Origins of Neuroscience: A History of Explorations into Brain Function PDF

Rating: (4 reviews) Author: Stanley Finger ISBN : 9780195065039 New from $159.38 Format: PDF

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With over 350 illustrations, this impressive volume traces the rich history of ideas about the functioning of the brain from its roots in the ancient cultures of Egypt, Greece, and Rome through the centuries into relatively modern times. In contrast to biographically oriented accounts, this book is unique in its emphasis on the functions of the brain and how they came to be associated with specific brain regions and systems. Among the topics explored are vision, hearing, pain, motor control, sleep, memory, speech, and various other facets of intellect. The emphasis throughout is on presenting material in a very readable way, while describing with scholarly acumen the historical evolution of the field in all its amazing wealth and detail. From the opening introductory chapters to the concluding look at treatments and therapies, this monumental work will captivate readers from cover to cover. It will be valued as both an historical reference and as an exciting tale of scientific discovery. It is bound to attract a wide readership among students and professionals in the neural sciences as well as general readers interested in the history of science and medicine.

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• Product Details
• Table of Contents
• Reviews

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1 edition (January 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195065034
• ISBN-13: 978-0195065039
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.1 pounds

Origins of Neuroscience: A History of Explorations into Brain Function PDF

The first thing I noticed about this book certainly differed from my expectations. It is really more of a textbook than a book designed for the casual reader. I should have noticed this from the description, but the book is 462 pages in length, nonfiction, organized into chapters like any other textbook, and is information rich. It spans an enormous amount of material, including ancient evidence of trepanning, progressing theories on brain and sensory function, a parade of landmark figures in neurological history, all the way up to treatment of brain injury in the pre-World War I era. It also includes several pages of references at the end of each chapter, for the reader's convenience.
The first portion of the book deals with my primary interest in choosing this book--man's understand of the brain in antiquity. The book discusses evidence of trepanning taking place in ancient Egypt and Peru. While I was already aware of most of this, the author reveals that the frequency of surgical evidence found on the skull is far higher than I would guess.
The ancient Greeks and Romans had some interesting medical ideas about the four classical elements (earth, air, fire, and water) which eventually became the four humors (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile). Their beliefs about the human body made it taboo to dissect a human cadaver, and so much of their understanding about basic anatomy stems from either first-hand surgical knowledge, or observations based on animals. As a result, there was a lot of disagreement between scholars on the function of various anatomical features. Followers of Aristotle believed that the body's soul dwelt within the heart, not the brain, and that the brain served as a way to cool the hot-blooded passions of the heart.