Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: And Other True Stories of Trauma, Madness, Affliction, and Recovery That Reveal the Surprising History of the Human Brain by Sam Kean

3 reviews

jtfinlay's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny informative medium-paced

4.0

I really enjoyed this one, there were some very interesting facts and it was written in an entertaining way, with lots of story telling and guide to the history of neuroscience. Some excerpts I found fascinating include:

In fact, our vision is so biased toward movement that we don’t technically see stationary objects at all. To see something stationary, our brains have to scribble our eyes very subtly over its surface. Experiments have even proved that if you artificially stabilize an image on the retina with a combination of special contact lenses and microelectronics, the image will vanish.

Another:
When microprocessors got small enough, Bach-y-Rita built devices to stimulate the tongue, one of the body’s most sensitive tactile areas. [..] The scans revealed that, even though the video information came streaming in through the tongue, the brain’s vision centers crackled with activity. Neurologically, this input was indistinguishable from “sight.” […] They even fell prey to certain optical illusions, like the “waterfall effect". If you stare at something in motion (like a waterfall) for several seconds and then look away, whatever you focus on next seems to move of its own accord. Bach-y-Rita’s device induces this same vertiginous feeling in blind people […].
 
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mahamsiddiqui's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

I cannot praise this book enough. I picked this book up with little reverence for it, however, I am a Sam Kean convert. I was a Sam Kean convert, the moment I read the first few lines of introduction. 

Sam Kean keeps you gripped and hungry for information throughout the book. The book is full of anecdotes and stories which open your mind (pun intended) and make force you to think (again, pun intended). 

Such a fickle, fickle nature of brain is, and yet, it befuddles you because of its resilience. I am a doctor and this book was nothing short of an education in the field of neuroscience, enough to convince me to pursue this field further. 

Sam Kean makes sure that the humanity of the subjects that he is narrating about is not lost. You develop a soft spot for all those who contributed greatly to the field of neuroscience through their mishaps, even if their swearing knows no bounds. 

Sam Kean has tried to do justice with every story. I just have one qualm with him, this book should have been bigger, and should have included all the stories that he had to exclude.

BTW don't forget to read the additional content given on his website. It is every bit as grappling as the book. 
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spoicyreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

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