Made to Stick

What is it that makes urban myths so persistent while many everyday truths are so eminently forgettable? Why do we remember complicated stories but not complicated facts? In the course of over ten years of study, Chip and Dan Heath have established what determines whether particular ideas or stories stick in our minds. Made to Stick is the fascinating outcome of their painstaking research. Packed full of case histories and thought-provoking anecdotes, it shows, among other things, how one Australian scientist convinced the world he had discovered the cause of stomach ulcers by drinking a glass filled with bacteria, and how high-concept pitches such as 'Jaws on a spaceship' (Alien) and 'Die Hard on a bus' (Speed) convince movie executives to invest vast sums of money in a project based on almost no information.