Michael Bond

Michael Bond writes nonfiction books about human psychology and behaviour. He is interested in the many ways we are influenced by our social and physical surroundings — how the people we’re with and the places we know affect what we do and think. His most recent book is Wayfinding: the art and science of how we find and lose our way (Picador, 2020). It explores how people navigate: how our brains make the cognitive maps that keep us orientated, and how our interactions with landscape affect our memory and cognition. Previously he wrote The Power of Others (Oneworld, 2014), which won the 2015 British Psychological Society book of the year award. It investigates the psychological effects of groups and the challenges of isolation. Michael started his career as a science journalist. For six years he was senior editor at New Scientist. His interest in social psychology began during his time reporting on conflict and reconciliation in the Middle East during the second Palestinian intifada. His articles have appeared in New Scientist, Nature, Aeon, Slate, Discover, BBC Future, Prospect, The Observer, the Daily Telegraph, The Times, the Financial Times, the New York Times, Foreign Policy, USA Today and elsewhere. In his other life, he is co-founder of the problem-solving agency Common, which uses behavioural science to improve people’s lives. He sometimes works as an editorial consultant for the UN Environment Programme’s Crisis Management Branch. He lives in a cottage on a farm in Hampshire with a cat called Cecil.