In this thoughtful, provocative book, a former Olympian persuasively demonstrates how sports offer powerful and often overlooked tools with which to explore fundamental subjects, including biology, morality, globalization, culture, gender, race, and economics.

The talent myth -- The hidden logic of success -- Miraculous children? -- The path to excellence -- Mysterious sparks and life-changing mind-sets -- Paradoxes of the mind -- The placebo effect -- The curse of choking and how to avoid it -- Baseball rituals, pigeons, and why great sportsmen feel miserable after winning -- Deep reflections -- Optical illusions and X-ray vision -- Drugs in sport, Schwarzenegger mice, and the future of mankind -- Are blacks superior runners?