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Wilder Penfield
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The Mystery of the Mind: A Critical Study of Consciousness and the Human Brain (Princeton Legacy Library) Paperback – March 8, 2015

by Wilder Penfield (Author)

In the past fifty years scientists have begun to discover how the human brain functions. In this book Wilder Penfield, whose work has been at the forefront of such research, describes the current state of knowledge about the brain and asks to what extent recent findings explain the action of the mind. He offers the general reader a glimpse of exciting discoveries usually accessible to only a few scientists.

He writes: "Throughout my own scientific career I, like other scientists, have struggled to prove that the brain accounts for the mind. But perhaps the time has come when we may profitably consider the evidence as it stands, and ask the question...Can the mind be explained by what is now known about the brain?"

The central question, he points out, is whether man's being is determined by his body alone or by mind and body as separate elements. Before suggesting an answer, he gives a fascinating account of his experience as a neurosurgeon and scientist observing the brain in conscious patients.

Originally published in 1975.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

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  1. Print length
    158 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Princeton University Press
  4. Publication date
    March 8, 2015
  5. Dimensions
    5.25 x 0.36 x 8.63 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0691614784
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0691614786
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Princeton University Press
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 8, 2015
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ 0
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 158 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0691614784
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0691614786
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.36 x 8.63 inches
  • Best Sellers Rank: #1,952,076 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Wilder Penfield

Wilder Penfield

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Kabbasi
    5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent read for anyone pondering where the brain ends and ...
    Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2017
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    This book is a classic. An excellent read for anyone pondering where the brain ends and the mind begins.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Deb H
    4.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful perspective
    Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2013
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    I enjoyed reading this book. It was not too complex or too detailed for the lay person. It was an honest and thoughtful perspective of a neurosurgeon who asks questions philosophically regarding the origin and energy source with regard to the mind. The brain is an organic structure that functions much like a computer. The mind is more like the programmer. His first hand experience of working with patients with epilepsy and the responses of these when electrical stimulation was applied to various regions of the brain help to support his premise.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Renee, RN
    5.0 out of 5 stars Renee, RN (USA)
    Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2011
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    I found Penfield's writing about the "mind" and "spirit" to be fascinating. Scientists know what part of the brain is responsible for things like speech, sight, memory, sight, hearing, movement, etc. But what makes humans act and think the way we do? What is responsible for thought, reasoning, conscience, and those things that cant be measured? He describes the brain to be like a "computer that needs to be programmed". I found all his writing to be very interesting and informative. Some of the medical information was over my head as a lay person. But as a former patient of Montreal Neurological Hospital who had this very surgery while Awake for epilepsy, it brought back many memories of how they "poked" around in my brain and it created sensations in various areas of my body. For anyone interested in how the brain and mind work, this is an easy to read, interesting book. Like Dr. Feindel says in the introduction:" the brain is the most organized structure in the universe".
    13 people found this helpful
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  • Vanda Holt
    5.0 out of 5 stars Professional tools!!!
    Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2024
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    Good!!!!!’
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  • Linda From Indiana
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating findings
    Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2009
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    I found Wilder Penfield's research with epileptic patients, fascinating. Reading his accounts of subjects responding to his "poking around" in their brains inspired me to read on. I was amazed that such poking could cause the recollection of detailed memories or the bodies of his subjects to react consistent with the area poked. It is remarkable that this brain surgeon was so puzzled by the fact that he could find no "record" in the brain of decision-making. His analogy of a "programmer" for the "computer/brain," gave even more data to the assumption of a "spirit" that resides in a person until death. I found it a reinforcement of what I already believe, but also surprising that a physician, who was not intending to propose such a hypothesis, came to such a conclusion. The book is very interesting reading for anyone who is interested in the workings of the brain or who is inquisitive about the existence of a "spirit" or a "mind" in human beings.
    16 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2017
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    Very Good!!!!!😀
    One person found this helpful
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  • Frederick A. Jory
    5.0 out of 5 stars The immaterial exists.
    Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2021
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    Today's secular scientists make an underlying assumption that only matter and energy (and space and time) exist. But this work, done over a half century ago, and the follow on work such as that down by Jeffrey Schwartz (MD-neuroscientist) show the existence of the immaterial portion of who we are. Penfield (and Schwartz) call this the "mind"--as distinguished from the "brain." The Bible calls this the "soul." An interesting thing to ponder: how does one "kill" something immaterial? Could the soul truly exist eternally?
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Jonathan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good quality
    Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2019
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    Complete and well printed and bound.
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  • Ivo Rubino
    5.0 out of 5 stars Un capolavoro dimenticato
    Reviewed in Italy on June 3, 2021
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    Chi mai ricorda che giá nel 1975 il piú grande neurochirurgo scriveva che la coscienza é un mistero? Gli storidi oggi neanche lo citano, forse perché era una persona seria, non il solito neuropsicologo imbratta-carte.
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  • Gord Sweatman
    5.0 out of 5 stars A gift you must read before passing on.
    Reviewed in Canada on October 15, 2020
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    This product used as a gift ----- a fascinating read. new prints available ------ promptly delivered.
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  • christianne hoeberigs
    4.0 out of 5 stars still relevant and a little bit outdated at the same time
    Reviewed in Germany on December 24, 2022
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    Interesting to read Penfield's thoughts and vision. Lot of new knowledge in the last decades, but still very good in the basis
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  • rocky
    5.0 out of 5 stars PENFIELD.GIANT IN NEUROSCIENCE
    Reviewed in India on June 1, 2019
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    PENFIELD.GIANT IN NEUROSCIENCE.good.small book.simple language.good diagrames.
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    rocky
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    PENFIELD.GIANT IN NEUROSCIENCE

    Reviewed in India on June 1, 2019
    PENFIELD.GIANT IN NEUROSCIENCE.good.small book.simple language.good diagrames.
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  • Ivo Rubino
    4.0 out of 5 stars A forgotten masterwork
    Reviewed in Germany on May 13, 2022
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    A fundamental contribution, often omissed by current scholars, perhaps because the Author was not a neuropsychologist, but a neurosurgeon, a really genial one!
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