Brain, Vision, Memory: Tales in the History of Neuroscience [Hardcover]

Charles G. Gross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 20, 1998 | Series: Bradford Books

Charles G. Gross is an experimental neuroscientist who specializes in brain mechanisms in vision. He is also fascinated by the history of his field. In these tales describing the growth of knowledge about the brain from the early Egyptians and Greeks to the present time, he attempts to answer the question of how the discipline of neuroscience evolved into its modern incarnation through the twists and turns of history.The first essay tells the story of the visual cortex, from the first written mention of the brain by the Egyptians, to the philosophical and physiological studies by the Greeks, to the Dark Ages and the Renaissance, and finally, to the modern work of Hubel and Wiesel. The second essay focuses on Leonardo da Vinci's beautiful anatomical work on the brain and the eye: was Leonardo drawing the body observed, the body remembered, the body read about, or his own dissections? The third essay derives from the question of whether there can be a solely theoretical biology or biologist; it highlights the work of Emanuel Swedenborg, the eighteenth-century Swedish mystic who was two hundred years ahead of his time. The fourth essay entails a mystery: how did the largely ignored brain structure called the "hippocampus minor" come to be, and why was it so important in the controversies that swirled about Darwin's theories? The final essay describes the discovery of the visual functions of the temporal and parietal lobes. The author traces both developments to nineteenth-century observations of the effect of temporal and parietal lesions in monkeys--observations that were forgotten and subsequently rediscovered.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Brain lovers are in for a rare treat: here's a brain book that isfilled with historical treasures and is a pure pleasure to readbesides. An eminent neuroscientist, the author also turns out to be amaster sleuth of forgotten facts as well as a thoroughly entertainingteller of tales." Mortimer Mishkin , Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institute of Mental Health

"Gross's tales of the history of neuroscience can be warmlyrecommended to all students of the brain, but especially to those whobelieve that history began when they were undergraduates. Informativeand amusing in equal part, Gross is as fair to those who were wildlywrong as to those who were (relatively) right.... Never less thanfascinating." John C. Marshall , Nature

About the Author

Charles G. Gross, a neuroscientist specializing in vision and the functions of the cerebral cortex, is Professor of Psychology at Princeton University. He is the author of Brain, Vision, Memory: Tales in the History of Neuroscience (MIT Press, 1998).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press; 1 edition (March 20, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 026207186X
• ISBN-13: 978-0262071864
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,631,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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