Customer Reviews

The Human Brain Book

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I found too many errors in this book to give it five stars, but at the same time, it is put together so well and covers too much material to give it just three stars.

Here are the errors I was able to find:

*The diagram on page 58 mistakes an Internal globus pallidus for an External globus pallidus

*On page 60, it incorrectly states that the auditory cortex is represented by Brodmann areas 40 and 41 while it should be Brodmann areas 41 and 42.

*On page 115, the color coded projections of the cerebellar circuits to and from the pimary motor cortex are wrong.

*On page 116 it incorrectly stated that the red nucleus is in the superior colliculus. Furthermore, it incorrectly indicates that the pons is the inferior colliculus.

*On page 135, the superior temporal gyrus is called a superior temporal sulcus. The same error is made on page 142 as well.

These are very serious errors and no book on the brain should contain this many blatant errors. I know the book was not written by a neuroscientist, but whoever the neuroscientist was who reviewed her work did not do a very good job. The only other thing in this book is that I don't think the section on memory explains neuroplasticity very well. I've read quite a few other books written by neuroscientists such as Robert Sapolsky and Joseph LeDoux who do a much better job explaining this and use more concise diagrams.

The included DVD which shows brain scan images, the anatomy of the brain as well as the different Brodmann areas and a short video on how neurons fire is excellent.

Is it OK to get excited over a book about the brain? :)

When I ordered "The Human Brain Book" I assumed it was just an updated version of one of my favorite illustrated "brain books"---Rita Carter's expertly executed survey of the human brain titled "Mapping the Mind." I would have been happy with an updated version of "Mapping the Mind" that reflected recent brain research.

When it arrived I was pleasantly surprised to see that Ms. Carter had collaborated with DK, the creator of amazingly well photographed and illustrated educational books to produce one of the most visually informative books on the brain I have ever seen. The paragraph-sized entries and highly visual content of "The Human Brain Book" make it accessible to a wider age range than "Mapping the Mind"--which explores select topics on the brain with fewer illustrations but article-length commentary and depth.

Brain regions are made memorable by explaining the region with engaging examples of the types of behaviors, senses, emotions, cognitive, or other functions associated with that the area of the brain.

The large format and variety of photograph and image sizes reminded me of the wonderful Time Life Science series books that were popular a few decades ago. But so much better.

"The Human Brain Book" is a delight to browse--it's the kind of book that you can open to any page and find something engaging to explore.

And then there is the pleasant surprise of the interactive DVD-ROM . . .

Rita Carter and DK can be proud of creating an exceptional book. At less than $30, this is one the best values I have found on Amazon in a long time.

I almost never pre-order a book, wanting to see the product before shelling out money, but in this case I bet on my enjoyment of Rita Carter's other books and I was NOT disappointed. Well-laid out with spectacular illustrations, Carter's new The Human Brain, is a wonderful addition to an extremely complicated and rapidly progressing field. While not detailed enough to use as an advanced textbook, I've already asked our library to order a few copies for the shelf and for the reserve desk so my students can benefit from an nicely integrated presentation of anatomy, physiology and other basic sciences with clinical disorders.

First, I have to admit to being a bit of a brain 'geek' these last few years as the information stemming from neuroscience continues to amaze. Depending on your needs, this book is a tremendous volume. Rita Carter (author of the excellent Mapping the Mind) provides an in-depth buffet of the history and findings about how our brains work, replete with full page MRI's and the like. THe book is laid out so that every two pages is a stand alone section which adheres to the usual layouts of books published by English publisher DK books. Each section is intersting, and often fascinating. If, however, you are looking for material recommending ways to utilize neuroscience for achievement (Eric Jensen, Jeffrey Schwartz, The Snaps Project, Norman Dodge, Sharon Begley, )or healing (My Stroke of Insight)you probably should look elsewhere. But, if you're like me, you'll get many enjoyable hours out of this book and its accompanying DVD)

This book is absolutely amazing! The DVD has great anatomical views and good information about the nervous system as a whole. The pictures in the book are gorgeous, the information is extensive, it is everything you could ever want out of a book on the human brain. I couldn't be happier with it!!!

This book has excellent views of the brain
together with an accompanying DVD. The fusiform
or gyrus is depicted to show the feed-ins to the
brain stem. Major nerve endings; such as, the
femoral nerve are shown in full color.

The protective coverings for the brain are shown.
These are the bony skull, meninges and
cerebrospinal fluid. Arteries which carry blood to
the brain are shown. The variable sizes of brains
are shown; such as, birds, mammals, man, reptiles etc.
The monolingual brain is contrasted to the multi-lingual
brain which has different red like patches.

Overall, the book would make an excellent purchase
for students of the human anatomy.

My high school students (nontraditional learners) cannot keep their hands off of this book. It's perfect. It is so visual!! It covers so many topics and creates interest by mixing the "past" and the "future" of the brain.
I HIGHLY recommend it. It's amazing.

Rita Carter has always put out great visually-appealing books that help us understand a lot more quickly!

I'll make this short and sweet: I highly recommend that you buy this book! I have a slew of brain anatomy books ("The Human Brain Coloring Book," "Neuroanatomy: Text and Atlas," "Brain Architecture: Understanding the Basic Plan," "Neuroanatomy: Draw it to know it," "High-Yield Neuroanatomy," etc., etc. -- you get the picture) that I have ordered over the past few years in my cursory attempt to help me better understand and visualize brain structures (well, also... I'm a book junkie). This book is by far the best, and most useful, of all the books I have on my shelves. You will not be disappointed!!

As a professor of Anatomy and Physiology, I can highly endorse this book. The price of around $27 on Amazon.com is a steal! I introduced it to some of my students and they have purchased The Brain Book. The illustrations are beautiful and accurate and the information is just about right for nonprofessionals who want to know more about the brain. I have been happy with every aspect of the book.

All informations contained seem to be correct and well put. Of course the book can just scratch on the surface of what is known about the brain, but a book covering that many topics has no other choice.

The strong part is the way in which the author introduces you to the anatomy and relative position of different parts of the brain. I do theoretical brain research since several years and reading (watching ;) this book actually made my understanding about how the brain looks like in 3D better than it was before. I also enjoyed reading in this compact form what I have learned during several years of talks, conferences, and reading. Superficial, of course, but well summarized.

If you want to read about detailed properties of specific brain regions, this book is not what you search for. But a good overview of our understanding and interpretation of how our brain does what is does is exactly what you get buying it. As far as I can judge the content is up to date and does not tell you stories from 10 years ago.

Hope this helps,
Florian Jug