For the first time, Alain de Botton gives a name to this universal condition and sets out to investigate both its origins and possible solutions. He looks at history, philosophy, economics, art and politics and reveals the many ingenious ways that great minds have overcome their worries.

Explains how the author overcame his one-hundred-a-day habit and quit smoking for good. After many failed attempts and a lot of perseverance, he discovered the Easyway and it changed his life. He had a vision of the future in which smoking was something we used to do, and he was sure that Easyway would play a large part in this achievement.

Written by one of the discoverers of the structure of DNA, a second revised edition of a personal account of the race by the author and Francis Crick to make this breakthrough in biochemistry before Linus Pauling. The achievement of the pair is re-examined in the light of scientific discoveries, before and since their work on the double helix.