Nature and the Mind: The Science of How Nature Improves Cognitive, Physical, and Social Well-Being

Biographical Note:
Dr. Marc Berman is the world's leading environmental neuroscientist, and founder and director of the Environmental Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Chicago. He is the winner of the Association for Psychological Science Early Career Research Award and the American Psychological Association Early Career Award. He is professor and chair of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago as well as codirector of the Masters of Computational Social Science program. His work has been featured on CNN, NPR, and in many popular publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, VICE, Newsweek, National Geographic, and USA TODAY.

Review Quotes:
"A singularly significant book... It's brilliant and persuasive." --Kirkus Reviews

Review Quotes:
"An eye-opening book about how green and blue spaces can transform our thoughts and our lives. Marc Berman is a pioneering environmental neuroscientist, and he makes a compelling case that nature plays a vital role in our mental, social, and physical health." --Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and Hidden Potential, and host of the podcast Re: Thinking

Review Quotes:
"Marc Berman is a brilliant academic star of the new nature movement, and his pioneering new book Nature and the Mind is sure to become a seminal force in the burgeoning new field of environmental neuroscience." --Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods and The Nature Principle


Review Quotes:
"[A] fascinating and ambitious new book... Nature and the Mind is for everyone from the adept to the uninitiated - it isn't simply written to educate and entertain, it is a call to action."--New Scientist

Review Quotes:
"[ Nature and the Mind] argues that coming into contact with nature on pretty much any scale--from a sprawling national park to a local garden to a greened-up indoor space--can redirect and restore our often frazzled and overwrought minds."--Men's Health

Review Quotes:
"Berman lays out how our natural environment can help restore people's frazzled, overstimulated nervous systems." -- Los Angeles Times

Review Quotes:
"[ Nature and the Mind] underscores the importance of protecting our natural world and creating more green space in urban environments." --Oprah Daily

Review Quotes:
"[ Nature and the Mind] argues that access to nature should be seen as a human right, rather than a nice perk...While Berman is clearly frustrated by our tendency to underestimate how much we need nature, there is a strongly optimistic thread running through his highly readable and jargon-free account." -- Undark Magazine

Review Quotes:
"Too often we are divorced from [nature], and Dr. Marc Berman believes this is a critical mistake with adverse consequences... [Nature and the Mind] is a significant achievement, and avid readers of science will find much here to ponder." --Bill Thompson, Post and Courier

Publisher Marketing:
From the acclaimed founder of environmental neuroscience, Dr. Marc Berman, comes a groundbreaking guide that reveals how interacting with nature can be the secret to improved mental and physical health.

Review Citations:

• Kirkus Reviews 07/01/2025 (EAN 9781668058770, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:Berman, Marc
Dr. Marc Berman is the world's leading environmental neuroscientist, and founder and director of the Environmental Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Chicago. He is the winner of the Association for Psychological Science Early Career Research Award and the American Psychological Association Early Career Award. He is professor and chair of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago as well as codirector of the Masters of Computational Social Science program. His work has been featured on CNN, NPR, and in many popular publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, VICE, Newsweek, National Geographic, and USA TODAY.