Alain de Botton is a writer of essayistic books that have been described as a "philosophy of everyday life." He has written about love, travel, architecture, and literature.

His books have been bestsellers in thirty countries. De Botton also started and helps to run a London- based school called The School of Life, dedicated to a new vision of education.

Malcolm Gladwell is a Canadian journalist and the author of five New York Times bestsellers: The Tipping Point, Blink, What the Dog Saw, and his latest, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants.

He has been named one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World" by Time magazine and one of Foreign Policy magazine's "Top 100 Global Thinkers."

Gladwell has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996. He has won a National Magazine Award and been honoured by the American Psychological Society and the American Sociological Society.

Steven Pinker is one of the world's leading authorities on language and the mind. His popular and highly praised books include Words and Rules, How the Mind Works, and The Language Instinct.

The recipient of several major awards for his teaching and scientific research, Pinker is Peter de Florez professor of psychology in the department of brain and cognitive sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.