Book excerpt: Do all champions share some fundamental characteristic that ensures success? What gives a great athlete, artist or scientist the ability to achieve extraordinary things? Is it sheer passion for what they do? Strength acquired through adversity? Can champions be crafted, or do they simply emerge through talent, personality and force of circumstances?Fifty champions from all walks of life, brought together by Professor Allan Snyder, draw on their own experience to explore the secrets of success in this inspiring, revealing and thought-provoking book.