About the Author
Born in 1956 in the American Midwest, Christof Koch grew up in Holland, Germany, Canada, and Morocco, where he graduated ... read full description
reviews
Jun 15, 2007
Melee
rated it: 
This was the longest 3-month read of my life. I did finish the bastard, though. If you want to enjoy it, read chapter 1, then skip to 9. The concept is fascinating: where is the seat of consciousness in the brain, and what, exactly, is consciousness - along with a little exploration in what consciousness is for. The execution was beastly. Even with a background in anatomy, I had no idea where the author was going with about half of the book, and was pretty pissed at him when I figured it o
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Sep 29, 2009
Billie
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Christof Koch's Quest for Consciousness is intended for lay audiences, but it is still a highly technical book, about the neurobiological approach to investigating consciousness. The book is at turns highly readable and at other other turns abstruse in its use of neuroanatomical descriptions of brain regions and processes. Nevertheless, it was enjoyable to read. Koch argues that consciousness, or awareness, is an emergent property of the nervous system, important for planning and choosing among
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Feb 23, 2010
DJ
rated it: 
Until recently, those interested in learning about consciousness have had just three options: (1) introspection (informative but deceiving), (2) books by philosophers (interesting but completely speculative), and (3) books by crazies (the majority of the literature on consciousness). Consciousness has long been a naughty word in science, but ho! No longer! While the "hard problem" of exactly why phenomenological states arise from the collective squirts of neurotransmitters washing a
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Jan 08, 2012
Ramkumar
rated it:
This is THE book on consciousness if you're looking for a purely neurobiological approach. The picture is still very incomplete: Koch sticks to making claims based on hard scientific evidence, and makes no assumptions. If you don't mind using a bit of analytical philosophy to make the jump and build the entire picture, I'd recommend Metzinger's "Being No One".
Light entertaining read.
Light entertaining read.
Sep 13, 2011
Read an article in SciAm, was really looking for his upcoming book, but it's not in the database and I'm on mobile.
Apr 25, 2009
Huyen
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misleading title, should be Vision and Consciousness or something like that. quite dry and technical, but informative and occasionally very interesting.
May 11, 2008
Erin
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If I could recommend just one book on a neuroscientific approach to consciousness, this would be it. But don't expect any clear answers to be spelled out for you – we’re not there yet. In particular, Koch does not provide the reader with anything approaching a satisfying explanation of how subjectivity can arise from a physical system.
Sep 08, 2008
Meant to be reviewed for my senior thesis. heh. This is the continuation of work Koch did with Francis Crick on the nature of the workings of the human mind.
Absolutely fascinating.
Absolutely fascinating.
Dec 17, 2009
koch worked with crick on neurobiology and the consciousness of vision. they want to define and ncc, a minimal neuronal correlate of consciousness. ok book, but not the best in the field.
Nov 10, 2008
M.D.
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By far, my favorite book on brain studies. Focuses on the neural correlates of consciousness.
Feb 07, 2012
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