The Talent Code

The traditional view is that talent is innate - you've either got it or you haven't. But in The Talent Code, award-winning journalist Daniel Coyle reveals that the reality is very different. Drawing on the latest findings of scientists and educationalists, and looking at disciplines ranging from maths to music, he shows how the brain can be physically rewired and developed by training to create a 'talent code'. He identifies how a particular type of training, 'deep practice', enhances the development of myelin in the brain. He explains why talent tends to cluster at particular times and in particular places (from Elizabethan drama to Brazilian football). These clusters disprove the theory that talent is random and God-given, and prove that the development of one talented individual often encourages others He demonstrates why some people make the leap while others don't (factors include whether someone who goes on to be talented suffered the early loss of a parent, and whether they are the oldest, middle or youngest child). He shows why some teaching methods work better than others (e.g. why did so many children in the US struggle to learn to read when new practices were introduced). This is a radical and controversial new take on human ability and the nature of genius.