Collection: Adult Non Fiction - Society & Culture

No matter where we live, 'we are all ocean people', Helen Scales observes in her bracing yet hopeful exploration of the future of the ocean. Beginning with its fascinating deep history, Scales links past to present to show how prehistoric ocean ecology holds lessons for the ocean of today. In ele...

We probably went to school for what felt like a very long time. We probably took care with our homework. Along the way we surely learnt intriguing things about equations, the erosion of glaciers, the history of the Middle Ages, and the tenses of foreign languages. But why, despite all the lessons...

A woman who is immaculately dressed and impeccably groomed will appear confident, sophisticated, and chic. Tracy Martin offers practical, witty, and informative advice on how to appraise every situation and dress accordingly, so you will look the part whatever the occasion.

It starts with a day at the beach. A single white sock that somehow spoils everything. It's enough to send writer and ornithologist Stanislaw Lubienski on a quest to understand what we throw away, where it goes and whether it will be our legacy. By analysing items he unearths on his trips into na...

One of the most stunning achievements of moral philosophy is something we take for granted: moral universalism, or the idea that every human has equal moral worth. In What We Owe the Future, Oxford philosopher William MacAskill demands that we go a step further, arguing that people not only have ...

What went wrong with capitalism? Ruchir Sharma's explanation is unlike any you will have heard before. Progressives are partly right when they mock modern capitalism as "socialism for the rich", but what really happened in recent decades is that the government expanded in just about every measura...

When interacting with Gen-Zers, whether you be their parent, teacher, coach, relative, neighbour, or anything in between, the generational divide can seem larger than ever. Gen-Zers ignore you, they refuse to turn on their Zoom cameras, they procrastinate, they make strange jokes, they have short...

Ever wondered what happens to us as we die? Or how the Esky became an Aussie cultural icon? Or why we have leap years? Then look no further - and even if you haven't wondered, you'll want to find out. This anthology is a diverse collection of explainers by some of the finest writers from The Age ...

To mark The Australia Institute's 30 years of big ideas, we have asked some of our good friends and leading thinkers from Australia and around the world to share a big idea for a better Australia. The Australia Institute has spent the last 30 years producing research that matters, and this anthol...

With their emphasis on regurgitated knowledge and stressful exams, Guy Claxton shows why today's schools actually do more harm than good. Guiding readers past the sterile debates about City Academies and dumbed-down exams, Claxton proves that education's key responsibility should be to create con...