Customer Reviews

Reading in the Brain: The Science and Evolution of a Human Invention

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

 

 

An astonishing work, explaining convincingly how mankind acquired (only in the last 5,000 years) a skill we all take for granted: reading. The brief explanation, as I (a non-scientist) understand it? Reading takes quite a lot of brain computer firepower (because of the multiple processing required), such that our eventually huge frontal lobes were necessary. The portions of our brain used initially for visual recognition lead to the wiring of our brains to recognize certain key shapes, shapes that eventually become the key "strokes" used in writing (by all cultures) such that they are in effect structured into our brain's learning algorithm, creating specific neuronal circuits and structures, previously used as visual pathways. It's an amazing story, well told by one well placed to present the many brain science studies (many of which he conducted) which fully explicate the story. Also numerous "side-stories" worth hearing: e.g., re the origins of our alphabet, along with occasional hints of possible future evolution of the human brain. An A+ book.

Although one of the main topics covered in this book is dyslexia and how it may be a culturally defined disorder as well as a neurological disorder, the book covers a wide range of data. Dehaene is very thorough, offering extensive fMRI maps of up to date research on modules of the brain pertaining to reading. The book may be hard to wade through for those of us unfamiliar with extensive neurological terminology, but Dehaene works hard to ensure that his readers understand the issues. A very worthwhile read for any linguist, cognitive scientist, or anyone simply interested in the evolution of reading in our ambitious pleistocene minds.

Author Dehaene, who has some very impressive credentials, has made an exhaustive exploration of how the human brain reads. What he has concluded is that we `recycle' parts of the brain that were evolved to do other things. Humans have been evolving for several million years, but only reading for a few thousand- a new structure just for reading couldn't have been created in that time. And reading arose in several geographical areas around the same time- the chances of a special mutation for reading happening in all those places is pretty slim.

Hundreds of experiments, from EEGs, fMRIs, split brain surgeries, tests on people who have had strokes or other brain damage, have found how reading works. From how the eye functions, to the recognition of letters on paper, to turning them mentally into sound, and putting those sounds together into words, Dehaene has traced the path. He gives his opinions on what seem to be the best way to teach reading, but also calls for large experiments in teaching reading to resolve, once and for all, what is the best, most efficient way to teach all- not just average children but adult illiterates and people with dyslexia.

The book is very interesting, but it can be slow going. He gives the conditions and results of test after test, and tells us what the information gained tells us about reading. What the reader learns about their brain makes it worth sticking with the book.

I found/find this book interesting from sentence one: "At this moment, your brain is accomplishing an amazing feat - reading" (p. 1). The book moves on to look at: theory, science, applications for educators and parents, and critical issues in the area of literacy. I am not sure I agree with all that is presented on Dyslexia, especially in reference to McGuinness (2005: see Language Development and Learning to Read: The Scientific Study of How Language Development Affects Reading Skill (Bradford Books)), suggesting quite the opposite - BUT - I do appreciate the literature as those of us interested in issues such as Dyslexia should have a balanced read.

I also like how Dehaene addresses the underpinnings of reading from a neurological perspective attempting to share what we know think we understand.

I do think this book is not replaceable by other books and deserves a solid spot on the shelf of any educator or academic interested in literacy - especially from a cognitive science perspective. It is easy to follow and can either be read or used as a reference book.

Subtitled "The science and evolution of a human invention", the author takes the reader into and through the process of reading. While reading this book, I became more aware of the activity in which I was involved (reading)and amazed how the marks (letters) on the page were becoming words and thoughts in my conscious being. Taking us to the neural level and back again, Dehaene is able to introduce the impact culture has on neurons and vice versa.

The theory of neuronal recycling is used as a partial explanation of the reader being able to take an ancient part of the brain and utilize it in the relatively new skill of reading. After being reminded of the evolutionary process and the process the brain goes through to accomplish the task of reading,I am amazed that the difficulties of reading/writing in our society is not more pronounced.

Parts of this volume reads as much as a mystery as it does a professional book. Sections include: The New Science of Reading; How do we read;The Brain's Letterbox, The Reading Ape; Inventing Reading; Learning to Read; The Dyslexic Brain; Reading and symmetry, and; Toward a culture of neurons.

This edition is highly recommended for educators, neuroscientists and all interested or involved in the process of reading/writing.

I found this book extremely interesting with lots of scientific details explained in a very reasonable way.

I was pretty disappointed. The author cited several significant studies, but focused exclusively on aspects of the studies that supported his own beliefs about reading. Other significant findings of these studies were not reported. I actually felt insulted at times while reading this book; the author continually presented straw man arguments against theories that were not in alignment with his own. Although it does contain lots of good information, I could not finish the book due to the author's biased writing style.

I am very satisfied with the quality of the paperback book! The contains of the book are a wonderful addition to science!

Wanna get cheated? Then buy the book "Reading in the Brain" by Stanislas Dehaene! The author has done a masterful job of summarizing the present day knowledge of how the brain treats reading but has been let down by his publisher.
The publisher has badly cheated the reader by printing all the illustrations in black-and-white and then telling the reader on page 58 "... for full-color figures please visit readinginthebrain.com". This is done in both the Viking hard-cover edition (ISBN 978-0-670-02110-9) and the Penguin paperback edition (ISBN 978-0-14-311805-0). Many of the figures, particularly 5.1 on page 216 require color to be understood and the publication forces the reader to go outside the book to understand it. For any degree of permanence the reader must waste time and effort to download and print the figures in order to have them with the printed book when they should have been printed with the text. What a cheap way for supposedly reputable publishers to save a little money at the expense of the customer who has paid for and deserves a lot better.
This book will be around for many decades to come but websites are ephemeral and can disappear at the touch of a button when the publisher decides to let the book go out of print and can no longer make money by maintaining the website. Believe me, it will happen one of these days and the reader will no longer have the knowledge of the complete book. I hope this is not a new publishing trend and that publishers hope that this nasty ploy will drive readers to ephemeral ebooks instead of real printed books. Shame on Viking and Penguin for cheating their readers and taking their money under the false pretenses that they are buying a complete book.
Charles J. Robinove, book collector, antiquarian book dealer, and book appreciator in Monument , Colorado

Still reading through the book which seems pretty good.

For anyone hoping to read this on their Kindle, there are flaws where the book attempts to show non-Latin characters in certain examples, but the Kindle can't display them properly, displaying only "[?]". It makes the examples fail, and is jarring during reading.

Hopefully either Amazon or the publisher fix this bug in an update.