Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science

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Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science

by John Fleischman

3.74 · rating details · 520 ratings · 122 reviews

Phineas Gage was truly a man with a hole in his head. A railroad construction foreman, Phineas was blasting rock near Cavendish, Vermont, in 1848 when a thirteen-pound iron rod was shot through his brain. Miraculously, he survived another eleven years and became a textbook case in brain science. But he was forever changed by the accident, and what happened inside his brain...more

Paperback, 96 pages

Published November 1st 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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Feb 04, 2009

Joe rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed-library, middle-school-ya, biography

In order to provide this book with a proper evaluation, my reciprocal ages must weigh in.

Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science
A review by Joe Prince, Age 31

Grisly. Stomach-churning. Disgusting. These are adjectives that aptly describe the first chapter - nay! paragraphs - of John Fleischman's brief but explosive account of the freak accident that inspired deeper study of brain science.

Compelling. Engaging. Witty. These are adjectiv...more

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Jan 17, 2011

Laurel rated it

Shelves: non-fiction, health-related, psychology, young-adult, science

This is the true story of Phineas Gage, a railroad worker in the mid 1800's who suffered a brain injury after a 3-foot iron rod shot through his head. He not only survived, but (at least initially) appeared to be physically unaffected. That is, he could still walk, talk and perform normal daily tasks as usual. But he was not the same man. Once even-tempered, he now seemed to lack social skills, and often broke out in an unexpected temper.

Gage is one of the earliest documented ca...more

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Jan 27, 2012

Jonathan rated it

Reading Response: Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science

This nonfiction book is about a man named Phineas Gage, a real man who had a metal spear shot into his head and skull. He then became a medical phenomenon, with men arguing over if this was really real, or if it was a hoax, or a lie. This led to a lot of research on how the brain really worked.

My opinion on this book is that it is very interesting and a little disgusting (spear shot through skul...more

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Jan 11, 2012

Joseph rated it

This was a very good and interesting book. It was very cool to learn about the brain and that it gives off electric pulses, and it was also really interesting to learn about the man that has a hole in his head (literally!)

I wouldn't of liked this book without the storyline of Phineas Gage. I also thought that it was really interesting that after the accident with the iron rod going through Phineas's head, he was very unsocial, he cussed alot in front of women, and he had almost no s...moreThis was a very good and interesting book. It was very cool to learn about the brain and that it gives off electric pulses, and it was also really interesting to learn about the man that has a hole in his head (literally!)

I wouldn't of liked this book without the storyline of Phineas Gage. I also thought that it was really interesting that after the accident with the iron rod going through Phineas's head, he was very unsocial, he cussed alot in front of women, and he had almost no social skills whatsoever. Before the accident, Phineas was a very polite young man that was always working well with others. What is so interesting is that scientists have a theory that different parts of your brain control different things. The front of the cortex in the left hemisphere of the brain (where the iron rod punctured) is where your social skills are located.

A not so good part in this book was that it had alot of confusing words in it. The book was talking about the brain, and the brain is very complicated, so I guess that is why it had so many confusing words.

I think it is extremely cool that an iron rod passed through Phineas's left cheek, made a hole in his brain and skull, and then came out of his forehead! This was a big deal for doctors because there was two theroies about the brain.

The first group (The Whole Brainers) believed that if the brain is punctered, the information that was in that part that was punctured moves to another place in the brain.

The second group (the Locaters) believed that there was different emotions and feelings in the brain that were scattered in different parts. If one of those parts was punctured, then that spot would be gone entirely. For example, Phineas was punctured in the part which they believed was the social skills area. They also believed that if you had a bump on one part of your head, the skills that were in that area of the brain were very good. If you had a dip in your head, then you were bad at that skill in that part of the brain.

At the beginning of the book, it asked that if you thought that Phineas was lucky or unlucky after you read the story. My opinion was that Phineas was very lucky because after his accident, he lived for 11 years! I also thought that Phineas was lucky because he became very famous to brain doctors because they learned information about the brain from him.(less)

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Nov 20, 2010

Lars Guthrie rated it

John Fleischman opens ‘Phineas Gage’ at full tilt, September 13, 1848, ‘a minute or two away’ from an accident that can only be described as freakish. Gage was working with gunpowder, blasting through solid rock as the foreman of a railroad construction gang in Vermont.

