Mind Reviews; August/September 2008; Scientific American Mind; by Melinda Wenner, Nicole Branan, Victoria Stern, Corey Binns; 2 Page(s)

Your plane just crash-landed. You can¿t see anything through the suffocating smoke around you, yet you know you have to get out of the plane. Do you jump up and feel your way to the nearest emergency exit or stay put, paralyzed with fear? Do you help others around you or fend only for yourself? What factors determine who you are in the face of disaster?

"These are questions veteran Time journalist Amanda Ripley addresses in her harrowing book The Unthinkable. Through the riveting accounts of survivors of natural disasters, plane crashes, fires and terrorist attacks, Ripley illustrates that every person responds to crisis differently. These differences, she learns through interviews with experts ranging from neuroscientists to risk analysts, are determined by both biology and experience."