How To Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics

Michael Pollan

Formats & editions

Paperback

Buy from…

Mighty Ape

Find local retailers

Could psychedelic drugs change our worldview? One of America's most revered writers takes us on a mind-altering journey to the frontiers of human consciousness.

'It's as if we made entering gothic cathedrals illegal, or museums, or sunsets!'

When LSD was first discovered in the 1940s, it seemed to researchers, scientists and doctors as if the world might be on the cusp of psychological revolution. It promised to shed light on the deep mysteries of consciousness, as well as offer relief to addicts and the mentally ill. But in the 1960s, with the vicious backlash against the counter-culture, all further research was banned. In recent years, however, work has quietly begun again on the amazing potential of LSD, psilocybin and DMT. Could these drugs in fact improve the lives of many people? Diving deep into this extraordinary world and putting himself forward as a guinea-pig, Michael Pollan has written a remarkable history of psychedelics and a compelling portrait of the new generation of scientists fascinated by the implications of these drugs. How to Change Your Mind is a report from what could very well be the future of human consciousness.

Published: 4 June 2019
ISBN: 9780141985138
Imprint: Penguin Press
Format: Paperback
Pages: 480
RRP: $28.00

Categories:

Share…

About the author

Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan is the author of five previous books, including In Defence of Food, a number one New York Times bestseller, and The Omnivore's Dilemma, which was named one of the ten best books of the year by both the New York Times and the Washington Post. Both books won the James Beard Award. A long-time contributor to the New York Times Magazine, he is also the Knight Professor of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley.

Also by Michael Pollan

The Omnivore's Dilemma: The Secrets Behind What You Eat: Young Reader 's Edition

See all

Praise for How To Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics

A sweeping and often thrilling chronicle of the history of psychedelics, all interwoven with Pollan's adventures as a middle-aged psychedelic novice. This is a serious work of history and science, but also one in which the author, under the influence of toad venom, becomes convinced he's giving birth to himself
Oliver Burkeman, Guardian

A mind-altering book . . . full of transformations
Richard Godwin, Evening Standard

An irresistible blend of history, research and personal experience. In terms of the psychedelic wave, the book is the big kahuna, the Big Bang moment for a movement that is gathering force
John McKenna, Irish Times