Customer Reviews

Scientific American Book of the Brain

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Let us be fair to this book. It is the reprint of 28 articles from Scientific American that spanned the seven years prior to the publication of this book. The magazine is not designed to publish ground breaking research for the accomplished person in that specific field. True to its tradition, it makes subjects accessible to the generalist that may not other wise be read or found. Many of us by reading Scientific American, have had important new areas opened up to further study. Decades ago its article on smoking and cancer was an important public service. These articles on the brain, consciousness, intelligence, mind, memory and learning could help you find other avenues of further reading. As always, Scientific American makes it readable enough that you are not entirely lost in specialized vocabulary. Research on the brain is moving so fast that we will all want to know much more very soon. This is not the owner's manual for the brain it is a place to begin for the non-technical person.

This collection of articles from Sceintific American about the human brain is fascinating to read, covering a range of topics, from Alzhiemers to sexuality to learning to mental disorders in a format that is provocative and timely. Although this book cover the biology of the human brain and how it affects the psychology of the human being, it rarely descends into too much technical jargon. Since we learn as much biology and neurology in this book as much as psychology, it is bound to surprise people how much about the human brain we do know --and how much more we have to learn. This is a book describing the not just how the brain operates, but how it operates in certain situations. This makes our learning both concerete and fascinating. We learn about genes and the brain, about memory and depression, about sexual identity and sexual selection, all in a format that is as gripping as it is well written. It is book that will enrich your brain with information about how it works. Can you be without that kind of information? I dare say this is a book any serious student of human behavior will want to have. It is a great collection of articles.

There are a number of excellent and pioneering books on the brain. In my opinion, this is not one of them. If it is up to date, original, pioneering, and thought provoking material the reader is searching for, I would advise that they look elsewhere.