The 21st-Century Brain: Explaining, Mending and Manipulating the Mind [Import] [Paperback]

Steven Rose (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 2006

Neuroscientists claim to understand the roots of human personality and behaviour, of language and even of consciousness itself. Can they cure Alzheimer’s? Can human behaviour be controlled with drugs? Rose explores these claims via the evolutionary route.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'While this book is a magisterial survey of what we currently understand about the human brain and mind, it is also a profoundly personal rumination on the sources and consequences of that knowledge' - Sunday Telegraph. 'Especially valuable' Nigel Hawkes - The Times"

About the Author

Hilary Rose is a sociologist of science. Her most recent book is Love Power and Knowledge: Towards a Feminist Transformation of the Sciences.

Steven Rose is a neurobiologist. His most recent books are The Making of Memory and Lifelines: Biology, Freedom, Determinism.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Vintage Books (April 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099429772
• ISBN-13: 978-0099429777
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,523,525 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From neuroscience to neurotechnology, September 28, 2005

By 

Simon Laub (Aarhus, Denmark, Europe) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The 21st-Century Brain: Explaining, Mending and Manipulating the Mind (Hardcover)

As the brain is a complicated object - books on it tend to
be either completely engulfed in neuroscientific lingo and details or very popular, over-simplistic. Steven Rose strikes a nice balance between the two.

The book begins with a an evolutionary story starting from proto-cells in the pre-biotic soup to axons, dendrites, synapses and brain "modules" A brilliant tour I might add.
Lots of details and insights that I found a joy to read.
Throughout it is stressed that the brain's developmental history
is made in interaction with the environment to determine what it is going to be, how it works and why. Even though the subject matter is very complex Steven Rose manages to give the needed overview.

Sometimes Steven Rose pops up with strong views on subjects I would have thought to be widely accepted. E.g. Personally I don't agree that Richard Dawkins meme-theory is as bad as Steven Rose makes it out to be - one could argue that the evolutionary idea is for biological things, not for meme ideas, but I wouldn't be upset if someone would say that evolution works fine on memes as well. But nevermind, it won't distract you from the overall narrative.

The last chapters are devoted to a human future where neuroscience might become neurotechnology for mending and manipulating the mind. Even though much of it is speculative Steven Rose seems to be able to tell science from science fiction, and therefore be a valuable voice in the debate.

I haven't read "The Future of the Brain", also by Steven Rose, so I wouldn't be able to tell, if they are identical - but I can tell you that this book is a brilliant read!

-Simon

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars British Publication, January 27, 2006

By 

Ted W. Stolze (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The 21st-Century Brain: Explaining, Mending and Manipulating the Mind (Hardcover)

In response to the ill-informed reviewer who thinks that this "duplicate" publication indicates Steven Rose's academic dishonesty: this is simply the British publication. Isn't it common knowledge that publication rights differ between the U.S. and Britain?

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good handy book, September 2, 2009

By 

Farseem Mohammedy (Hamilton, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The 21st-Century Brain: Explaining, Mending and Manipulating the Mind (Hardcover)

This is a good handy book on brain science. The author had tried to explain the various insights of modern neuroscience. The author does not shy away from sharing his own thoughts about various issues. Sometimes the writing gets too complicated, but overall this is a nice book to update one's brain science. But if you are a first-timer reading on the brain, this book is not for you.