The tool of his trade was a tamping iron, three and a half feet long, a little less than two inches round, one end pointed like a spear to set a fuse, the blunt end used to tamp down earth over the gunpowder.
...moreJohn Fleischman opens ‘Phineas Gage’ at full tilt, September 13, 1848, ‘a minute or two away’ from an accident that can only be described as freakish. Gage was working with gunpowder, blasting through solid rock as the foreman of a railroad construction gang in Vermont.

The tool of his trade was a tamping iron, three and a half feet long, a little less than two inches round, one end pointed like a spear to set a fuse, the blunt end used to tamp down earth over the gunpowder.

Something went wrong. The sharp end of the iron spear shot into Gage’s left cheek. Its entire length rocketed through the front of his brain and burst out of the top of his skull, clanking down thirty feet away.

Gage lived. During the half hour it took for a doctor to arrive, he sat down on the front porch of the hotel where he was boarding and talked about what had just happened.

Was he okay? Not exactly. Phineas Gage was not the same man. He could walk and talk, but the even-tempered supervisor had now lost the ability to match his behavior to the situation at hand. He had no social skills.

Gage’s misfortune occurred as the medical establishment was on the verge of looking at the brain in an utterly new way. A decade and a half later, a surgeon in Paris showed, by conducting autopsies on stroke victims, that there was a specific region of the brain devoted to speech production. That place, located just above the left ear, is still known as Broca’s area, after the French doctor.

It has taken another century plus for neuroscientists, equipped with modern technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography, to really begin to map out the brain. Today, when lay people are knowledgeable about ‘executive function,’ it’s far easier for us to understand how losing a chunk of your frontal lobe would affect your judgment, your planning, and the way you get along with others.

In the mid-nineteenth century, phrenologists were feeling the bumps and dents on people’s heads to determine cognitive strengths and weaknesses.

What doctors of the time were able to do was dig up poor old Phineas and preserve his skull, as well as the tamping iron that remained a constant companion until his death in 1860, at the age of thirty-six. This ensured that Gage would remain a subject of fascination, and become the protagonist of Fleischman’s unusual and compelling children’s book.

The only thing that bugged me about Fleischman’s otherwise riveting narration was his insistence on using present tense throughout the book. It worked for me in the initial passage, so forceful in its immediacy, but got hokier as he went through several time changes. But that never bothered me enough to lose interest. What a story, and thanks to Elizabeth Bird for bringing it to my attention.

Many of us are attracted, perhaps somewhat reluctantly, to the macabre and grotesque, including middle schoolers. Here’s a nifty book that plays into that draw, and then introduces readers to the exciting work being done in brain science.

Recommended for fifth graders on up.(less)

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Aug 23, 2010

Patrice Sartor rated it

GENRE: Non-fiction, biography, brain anatomy, science.

SUMMARY: Phineas Gage suffered a horrendous accident in 1848 when a tamping iron exploded through his skull. Amazingly, Phineas walked away from the accident, and lived for another eleven years. He was a changed man, however. His personality became harsher and less socially adept. He became prone to swearing and shortness of temper. After the incident Phineas was able to interact well with children and horses, and he worked with h...more

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Mar 09, 2010

Lauma rated it

Shelves: informational-books-and-biography

I am very interested in brain science and have read several adult books on the subject. I was excited to see a book that introduced this topic to young adult readers. However, I think most children would be primarily drawn in with the title and illustration on the cover and want to read about the gory details, rather than learning about the brain research that came from studying the 11 years that Phineas Gage survived after a metal rod was driven through his skull in a railroad construction ac...more

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Nov 08, 2009

(NS) Lauren rated it

Shelves: informational-biography

Interest/Grade Level: 6-12

Phineas Gage was truly a man with a hole in his head. A railroad construction foreman, Phineas was blasting rock near Cavendish, Vermont, in 1848 when a thirteen-pound iron rod was shot through his brain. Miraculously, he survived another eleven years and became a textbook case in brain science. But he was forever changed by the accident, and what happened inside his brain will tell you a lot about how your brain works and what makes us who we are.

