- Hardcover: 224 pages
- Publisher: W&N (12 Oct 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0297823302
- ISBN-13: 978-0297823308
- Product Dimensions: 26.7 x 20.6 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 327,217 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The brain has been the last "terra incognita" of the body for medical exploration, largely because its matter is so different from that of the rest of the body. In 1986 the eminent evolutionary biologist John Maynard Smith identified the problem of how the brain works as one of the two outstanding problems in biology (along with how a simple egg develops into a complex adult organism). Most of us have experienced some apparently inexplicable quirk of the mind, such as selective memory loss. Without obvious "hard wiring", anatomical "labels" or other guiding features, medical scientists have struggled to identify its parts, their functions and connections to the mind. Not that this has stopped curiosity; there is anthropological evidence dating back some thousands of years for crude but sometimes successful attempts to open the skull and get at the brain.
Rita Carter is an award-winning medical writer. (Medical Journalists' Association prize for outstanding contribution). In Mapping the Mind she explores the landscape of the brain and its connections with the mind. We should all be enthralled by this adventure for "it is giving us greater understanding about one of the oldest and most fundamental of mysteries--the relationship between the brain and mind". Carter introduces the subject with the historical background of anatomical discoveries and emerging theories of brain/mind connections. The famous tragic story of the 19th-century American railway worker, Phineas Gage, is here. An iron rod blasted through poor Phineas's skull. It entered below his left eye and exited through his skull roof, removing a large chunk of his forebrain. Amazingly, Phineas survived but his personality was radically changed, as was reported by his doctor, John Harlow.
In this fascinating and well-illustrated book, Rita Carter shows just how far we have travelled in our understanding since the mid-19th century world of Dr Harlow and gives a sense of how far we still have to travel. As she says: "The world within our heads is more marvellous than anything we can dream up". The last few decades have seen a revolution in non-invasive brain mapping thanks to the scientific miracles of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and associated technologies. It is now possible to see which part of the brain responds to specific stimulation in real time. As Rita Carter says: "The challenge of mapping this world...is currently engaging some of the finest scientists in the world". Excellent design and imagery, plus vignettes from famous scientists such as Francis Crick, a bibliography and an index make this a very useful book as well as a good read. --Douglas Palmer
Review
'fascinating stuff' (BIG ISSUE IN THE NORTH )
'It's fascinating to understand how much of our personality is directly related to brain function.' (Daniel Johns, University Bookseller WESTERN MORNING NEWS )
'Well researched...this is a good read for the specialist or general scientist, or anyone inetrested in things of or about the mind.' (SCHOOL SCIENCE REVIEW ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
'It's fascinating to understand how much of our personality is directly related to brain function.' (Daniel Johns, University Bookseller WESTERN MORNING NEWS )
'Well researched...this is a good read for the specialist or general scientist, or anyone inetrested in things of or about the mind.' (SCHOOL SCIENCE REVIEW ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book two years ago. It is the only non-fiction text I have not ben able to put down. The subject itself is fascinating, but Rita Carter shares her own excitement with us. The text is daring in that it deals with difficult concepts and makes no concessions to those of us who gave up science more years ago than we care to dmit on public but Rita Carter has the gift of making clear in elegant ptrecise language concepts and processes that are not onl;y utterly absorbing to learn about, but also raise questions about what it is to be conscious, what religious experince really entails etc. I have to stop here. Though I've read the book several times, I no longer have it to hand. I am a secondary schoolteacher(of English) and I took my copy in to school to read at break. To my complete surprise, every student who came in the room wanted to see it. It was handed round the class, discussed - bits of biology fitted in...etc. Of course, I lent it out. A book they were pleading to read! (Tempted to take out a mortgage and buy them each a copy!) So many are on the list to read it, I shall have to get another copy for myself. It is patently not a student's book, but the subject obviously appeals so much that they are prepared to make the effort. In this, I think the visual layout of the book helps - difficult text is broken up with diagrams, case-studies etc and the pages are colourful. The many diagrams are especially well done. This is a book no 15yr old should feel ashamed to pinch from his teacher - a guaranteed cert to get your son reading, I would think. But read ALL of it first - you'll never get it back!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The classic problem with books written about the brain is the immense complexity of the subject. Up until Mapping the Mind, the best that readers could hope for was a puzzling armada of medical plates, or a friendly, but equally puzzling, pen and ink sketch and an accompanying himalaya of text.
