Minds behind the Brain: A History of the Pioneers and Their Discoveries [Hardcover]
Author: Stanley Finger | Language: English | ISBN: 019508571X | Format: PDF, EPUB
Minds behind the Brain: A History of the Pioneers and Their Discoveries
You can download Minds behind the Brain: A History of the Pioneers and Their Discoveries [Hardcover] for everyone book with Mediafire Link Download Link
You can download Minds behind the Brain: A History of the Pioneers and Their Discoveries [Hardcover] for everyone book with Mediafire Link Download Link
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.
Books with free ebook downloads available Minds behind the Brain: A History of the Pioneers and Their Discoveries 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.
- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Oxford University Press; 1 edition (December 15, 1999)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 019508571X
- ISBN-13: 978-0195085716
- Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.3 x 1.4 inches
- Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,394,861 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Boy...I wish I had had this book when I was going through neuroscience for my BS and my MS in med school! Too many professors do not realize that you cannot teach science out of context of history and social/cultural impact of the times in which the discoveries were made. So many times science is presented as the technological and mathematical sides of it, without portraying the human side of the story. Science does not exist in a vacuum, and despite what many 'scientists' believe their discoveries are not free from cultural and social bias.
The pictures and photographs add to the interest level and fun of reading this book. I enjoy seeing the older instruments, the drawings done by the original scientists, and photographs of the man with myasthenia gravis who was given anticholinesterase drugs to help with his affliction. This type of information puts a human face on dry science. Ultimately it is the application of what is learned in neuroscience used to relieve the suffering of those with chronic degenerative diseases which I find rewarding, not just the science as an end in itself. In fact, most of the men who made significant additions to neuroscience and understanding of the brain were trying to elucidate how the brain works in order to help those with these types of brain problems.
Finger does an excellent job. It is a long book, but immensely readable. Lots of information that was new to me, along with information that I had gotten glimpses from other sources (usually magazine articles in historical or lay science journals). This book should definitely be on hold in any university library where neuroscience is being taught, and if teaching neuroscience, professors should recommend to students to go and read the relevant chapters for historical background in this book.
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