...more

like 1 like

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May 14, 2009

Melissa rated it

Shelves: nonfiction, young-adult, ztlib, creepy

Why would this appeal to teens? Why WOULDN'T appeal is a better question. It seems as if everyone goes through a gross phase, and this novel is absolutely disgusting and freakish. Younger students just love "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" books, and this is much like an extended version of one of those.
I think that many students will skip over the scientific explanations. High school students will already know much of it and middle schoolers may find it boring. The author offer...more

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Mar 07, 2010

MissDziura rated it

Shelves: informational-biography

John Fleischman's "gruesome but true story" about Phineas Gage is a good read for middle school and high school students, probably appealing most to boys. The book begins with the telling of Gage's accident, where a tampering rod went through his head yet he lived to tell about it. While reading this chapter I was fascinated with Fleischman's storytelling and the accident itself. The remaining chapters become very scientific, and at parts so technical it is hard to follow. However,...more

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Jan 25, 2010

Louie Hernandez rated it

Phineas Gage was truly a man with a hole in his head. A railroad construction foreman, Phineas was blasting rock near Cavendish, Vermont, in 1848 when a thirteen-pound iron rod was shot through his brain. For some reason, he survived another eleven years and became a textbook case in brain science. But of course he was forever changed by the accident, and what happened inside his brain will tell you a lot about how your brain works and what makes us who we are. And also made further more informa...more

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Feb 10, 2011

Jordan Watson rated it

This is a true story about a man named Phineas Gage, who had a very bad accident. Now this accident killed him but it took 11 years, 6 months, and 9 days to kill Phineas Gage. During this period in history alot of people suffered brain injuries but his will become the one worth knowing. Phineas was a construction worker during this time and the rod that he was working with changed his life forever. The pointy end of the rod enter under his left cheek bone, pass behind his left eye, thorough the ...more

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Nov 12, 2009

NSAndrew Liebergen rated it

Shelves: informational-and-biographies

Phineas was a railroad construction foreman. He survived an accident in which a large rod was driven completely through his head, destroying one or both of his brain’s frontal lobes. Phineas Gage influenced 19th century thinking about brain and the localization of its functions. It was the first case where damage to a specific region of the brain showed to affect personality and behavior. Except for loss of vision in the left eye, Gage’s physical recovery seems to have been essentially com...more

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Jan 04, 2010

Andrea rated it

Shelves: 2nd-quarter

This book is about an inccedent a man named Phineas Gage had. he was working in a track construction gang that is in the process of blasting a rail-road. An accicedent happens and an iron slips down a hole and passes through Phineas left check bone through his left eyes, through the front of his brain, and goes out through half of his forehead. Phineas survives the accident and is rushed to a docto. the doctor is an hour late, but Phineas is still awake and not dead. When the doctor does come, h...more

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Mar 04, 2011

Deb rated it

Shelves: non-fiction, children-s

Children's book but it tells a fascinating story. Way back when--around the time of the 'wild west'--a man working with explosives at a mine amazingly survived a horrific accident. A tamping rod was blown through his head! He survived but his personality was never the same. Science at the time could not explain this, but now we know how different parts of the brain affect personality. The book talks about Phineas' life and clearly explains what is known about the brain and how scientists us...more

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Aug 11, 2009

Suzan DeVore rated it

Shelves: children-s-books

Great book on the brain. Written for children (middle to high school I would say although a child who was in elementary school and super into science would probably devour it!) The book describes the life of Phineas Gage as a method to explain how the brain works, what the various areas (Wernike's, Broaca's, Temporal Lobe, etc) do and where they are located. Also a very interesting explanation of how our knowledge of the brain grew as a result of Phineas' injury and remarkable survival.
...more

