In his latest book, David Bainbridge combines an otherworldly journey through the central nervous system with an accessible and entertaining account of how the brain's anatomy has often misled anatomists about its function. Bainbridge uses the structure of the brain to set his book apart from the many volumes that focus on brain function. He shows that for hundreds of years, natural philosophers have been interested in the gray matter inside our skulls, but all they had to go on was its structure. Almost every knob, protrusion, canal, and crease was named before anyone had an inkling of what it did - a kind of biological terra incognita with many weird and wonderful names: the zonules of Zinn, the obex ('the most Scrabble-friendly word in all of neuroanatomy'), the aqueduct of Sylvius, the tract of Goll. This uniquely accessible approach lays out what is known about the brain (its structure), what we can hope to know (its function), and what we may never know (its evolution). Along the way Bainbridge tells lots of wonderful stories about the 'two pounds of blancmange' within our skulls, and tells them all with wit and style.
| ISBN | 0674034589 | | Volumes | 1 | | ISBN13 | 9780674034587
(What's this?) | | Weight (grammes) | 472 | | Publisher | Harvard University Press | | Published in | Cambridge, Mass | | Imprint | Harvard University Press | | Previous ISBN | 9780674026100 | | Format | Paperback | | Height (mm) | 235 | | Publication date | 13 Nov 2009 | | Width (mm) | 155 | | DEWEY | 611.8 | | Spine width (mm) | 22 | | DEWEY edition | DC22 | | Academic level | General | | Pages | 352 | |
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* Prologue I. A Grand Tour of Terra Incognita The spinal cord * Skull Marrow First thoughts about the mind * Servants and Guards of the Great King The classical brain * The Brain as Geography Maps of the mind * A River Runs Through It The development of a brain * Leonardo's Butterfly The spinal cord * Interlude The worm that turned (over) II. An Assault on the Senses The brain stem * A Forest So Dense The new anatomy of Santiago Ramon y Cajal * The Little Fish Who Never Grew Up The origins of the ear * The Brain as Archaeology The hindbrain * Beauty Is in the Eye of the, er, Squid The origins of the eye * Hillocks, Buttocks, Blindsight, and Black Stuff The midbrain * Stinkin' and Thinkin' The origins of the nose * Into the Marriage Chamber for Some Sexy Synesthesia Entering the forebrain * Why Is "D" Brown? When the senses mix * Interlude Shrapnel and magnets III. Where All the Mind May Be Found? The cortex * The Brain as Engineering Wilder Penfield and the cortex * The Apparent Disorder of the Cerebral Jungle What is in those hemispheres? * The Seahorse and the Almond Memory, learning, and fear * The Hard Question Brain size and consciousness * Epilogue: No Turning Back * Further Reading * Index
In this "geographical tour" of the nervous system, readers will find an entertaining and enlightening history of neuroscience and a look at the anatomy of the brain...The book's relaxed pace, interesting tangents and broad coverage make this book eminently suitable for anyone curious about the brain. Publishers Weekly 20071022 [A] wonderful exploration of the brain and central nervous system...Writing in prose that is precise, descriptive, and engaging, [Bainbridge] offers vibrant depictions of neuroscientists' discoveries and the brain's evolution. Moving from structure and evolution to the senses, engineering, and wiring of the brain, the author eloquently describes the functioning of the central nervous system and then briefly examines the connections between the brain and the mind, along with more esoteric functions such as memory and consciousness. -- Candice Kai Library Journal (starred review) 20080101 Absorbing...[Bainbridge's] witty journey from spinal cord through brain stem to cerebral cortex, ending with a cautious chapter on the "deceitful spectre" of consciousness, is unashamedly personal...Despite the complexity of the human brain, Bainbridge seeks to convince the non-specialist that it is, in fact, "simpler than you might have thought."...Highly informative and historically minded. -- Andrew Robinson The Lancet 20080405 This book does an excellent job of introducing the layout of the brain in an easily digestible form through describing the history of its discovery while celebrating quirkiness in its nomenclature and the eccentricities of early anatomists...This book is enjoyable to read and provides an excellent contribution to making some of the apparently bizarre structure and functioning of the brain accessible to the lay reader. All neuroscientists should also welcome it: as a teacher of neuroanatomy for many years I certainly read it with pleasure. -- M. W. Brown Times Higher Education Supplement 20080417 David Bainbridge is establishing a reputation for clear, popular science writing, laced with imaginative flair and good humor, plus the essential skill of good storytelling. It is a reputation this book is likely to enhance...Presented as a journey through the "geography" of brain and nervous system, the book introduces its lay readers to a phantasmagoria of exotically named parts, from the Tolkienesque tract of Goll to the canal of Schlemm, Varolio's bridge and a host more. -- Rob Parkinson Human Givens Journal 20080701 With great good humor, anatomist Bainbridge conducts a tour up the spinal cord to the cerebral cortex, en route covering, in succession, embryonic brain development, the structuring of the senses, and the workings of the mind. A tour de force of popular science writing. Booklist 20090101
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