Customer Reviews

The Mind's Sky: Human Intelligence in a Cosmic Context

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

 

 

There are some books that I want to lend to friends just so they can enjoy them, but hesitate to do so because they are such good books that I may not get them back. This is not to say that I have an unusually theft-prone bunch of friends, but that some books are so dear that they seem to be hard to give back. This book is one of them - I should have bought ten of them when they first came out, just to assure a ready supply. I lent out my last one a few months ago, and can't remember who got it - therefore, I am in search of another copy. Sadly, it is out of print.

This book is what happens when poetry collides with science, and lovers of both should read the result. If you ever wondered how the brain knows what it knows, what might be waiting for us in the far reaches of the universe, or whether there might be a rational medical explanation for the feeling that God exists, I recommend this book! It may not be easy to find, but worth the effort.

This book is a strange mix of great ideas, written with Ferris' typical professionalism. The red line is a little bit obscured at times, which leaves the reader at the end with a mixed feeling like "hey, great, but what was it all about, again?". However, the book deserves 5 stars even if it had only one chapter, I refer to "The central nervous system of the Milky Way Galaxy". He could also have called it "The Galactic Internet", a wonderful idea how to connect intelligent life despite the gaps in time and space. It gives hope that one day we may know something more than our local perspective about the place we inhabit.

Why is the human mind capable of understanding the complexities and subtleties of the universe? What can the unseen reaches of the cosmos teach us about human consciouness? These questions are the subject of Timothy Ferris' remarkable collection of essays entitled "THE MIND'S SKY". Throughout this book the comparison of structure between the organization of the brain and the distribution of galaxies yields insight into both the nature of human behavior and the likely course of extraterrestial intelligence. The architecture of space and the nuances of neural connectivity are more than just coincidental reflections of each other according to Ferris. And so looking deeply into space may not, in the end, be much different than delving into the origins and complexities of our own consciousness. The book is a true revelation. The authors style makes complicated ideas accesible and the remarkable subject matter will leave you thinking and gazing skyward in wonder. Don't pass this one up!

This is an excellent introductory text to the place of the human mind in the cosmos. I believe that for those just beginning to think about these issues, this book is an excellent place to start. In the end, I was forced to downgrade this book a little because it is just too broad a subject. Each chapter dabbles in an interesting area and then moves on without pursuing the issues at any length. Don't get me wrong, it's interesting stuff, but all but the most casual reader will be left wanting to know more. (Maybe that's not a bad thing.)

Cosmologist Tim Ferris tackles everything in this series of essays which are hard to describe. Better just to list the various topics which Ferris writes about:

- SETI (the search for extraterrestrial intelligence)
- Intergallactic communication
- Multiple intelligences (Joe Montana's premotor cortex
- Split brain studies
- Death Star (26 million year mass extinctions caused by asteroid showers resulting from the orbit and resulting change in gravitational pull of a passing 2nd star)
- Virtual Reality
- Rainforest Destruction

Ferris' book is an entertaining read and a plea for humans not to wipe ourselves out.

This is an accessible science book which goes beyond science and into philosophy and introspection, and how science affects the world. Ferris is a beautiful writer who knows words and how to get them to say what he wants. Not only that, he has something meaningful to say. You leave this book with the feeling that science does have meaning for YOU, not just as an abstract system of study that exists out there somewhere. It matters.

Book based on lectures by the author.
The treatment of the main subject 'the relation between the universe and the mind' through neurology and SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) is very superficial. Only roughly one half of the book covers this subject.
The construction of a central nervous system through the Milky Way seemed to me bad science fiction.
Another part of the book is based on the work of Edward O. Wilson 'The diversity of life', the DNA structure and oriental mysticism.
The book of Edward O. Wilson is a must, not this one.

A friend gave me the audio tape version of The Minds Sky and I was so disinchanted with what I heard that I visited Amazon.com, read a couple of reviews then ordered the book version thinking I must have just missed ( again and again) the points and story line Mister Farris was putting forth. Fact is I didn't "get it" from the book version either - I have been amused, bemused and found some great themes opened up by Mr. Ferris but almost universally found his own comclusions to be way off the mark . The man does not know how to think. There is some flaw or serious ommision in his logic ( or in mime ) I suggest you get the book, study it then lets keep hammering on him with reviews until he rewrites it.