The Happiness Trip: A Scientific Journey (Sciencewriters) - Softcover

The search for happiness is quintessentially human—a concept that has no bearing on any other creature on earth yet figures foremost among our deepest desires. In the realm of hard science, the journey to happiness is still in its infancy; the final destination, uncertain. The Happiness Trip is a lucid and passionate approach to the science of happiness and its conditioning factors: emotions, stress, hormonal flows and aging, as well as the social, economic, cultural and religious aspects associated with the emotion.

"We have set out on the unknown waters of our potential happiness with no previous knowledge, no maps. There are no models in nature. It is only recently that the scientific community developed technical instruments to measure the impact of emotions and stress. These have given rise in turn to the search for happiness, which immediately burst onto the field of scientific analysis."

Eduardo Punset is Professor of Economic Policy at the Chemical Institute of Ramon Llull University in Barcelona. He was Chairman of the Bull Technological Institute, Professor of Innovation and Technology at Madrid University, and IMF Representative in the Caribbean. He actively participated in the Spanish political transition to democracy as Minister for Relations with the European Union, Regional Minister of Finance for Cataluny. and Member of the European Parliament. He is currently Director and Producer of Networks, a weekly programme of Spanish public television on Science. He has been a member of the staff of BBC, and The Economist. His books include A Field Guide to Survive in the XXI st Century, La Salida de la Crisis, Human Resources and Economic Growth, and La Espana Impertinente.