Passion and reason

When Oxford published Emotion and Adaptation, the landmark 1991 book on the psychology of emotion by internationally acclaimed stress and coping expert Richard Lazarus, Contemporary Psychology welcomed it as "a brightly shining star in the galaxy of such volumes." Psychologists, psychiatrists, and researchers hailed it as a masterpiece, a major breakthrough in our understanding of the emotional process and its central role in the adaptation of individuals and our species. What was still needed, however, was a book for general readers and health care practitioners that would dispel the myths…