The Idea of the Brain
The Past and Future of Neuroscience
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
The Idea of the Brain
Buy Now for $32.31
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Joe Jameson
-
Written by:
-
Matthew Cobb
About this listen
An "elegant", "engrossing" (Carol Tavris, Wall Street Journal) examination of what we think we know about the brain and why - despite technological advances - the workings of our most essential organ remain a mystery.
"I cannot recommend this book strongly enough." (Henry Marsh, author of Do No Harm)
For thousands of years, thinkers and scientists have tried to understand what the brain does. Yet, despite the astonishing discoveries of science, we still have only the vaguest idea of how the brain works. In The Idea of the Brain, scientist and historian Matthew Cobb traces how our conception of the brain has evolved over the centuries. Although it might seem to be a story of ever-increasing knowledge of biology, Cobb shows how our ideas about the brain have been shaped by each era's most significant technologies. Today we might think the brain is like a supercomputer. In the past, it has been compared to a telegraph, a telephone exchange, or some kind of hydraulic system. What will we think the brain is like tomorrow, when new technology arises? The result is an essential listen for anyone interested in the complex processes that drive science and the forces that have shaped our marvelous brains.
©2020 Matthew Cobb (P)2020 Hachette AudioWhat the critics say
"The story of the most complex object in the universe has never been told with greater clarity, insight, and wit. Charting the route to future discoveries, this is a masterpiece" (Adam Rutherford, author of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived)
"This is a book I wish I could have written, and one that I will be thinking about for a long time." (Maria Picciotto, professor of psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine)
"A fresh history and tour d'horizon of 'the most complex object in the known universe.' Although scientists still struggle to understand the brain, they know a great deal about it; Cobb, a professor of biological sciences, delivers an excellent overview." (Kirkus Reviews)
What listeners say about The Idea of the Brain
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Cal
- 2021-05-27
Excellent Tour of Ideas of the Brain Through Time
Exceptionally well referenced. This book has added a ton of context for me in understanding where we are in brain research. Such a great read, entertaining, completely up to date. If you're interested in learning more about the brain and want to understand the timeline of how we've come to where we are now in our understanding- this book has that!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- andrew
- 2020-09-02
Back to the future
The author does an outstanding job of condensing hundreds of years of the development of neuroscience into 14 hours or so. I liked the way the book was organized into an historical section showing how ideas morphed over the centuries and then in the second part, 1950s to the present, into a variety of different themes such as memory and consciousness. Inevitably there are omissions or places where others would place more emphasis. For example the author is quite critical of fMRI research and makes it sound very crude without mentioning other rapidly improving MRI techniques such as tractography which is becoming better as imaging magnets get more powerful, up to 7 Tesla or more. These connectome maps will become important as deep learning together with further genomic and psychiatry research develop. Some space was devoted to psychiatry as a means for understanding, mostly in the chemistry section, but I felt themes of psychiatry, psychology, meditation and Eastern religion/medical teaching could have been explored much more. This is very much a Western view of the subject. Reference was made to the brutal historical vivisection of criminals by Renaissance anatomists but there was absolutely no comment or acknowledgment made about the vivisection of mammals for the numerous brain neurophysiologic experiments that have taken place since the time of Adrian, Hodgkin and Huxley. Some of this fraternity have lately been subjected to animal rights groups' wrath or worse and I feel it should have been incumbent upon the author to at least try and offer a more balanced view as to why those scientists felt such work should have been performed in the face of opposition instead of just accepting what they were doing was the correct way to progress scientific thought. This does not however detract from what was otherwise a very good summary of where neuroscience has been and where it may be headed. I liked the reader, Joe Jameson, who had an easy voice with a nice flow and good pace.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!