The book started out fantastic and went right to the core of what we know now of the brain, how we came to know it - the experiments and research. Then switching tracks to the mind and emergence of consciousness, bringing in related examples of emergence from physics - still pretty cool stuff. Ultimately, the book then takes us into the philosophical discussions of determinism and free will. Finally, we end up applying what we have just read to the subject of crime and punishment. Hmmmm. While I could see that that was important and germane to the book, I think Gazzaniga spent too much time on it. Sure - there were some great theories about human evolution and how our social system constrains our behavior (I learned some interesting perspectives about that and I tend to agree), but there are many other social areas left unexplored in favor of devoting the finale of the book to the American judicial system. So, a bit disappointing in the end (I was expecting something else), but overall it was a though-provoking expose' on how our brains are an amalgamation of independent specialized areas and how self consciousness (the interpreter) emerges from that. It's what separates humans from all other life forms.