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Mar 24, 2011

Ashley Wiseman rated it

This book was such a breath of fresh air to read. John Fleischman does a wonderful job of explaining the story of Phineas Gage and the huge impact his life had on the world of science. When Phineas was working, he had a horrible accident that changed his life forever. After an explosion, a metal bar pierced directly through Phineas's forehead and down through his cheek. Most would have thought he would have died immediately, since the bar had created a hole in the top of his head and shot do...moreThis book was such a breath of fresh air to read. John Fleischman does a wonderful job of explaining the story of Phineas Gage and the huge impact his life had on the world of science. When Phineas was working, he had a horrible accident that changed his life forever. After an explosion, a metal bar pierced directly through Phineas's forehead and down through his cheek. Most would have thought he would have died immediately, since the bar had created a hole in the top of his head and shot down into his brain. Amazingly, Phineas was able to stand and talk immediately after the accident. He recovered with surprise and went on working. Strange differences were found in his personality though, after his recovery. He actually got fired from his original job that he used to shine in because he was not the responsible and dependent worker he had always been praised for being before the accident. After years of work as a stagecoach driver, Phineas suffered from multiple seizures and eventually passed away. The biggest contribution Phineas was able to make was after his death. His skull was donated to science, where doctors discovered the truth behind the workings of the brain. People during this time were debating whether the brain was segmented into specific parts or if the whole organ worked together as a whole. Phineas's skull and the bar that pierced him can still be found today in Harvard's Medical School.

I often have trouble keeping up when trying to read about science. Most the time I get confused and bored. Excitingly, I read this book in one sitting! The way that Fleishman explains Phineas's story makes it interesting to read. I learned a lot about the brain and even some of the medical terms used without even realizing I was learning science. I feel like Fleishman almost made this book for dummies. Between his simple wording and the pictures and diagrams that support his writing, I was able to understand everything he went to explain. I loved this book! I would definitely suggest it to any science or psychology teacher, teaching students of any middle or high school age. (less)

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Aug 31, 2009

Sandra Strange rated it

Shelves: history-and-nonfiction, young-adult

This fascinating story reads like fiction: Phineas Gage, a young construction foreman, is supervising a crew blasting a railroad through a granite mountain when an explosion hurls an iron bar up through his cheek into his brain--and he lives, but is forever changed in motivation, emotion, personality and behavior, all those things which make us human. The account brings in what was known about the brain at the time of the accident, 1848, what is known now, how the accident changed him and why...more

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Feb 06, 2010

Heather rated it

Shelves: nonfiction, young-adult-lit

Phineas Gage is the true story about a man who lived during the 1800s whose accident in 1848 led medical doctors to learn more about the brain, brain activity, and brain science. Phineas Gage worked on the railroad setting explosives to break apart the rock which needed to be removed in order to lay the railroad line. One day, Phineas's tamping iron fell into an uncovered hole with the explosives, which set off a spark acting as gunpowder, almost like a bullet, and the tamping iron literally s...more

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May 05, 2009

Jess rated it

Recommends it for: nonfiction fans, science fans, junior high boys, those interested in medicine or the body, etc etc

Recommended to Jess by: the talk surrounding it

Shelves: 09, juniors, ya, non-fiction

Phineas Gage shouldn't have survived a three and a half foot tamping rod slicing through his skull, but he did. In doing so, Gage rooted himself into the mysterious world of brain science.

Absorbing and just short enough that you can't put it down. There's more brain science than I expected but it's not heavy handed. In fact, it was interesting to see how little we knew about the body in 1850 and how little we likely know now.

Well written and researched. A great tie-in...more

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Apr 16, 2010

Sarah Maddaford rated it

Shelves: biography, has-pictures, historical, juvenile-reader, non-fiction, picture-book, young-adult, science, belton

This was more a science book than a biography and I was truly bored through most of it. The writer seems to be trying to keep readers engaged by keeping his style more conversational and adding a lot of pictures, but it doesn't really work. I had already known many of the important facts about Gage from a language and the brain course in college and if this had simply focused on Gage it might have been less boring. Unfortunately, the author seems to delight in asides about the state of science d...more

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Nov 03, 2009

James Govednik rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: history-biography, science

This thorough book, for ages 10 and up, offers a glimpse into the life of the famous subject as well as great science info on the brain, a bit of science history, and a bit of investigation into some of the mysteries surrounding Phineas Gage after his injury. The format is very easy to follow, and there are great supporting photographs and diagrams. The author avoided turning the story into a science textbook and instead manages to adopt an interesting story-telling style when necessary to kee...more

