The Britannica Guide to the Brain

by Steven Rose, Encyclopædia Britannica

The human brain has been studied for millennia, but in the past decades huge advances have occurred in neurology that have allowed scientists to reassess what we really know about the least understood part of the human body. We can now observe the activity of the brain as it performs different functions. We can also use scanning technology to chart the neural pathways and devise maps. The explorations have revealed surprising results. The Britannica Guide to the Brain is a valuable resource of the most up-to-date ideas of our times.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Reference, Psychology

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Steven Peter Russell Rose was an English neuroscientist, author and social commentator. He was an emeritus professor of biology and neurobiology at the Open University and Gresham College, London.

Reviews

[Jamie Mealey · Rating 4 out of 5]

My experience reading this book was relatively easy. It introduced and went into depth about lot of concepts that were quite new to me. I found it to be really interesting which made it a lot easier for me to read. It starts off with information and diagrams to form and shape your basic knowledge of the brain to prepare you so you understand the rest of the book. After I finished the first section, I found myself skipping around. This book would be difficult to read straight through because some of the concepts explained I was already familiar with and had a good knowledge of to begin with. This book is mainly about the biological aspects of the brain, however, it does go into a slight turn when it lightly touches on the importance of language. If doctors couldn't communicate through language, we would never have advanced as far in medicine as we have today. Some discoveries doctors have made have been life changing and if they could not tell others it would cost many lives. An example of this is given in The Britannica Guide To the Brain, "malaria was originally thought to be caused by the evil emanations of the bad air near swamps, until it was recognized to be caused by a blood parasite transmitted through the mosquito" (Britannica 132). The importance of language in the world of medicine is substantial. This book demonstrated how language can shape our society and focused on the positive aspects of it. The way doctors communicate can actually influence our daily lives. If doctors couldn't share results and findings between each other, how would we improve our medical skills and advance our medical technology? I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in neurology or medicine. This would be a hard read for someone who hates biology. You should have some basic knowledge of the brain before reading this book. Though it does go through the main parts and specific functions at the beginning, it's helpful to be familiar with the brain so you don't have to memorize the information at the begging of the book to enjoy and fully understand the rest.

[Richard Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent balance between academic soundness and readability for the layman. Many huge topics were touched on only exceptionally briefly, but I suppose that's the idea with this class of book.

[Vastine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full of interesting information haphazardly thrown together. It feels like a collection of articles that were written years apart because some chapters are more up to date than others. But I used it to support my understanding of the brain while reading books on neuroscience. Largely it succeeded.

[Leirea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and put together in a good manner. However, I expected more from Britannica... They didn't include information on a few things I'd hoped for. Still an interesting read though.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful as a broad survey of neural systems and related topics. However if you're looking for an engaging narrative to introduce you to the field, this definitely isn't it.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative.