Minds behind the Brain: A History of the Pioneers and Their Discoveries La revue
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Attractively illustrated with over a hundred halftones and drawings, this volume presents a series of vibrant profiles that trace the evolution of our knowledge about the brain.
Beginning almost 5000 years ago, with the ancient Egyptian study of "the marrow of the skull," Stanley Finger takes us on a fascinating journey from the classical world of Hippocrates, to the time of Descartes and the era of Broca and Ramon y Cajal, to modern researchers such as Sperry. Here is a truly remarkable cast of characters. We meet Galen, a man of titanic ego and abrasive disposition, whose teachings dominated medicine for a thousand years; Vesalius, a contemporary of Copernicus, who pushed our understanding of human anatomy to new heights; Otto Loewi, pioneer in neurotransmitters, who gave the Nazis his Nobel prize money and fled Austria for England; and Rita Levi-Montalcini, discoverer of nerve growth factor, who in war-torn Italy was forced to do her research in her bedroom. For each individual, Finger examines the philosophy, the tools, the books, and the ideas that brought new insights. Finger also looks at broader topics--how dependent are researchers on the work of others? What makes the time ripe for discovery? And what role does chance or serendipity play? And he includes many fascinating background figures as well, from Leonardo da Vinci and Emanuel Swedenborg to Karl August Weinhold--who claimed to have reanimated a dead cat by filling its skull with silver and zinc--and Mary Shelley, whose Frankenstein was inspired by such experiments.
Wide ranging in scope, imbued with an infectious spirit of adventure, here are vivid portraits of giants in the field of neuroscience--remarkable individuals who found new ways to think about the machinery of the mind.
With neuroscience steadily replacing psychology, philosophy, and even religion as a model of self-understanding, it's time we take a look back at the history and meaning of this curious branch of research. Washington University historian Stanley Finger charms and invigorates the reader with Minds Behind the Brain, a look at thousands of years of brain science in the form of biographical sketches. Nineteen great scientists whose brilliant insights, determined work, and resistance to cultural expectations brought this three-pound, lumpy beige ball increasing respect--from the ancient Egyptians discarding it upon death to our own view of it as the seat of consciousness.
Ramon y Cajal, Sperry, Galen, and Descartes are among the researchers Finger chooses to illuminate. Their peers, colleagues, and times are also portrayed vividly; the unavailability of human corpses for dissection until very recently, the still-raging debate on vivisection and animal research, and religious resistance to certain findings have all worked against these men and women. Well-chosen illustrations help humanize these figures, as does the author's careful balance between depictions of research and personal lives. How did Descarte's dog figure in the philosopher's understanding of the soul? Find out in Minds Behind the Brain. --Rob Lightner.
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