To imagine to see that which is not there is the startling ability that has fuelled human development and innovation through the centuries. As a species we stand alone in our remarkable capacity to refashion the world after the pictures in our minds. Traversing the realms of science, politics, religion, culture, philosophy and history, Felipe Fern indez-Armesto reveals the thrilling and disquieting tales of our imaginative leaps from the first Homo sapiens to the pioneers of the digital age. Through ground-breaking insights in cognitive science, he explores how and why we have ideas in the first place, providing a tantalising glimpse into who we are and what we might yet accomplish. A magisterial paean to the human imagination from a wonderfully elegant thinker, Out of Our Minds is a unique history of our species that is sure to linger long in the -