart and suspenseful, The Fear Index gives us a searing glimpse into an all-too-recognizable world of greed and panic. It is a novel that forces us to confront the question of what it means to be human—and it is Robert Harris’s most spellbinding and audacious novel to date.