John Murray Learning How Your Brain Works: Inside the most complicated object in the known universe

Very good

The reason for getting this book was that I wanted to see what was said about Memory, which is a current project of mine. What I found was a level of concision that was a refreshing alternative to the ‘everything you wanted to know about’ type of book, or the personal memoir type about memory loss. Some authors like to cite extensive publications in a bibliography with references the average reader is unlikely to have easy access to, but the approach here, just taking one chapter as a representative of the whole approach, was so much simpler. In the text there were references to current research being undertaken in such a way that the particular scientist/their field of research could be ‘googled,’ and a short list of books for further reading.The subtitle for the book dealing with a number of related topics, such as intelligence, sensation and perception, consciousness, etc., was ‘inside the most complicated object in the universe.’ I then read the chapter on Perception, and if the chapter on the processes involved on the physical level with the creation of memory had instilled a sense of awe, the fact that sensory perception uses specific parts of the brain to process information before it enters memory, or is transmitted to the parts of the brain dealing with memory, did nothing to dilute that awe. The only irritation was a use of language that has irritated before, with expressions such as ‘the brain decides,’ but it was then realised that the cause of such inaccuracy – the brain does not decide – which reminded me a key motif in ‘Terminator,’ was for two possible reasons: the first was that there was a restraint on expressing any explanation that could come across as being esoteric or even metaphysical; or possibly because quite simply, we have not as yet got the appropriate language to give accounts, and have to resort to the language familiar to readers but which may not be understood as being metaphorical.So far, eight books have been published in this series, and the model that accounts for the fact that they are both accessible and lucid, is clearly that of the New Scientist. The reader is not being addressed as if they were devoid of intelligence and a reflexive capacity. Well done John Murray.

Not as detailed as hoped scientifically

This volume turned out to be a collection of essays adapted from the journal which the editor supervises, at the level of Science News -- That is, aimed at the educated layman. That was an appropriate level for me, but would have been a disappointment for an M.D. or a researcher in the field. A nice place to start.

Good