Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell is the most popular popular science writer in the world — and, reading this, you can see why. He explains complicated things in a way that is so simple. You never have to read a sentence twice. Also, he explains things in an upbeat, cheerful way which makes you feel good about the world. Here his subject is success — why are winners such as Bill Gates and The Beatles so far ahead of others in their field? Partly because of talent, of course, but also because they were in the right place at the right time. And because they worked hard — 10,000 hours is, apparently, the magic number.

Synopsis by Foyles.co.uk

Why are people successful? For centuries, humankind has grappled with this question, searching for the secret to accomplishing great things. In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an invigorating intellectual journey to show us what makes an extreme overachiever. He reveals that we pay far too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where successful people are from. Gladwell examines how the careers of Bill Gates and the performance of world-class football players are alike; why so many top lawyers are Jewish; why Asians are good at maths; and, why it is correct to say that the mathematician who solved Fermat's Theorem is not a genius. Like "Blink", this is a landmark work that will simultaneously delight and illuminate.