The Human Face - Hardcover

Brian Bates

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0563551887 ISBN 13: 9780563551881

Publisher: BBC Books, 2001

Synopsis

There are six billion faces; yours is unique. The Human Face traces the development of the face in evolution, and using real case studies, it reveals our conceptions of the face in our social and psychological worlds. We have been enchanted by the face for a very long time. Even as tiny babies we are drawn to faces. Thirty minutes after being born, when our eyes can barely focus, we prefer to gaze at faces more than at any other object. Our fascination with them is inbred, and continues all through life. We fall in love with people we find beautiful, and we are endlessly intrigued by the faces of the famous. The Human Face tells the fascinating story of the evolutionary, social and psychological development of the human face. Divided into six chapters on origins, identity, expression, beauty, vanity and fame, the book takes us on an intriguing journey of self-discovery. The face is such an intimate part of our lives that understanding its origins, how it works and what it means, is a way of understanding who we are. Fully illustrated with 400 stunning photographs, this book explores the development of the human face and provides an illuminating insight into the self.

About this title

About the Author

Brian Bates has degrees in psychology and biology from the universities of California and Oregon. Following researches into medical psychology at Cambridge University, England, he set up a program at Sussex University to explore modern applications of ancient tribal medical theory and practice. In addition to publishing scientific papers and teaching courses on consciousness, he served there as Chairman of Psychology. He has taught imagination techniques for actors, including face and mask work, and directed plays at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London; he also wrote a best-selling novel-The Way of Wyrd -- and several other books on psychology. Brian Bates now conducts seminars internationally for people in business and the arts. John Cleese was born in Weston Super Mare. However, he recovered sufficiently to be admitted to Cambridge University to study science. After sampling the conversation in the Chemistry laboratories, he switched to Law, but the success of the 1963 Footlights Review saved him from a career in court. After appearing in a Broadway musical, in which he was forbidden to sing, he became a writer-performer in The Frost Report, Monty Python's Flying Circus, the Monty Python films, Fawlty Towers, and A Fish Called Wanda. In 1972 Sir Tony Jay invited him to co-found Video Arts. This company became the leading provider of business training programs on video, which annoyed most of the Pythons. He helped Dr. Robin Skynner to write two bestsellers, Families and How to Survive Them and Life and How to Survive It and was briefly Britain's best-known psychiatric patient. He also started the Secret Policeman's Ball concerts for Amnesty, and has continued to do charity work, much of it, like The Human Face, for the BBC. John Cleese makes a point of marrying Americans, and is at least sixty years old.

From Publishers Weekly

"The face you see in the mirror had its beginnings in the primeval slime at the bottom of the sea," begins this large-format, picture-laden study The Human Face, by psychologist, biologist and sometime acting coach and director Brian Bates, with actor John Cleese. As early as "nine minutes after being born... we prefer to gaze at faces," they report. Noting that the face is "an identity tag," they explore "how we became so dependent on our visual senses, and how that helped to shape the evolution of our features." Moving from issues of beauty to "a realm of hype and superhype: the phenomenon of fame," they question why certain faces are able to convince us, mesmerize us and sell us products. Based on a BBC series, this engaging, thoughtful and sometimes funny treatment will bring smiles to many faces.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: BBC Books
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0563551887
• ISBN 13: 9780563551881
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240