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The Idea of the Brain

The Past and Future of Neuroscience

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The Idea of the Brain

Written by: Matthew Cobb
Narrated by: Joe Jameson
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An "elegant", "engrossing" (Carol Tavris, Wall Street Journal) examination of what we think we know about the brain and why -- despite technological advances -- the workings of our most essential organ remain a mystery."I cannot recommend this book strongly enough."--Henry Marsh, author of Do No HarmFor thousands of years, thinkers and scientists have tried to understand what the brain does. Yet, despite the astonishing discoveries of science, we still have only the vaguest idea of how the brain works. In The Idea of the Brain, scientist and historian Matthew Cobb traces how our conception of the brain has evolved over the centuries. Although it might seem to be a story of ever-increasing knowledge of biology, Cobb shows how our ideas about the brain have been shaped by each era's most significant technologies. Today we might think the brain is like a supercomputer. In the past, it has been compared to a telegraph, a telephone exchange, or some kind of hydraulic system. What will we think the brain is like tomorrow, when new technology arises? The result is an essential read for anyone interested in the complex processes that drive science and the forces that have shaped our marvelous brains.

 Biological Sciences Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Science Human Brain Mathematics Thought-Provoking Health Technology Mental Health Computer Science Cognitive Neuroscience
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What the critics say

"An intellectual tour de force, and a brilliant demonstration of how a historical approach is often the best way of explaining difficult scientific problems... I cannot recommend this book strongly enough."—Henry Marsh, The New Statesman
"Elegant... engrossing... clear and lively... The reader will come away from this illuminating history of thinking about the brain with a renewed appreciation of the task that remains."—Carol Tavris, Wall Street Journal
"This ambitious intellectual history follows the changing understanding of the brain from antiquity to the present... Cobb's account is an important contribution: few have offered such accessible insights, with choice examples and clear explanations of the societal factors that lie beneath... It is a very good book."—Nature
"Sweeping and electrifyingly skeptical"—The Guardian
"A fresh history and tour d' horizon of "the most complex object in the known universe." Although scientists still struggle to understand the brain, they know a great deal about it; Cobb, a professor of biological sciences, delivers an excellent overview."—Kirkus Reviews
"The book reveals that there are many ways to think about what brains are, what they do, and their relation to the mind. Cobb's erudition and engaging writing style take us on an enthralling journey, rich with accidental discoveries, controversies, and rejected hypotheses."—Science
"In this engrossing book, Matthew Cobb deftly recounts the tortuous history of research on the brain, in which researchers pursue the hard problems of memory, consciousness, and volition, always limited by forced comparisons between human brains and the machines available at the time. A work of history and deep scholarship, but written in an engaging and lively way, The Idea of the Brain is optimistic about the recursive attempts of our brains to understand themselves, yet reminds us that the three most important words in science are, 'We don't know.'"—Jerry Coyne, author of Why Evolution is True
"The story of the most complex object in the universe has never been told with greater clarity, insight, and wit. Charting the route to future discoveries, this is a masterpiece"—Adam Rutherford, author of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived
"Matthew Cobb weaves a fascinating story of the historical arc of neuroscience, from the initial discovery that the brain gives rise to our minds, to the state of the art in the manipulation and control of the brain."—Russell Poldrack, author of The New Mind Readers
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Exceptionally well referenced. This book has added a ton of context for me in understanding where we are in brain research. Such a great read, entertaining, completely up to date. If you're interested in learning more about the brain and want to understand the timeline of how we've come to where we are now in our understanding- this book has that!

Excellent Tour of Ideas of the Brain Through Time

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The author does an outstanding job of condensing hundreds of years of the development of neuroscience into 14 hours or so. I liked the way the book was organized into an historical section showing how ideas morphed over the centuries and then in the second part, 1950s to the present, into a variety of different themes such as memory and consciousness. Inevitably there are omissions or places where others would place more emphasis. For example the author is quite critical of fMRI research and makes it sound very crude without mentioning other rapidly improving MRI techniques such as tractography which is becoming better as imaging magnets get more powerful, up to 7 Tesla or more. These connectome maps will become important as deep learning together with further genomic and psychiatry research develop. Some space was devoted to psychiatry as a means for understanding, mostly in the chemistry section, but I felt themes of psychiatry, psychology, meditation and Eastern religion/medical teaching could have been explored much more. This is very much a Western view of the subject. Reference was made to the brutal historical vivisection of criminals by Renaissance anatomists but there was absolutely no comment or acknowledgment made about the vivisection of mammals for the numerous brain neurophysiologic experiments that have taken place since the time of Adrian, Hodgkin and Huxley. Some of this fraternity have lately been subjected to animal rights groups' wrath or worse and I feel it should have been incumbent upon the author to at least try and offer a more balanced view as to why those scientists felt such work should have been performed in the face of opposition instead of just accepting what they were doing was the correct way to progress scientific thought. This does not however detract from what was otherwise a very good summary of where neuroscience has been and where it may be headed. I liked the reader, Joe Jameson, who had an easy voice with a nice flow and good pace.

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