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Jul 08, 2011

Shawnessy added it

Shelves: dsc-child-lit

This non-fiction book is intriguing. I have heard of brain science and surgeons drilling holes in the skull to release the pressure, but I never knew the history behind that: Phineas Gage. Author, John Fleischman, tells of the day Phineas' tamping iron shot through this cheek bone and through his skull and the little known journey he struggled upon until his death.
More educated after reading this piece I cannot complain. More intersting to me than Phieas' story are the methods which docto...more

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Oct 13, 2011

Jessica rated it

Recommends it for: brain enthusiasts

If you're a fellow Nerdfighter, you'll understand why I had to read this! For a book about freak accidents and brain science, it's certainly witty and entertaining. Nothing is drawn out, I didn't find myself bored at all. In fact, I read it all in one sitting. Phineas Gage is truly a remarkable case, I think anyone would be intrigued by it, especially the brain science aspects discussed later in the book (which was written out clearly and made easy to understand!) Definitely worth it - if you ca...more

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Aug 01, 2008

Judy rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: young people interested in medicine

This was a quick read, being a book for young folk but fully informative and gripping.

I knew this man had survived having an iron bar penetrate his brain but there are so many more interesting details. The tamping iron, used to prepare explosives, shot into and through his head, landing several feet away. He carried that tamping iron around with him for the rest of his life, even being buried with it. Course they dug him up 7 years later for his skull and iron rod.

H...more

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Apr 14, 2008

West Region, added it

Shelves: nonfiction, juvenile, middle_school_08, illustrations, older-elementary

Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story about Brain Science, by John Fleischman

It was the middle of the afternoon in September, 1849 and 25-year-old Phineas Gage was about to have an accident. This day will turn out to be the luckiest or perhaps the unluckiest day in young Gage’s live.

Phineas was the foreman of a railroad construction crew working in Vermont. One of his duties as foreman was to blow up big rocks that lay in the path of the railroad tracks.

I...more

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Jul 27, 2007

Mimo rated it

Recommends it for: 6-9th graders, future psych majors and neurocience enthusiasts

Shelves: ya, non-fiction

Excellent non-fiction book for middle-schoolers. I majored in psychology in college and thought I had learned all that there was to know about Phineas Gage in various classes and wasn't expecting to learn anything new. I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong and to learn more about the story of Phineas and his doctors as well as the state of brain science at the time of his accident. For example, I had not previously known that there was a debate among doctors at that time (1848) who thought that...more

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Feb 16, 2010

L-Melissa rated it

Shelves: classic-nonfiction, young-adult-novels

The story of Phineas Gage is quite intriguing to middle school students; however, the book grabs their interest and then smashes to the floor. Instead of mixing science in with Phineas' story, there is a whole chapter completely about the science of the brain. Students loose interest because they are not able to connect the dense material to the story of Phineas as a person. Since the book only has four chapters, I would re-order the chapters for my students so that they learn about the scien...more

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Apr 24, 2009

Nessa rated it

I don't know about you people but, I personally love the human body. It is especialy organized and well put together by a devine being. Phineas Gage got an iron rod stuck through his cheek and all the way out of the brain. The moment later he got up and started walking and talking even though part of his brains were spilled on the floor. And he was actually alive and healthy with a hole in his brain for 11 years. John Fleischman wrote a book worth reading.

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Apr 05, 2010

Mark Flowers rated it

The title pretty much sums it up: a railroad worker had an iron bar shot through his head, and somehow survived, although it changed his personality forever. The story itself short and straightforward, so even though the book is only 80 pages long, Fleischman has to flesh it out by going into asides about the state of science in the mid-19th century: germ theory, phrenology, and other scientific movements. Fascinating, quick read.

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About John Fleischman

John Fleischman, who is now the science writer for the American Society for Cell Biology and a magazine freelancer whose work appears in Discover, Muse, and Air & Space Smithsonian, was working in public affairs at Harvard Medical School when he wrote Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science.

In addition to writing for science publications, Fleischman was a senior ed...more

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