This year the spring equinox fell on the 20th March, an astronomical fixture which has little to do with the weather, and even less with the way we feel. With the lengthening of the days the trees have burst into leaf, but the persistence of the cold and damp may mean that the sap is [...]

Most people find it reasonably easy to love their neighbours, providing they’re easy going, friendly, considerate, law abiding and quiet. The difficulty thing is to love your enemies. When we’re subjected to any form of physical or mental abuse the natural reaction is to feel angry, bitter and resentful. Why should we love people who [...]

At the start of this year, to mark the bicentenary of Charles Darwin’s birth, the ‘New Scientist’ magazine asked the world’s most eminent evolutionary biologists to pinpoint any puzzling elements within evolutionary theory. One of the experts said that for him the greatest mystery was the question of why human beings blush. We’re the only [...]

The institution of holy matrimony is under serious threat. At the beginning of the eighteenth century the average age of getting married was 28, and the average life expectancy was 32. This meant that very few unions lasted long enough to experience the seven year itch. Remarriages were commonplace, not because of marital friction and [...]

Eating is a metabolic stimulus, just like jogging, playing tennis, pumping iron and making love. Every time we put away food we increase the body’s metabolic rate by 20 to 30 per cent. This basic physiological fact is one of the keys to safe and simple slimming. If you want to retain a sylph-like figure [...]