Honored for his contributions to human factors in relation to flight safety and patient safety, Reason (emeritus, psychology, U. of Manchester, UK) examines the human element in complex systems. Instead of the typical emphasis on humans as the weak link, he focuses on heroes who have helped systems rebound from potential disasters. After presenting his view of adaptive and maladaptive states of mind, he discusses how people have overcome 'error traps' in actual incidents, factors in resilience, and models of coping and safety. This analysis brings to mind the recent Hudson River plane crash. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)