At last! This difficulty is overcome in Mapping the Mind by accessible, lucid writing, and staggeringly beautiful illustrations, which, as anyone who ever had a brilliant teacher intuitively knows, could only be done by someone who completely understands the subject. The illustrations are simply incredible.
The alienation felt at reading overly mechanical, scientific books on one's own brain is immensely disappointing; after all, the subject matter was our own unexplored mind, in which we invested everything, yet from many a hopeful journey through these books we return as empty handed as we came. The pervading impression is that perhaps the brain is a dull, mechanical confusion after all, in which we were mistaken to be so curious.
But after reading Mapping the Mind, it dawns that the understanding is not beyond grasping, and better, that the subject is now, to one's great relief, as fascinating, beautiful and full of wonder, as we knew it should be. The book is inspiring, a first, and is bound to be of interest to everyone.
Probably the best book ever written on the brain!
34 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As accurate as a 16th century map of the world, this text brings together current research and more speculative theories about how the brain really works. It includes its development - a section I would like to see expanded, especially into adolescence. It gives explanations about how different chemicals enable it to work, which helps understanding of diseases such as Parkinson's, or Schizophrenia, and conditions such as dyslexia. It also discusses the perceptual differences which make each of us individual. I particularly like the images of infant brain development (not realising that the brain actually is still growing), the explanations of the different kinds of scans, and the chapters on vision and on memory. I use it in the school library (admittedly a grammar school), to show pupils how their brains grow, and that their decisions about what they spend their time doing will actually affect what kind of intelligence they will develop. It is well written, and easy to follow. The diagrams are very clear. It is well indexed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A valuable but hard read
it's heavy going and not very brain friendly - packing the science in was more important than presentation - ironically in my view. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Clare
facinating.. worrying maybe, but fascinating!
This seems to be just the thing for generating real interest in a buddying Neuroscience student. The examples, stories, and level of detail, written in such a way as to make the... Read more
Published 7 months ago by fly
An admirable achievement
Although my deepening interest in neuroscience has led me to more comprehensive and voluminous academic texts, to return to this for a second reading has been a delight, and has... Read more
Published 13 months ago by John Ferngrove
Superb
As a psychology student, I picked up this book to provide a broad introduction to biological psychology, in the hope that it might ease me in to the more scientific aspects of... Read more
Published 16 months ago by H. Seymour
Superb - please write an up-to-date version
This still seems to me to remain by far the best way into catching up with current understanding on the brain - except that time has moved on (first published 1998); I suspect... Read more
Published on 22 July 2009 by Hector
Makes the Brain come to life
Rita Carter has written an excellent book that is clear, full of information and extremely readable. Read more
Published on 23 April 2007 by D. Tarlow
A fascinating insight into the brain
Rita Carter is a medical journalist who writes extremely well. Her ability to grasp and communicate the most fascinating and intriguing aspects of the human brain brings her... Read more
Published on 18 Oct 2006 by Susan Percy
describes whats really going on
This book cuts through the convoluted theories about our behaviour and by measuring reactions to circumstances with brain scans gives us a clue to what really makes us tick.. Read more
Published on 16 Jan 2001
A deeply ambitious book that needed to be written.
As I realised what the book was about I felt exhilerated. Finally there was a predominantly visual representation of how the mind works drawing from the slew of imaging research. Read more
Published on 4 April 1999
Absolutely fascinating and easy to understand
At first I thought this would be another `Brief History of Time' - a scientific book that everyone buys but many fail to finish. Read more
Published on 10 Mar 1999
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