The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
khadiija's review against another edition
5.0
The most fascinating book I've read in a while. Granted, I love any light reading on neuroscience topics but this is so compelling from the first page, I think anyone would enjoy it, even if you're not into non-fiction (a lot of it comprises of real-life stories that almost read like fiction) Overall, loved it and plan to read Sam Kean's other two books!
moseslh's review against another edition
4.0
As in his other books, Sam Kean weaves a fascinating web of true stories to illustrate scientific concepts and discoveries in Dueling Neurosurgeons. The book wasn't perfect - there were times when Kean's corny attempts at humor fell flat, and his editor should have persuaded him against opening each chapter with horrible neuroscience-themed rebus puzzles (in case you're struggling with them, it helps to know that the Spanish word for wolf is "lobo"). However, those were minor issues that a reader could easily look past, given the otherwise incredibly engaging, fun, and informative writing.
This book explains the inner workings of the brain by exploring the fascinating and often tragic stories of people whose brains were not working as they should, typically due to tumors or injuries. People with damage to specific parts of their brain may lose the ability to identify animals or feel fear. They may lose control of their left hand, watching helplessly as it undoes everything their right hand does. They may start believing that all of their loved ones have been replaced with doppelgangers (Capgras syndrome). Or sometimes, their brains may rewire themselves, as in the inspiring case of James Holman, a 19th century blind man who traveled the world and wrote about his adventures after teaching himself echolocation. Dueling Neurosurgeons tells these stories and the neuroscience behind them all.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with even the slightest interest in how the brain works, or why people act the way they do. I would also highly recommend Kean's other books, [b:The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements|7247854|The Disappearing Spoon And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements|Sam Kean|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1438018063l/7247854._SY75_.jpg|8246153] and [b:The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code|13521382|The Violinist's Thumb And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code|Sam Kean|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1338420267l/13521382._SY75_.jpg|19082058].
This book explains the inner workings of the brain by exploring the fascinating and often tragic stories of people whose brains were not working as they should, typically due to tumors or injuries. People with damage to specific parts of their brain may lose the ability to identify animals or feel fear. They may lose control of their left hand, watching helplessly as it undoes everything their right hand does. They may start believing that all of their loved ones have been replaced with doppelgangers (Capgras syndrome). Or sometimes, their brains may rewire themselves, as in the inspiring case of James Holman, a 19th century blind man who traveled the world and wrote about his adventures after teaching himself echolocation. Dueling Neurosurgeons tells these stories and the neuroscience behind them all.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with even the slightest interest in how the brain works, or why people act the way they do. I would also highly recommend Kean's other books, [b:The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements|7247854|The Disappearing Spoon And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements|Sam Kean|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1438018063l/7247854._SY75_.jpg|8246153] and [b:The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code|13521382|The Violinist's Thumb And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code|Sam Kean|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1338420267l/13521382._SY75_.jpg|19082058].
mundinova's review against another edition
4.0
TL/DR: Trying to understand the human brain is hard and we really don't know what's going on.
wanderaven's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating!
This entire book was just endlessly fascinating to me. It's all about how traumatic insults to the skull and brain, whether by physical force or insidious viruses, affect our physical abilities and thoughts.
Kean expertly weaves storytelling about particular brain trauma patients with carefully explained science. I knew of a few of the conditions discussed, but certainly not in the detail Kean devotes. He explains the process of how damage occurs and then why that damage can cause conditions like kuru disease, phantom limbs, aphasia, hallucinations. He even touches on the history of scientists and doctors attempting to local the home of the soul in the brain.
Kean opens each section with the story of a particular person (or group of people) who has experienced an injury to the brain, and then explains how the doctors of the time attempted to help that victim with their contemporary knowledge. Each story is like a mini-mystery; you receive just enough information to understand the situation and then want to keep reading in order to solve/understand the process along with the doctors or scientists. I don't want to give them all away, but one example is how the cannibals in Papua, New Guinea were felled by kuru; in the end it wasn't because they cannibalized their dead ("eating brains isn't inherently deadly") but rather but rather "the bad luck of eating patient zero."
Kean explains why even people born without limbs can experience phantoms, blind people will still respond to smiles or scowls or yawns without even understanding why, how reading changes our brain, why some victims of brain damage can write perfectly well but cannot read (not even the sentence they just wrote), that brains vary from person to person as much as faces do, and how a set of (still living) twins share a conjoined brain and so can do things like taste what's in one another's mouths and yet retain distinct individual thoughts and preferences.
Witty, informative, a bit scary. To consider how vulnerable and yet also how resilient our brains are, is just fascinating.
This entire book was just endlessly fascinating to me. It's all about how traumatic insults to the skull and brain, whether by physical force or insidious viruses, affect our physical abilities and thoughts.
Kean expertly weaves storytelling about particular brain trauma patients with carefully explained science. I knew of a few of the conditions discussed, but certainly not in the detail Kean devotes. He explains the process of how damage occurs and then why that damage can cause conditions like kuru disease, phantom limbs, aphasia, hallucinations. He even touches on the history of scientists and doctors attempting to local the home of the soul in the brain.
Kean opens each section with the story of a particular person (or group of people) who has experienced an injury to the brain, and then explains how the doctors of the time attempted to help that victim with their contemporary knowledge. Each story is like a mini-mystery; you receive just enough information to understand the situation and then want to keep reading in order to solve/understand the process along with the doctors or scientists. I don't want to give them all away, but one example is how the cannibals in Papua, New Guinea were felled by kuru; in the end it wasn't because they cannibalized their dead ("eating brains isn't inherently deadly") but rather but rather "the bad luck of eating patient zero."
Kean explains why even people born without limbs can experience phantoms, blind people will still respond to smiles or scowls or yawns without even understanding why, how reading changes our brain, why some victims of brain damage can write perfectly well but cannot read (not even the sentence they just wrote), that brains vary from person to person as much as faces do, and how a set of (still living) twins share a conjoined brain and so can do things like taste what's in one another's mouths and yet retain distinct individual thoughts and preferences.
Witty, informative, a bit scary. To consider how vulnerable and yet also how resilient our brains are, is just fascinating.
book_hound_ross's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
2.5
I usually really like Sam Keans books but I couldn't get engaged with this one. I think it was the grating humor and lack of tact/respect about some of the subjects that I didn't like.
huntermatthew's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
lillian1998's review against another edition
4.0
I will admit I didn’t pay 100% rapt attention to this book, and that’s because this book is my leisure read. It is entertaining in such a way that I don’t mind even if I don’t learn anything.
Sam Kean’s writing is engaging, accessible, and enrapturing. True to his word, this book does not stop at entry-level psychology case studies (the likes of the famous HM and Phineas Gage) - there were many more cases that were not covered in intro psych (my level of exposure to models of memory, brain scans, psych studies, etc) and intro neurophysiology/biology/human anatomy (my level of exposure to brain things), so not only was this read somewhat familiar and easy to get into, it also offered something more.
I listened to this audiobook as bedtime material, and it’s excellent.
Sam Kean’s writing is engaging, accessible, and enrapturing. True to his word, this book does not stop at entry-level psychology case studies (the likes of the famous HM and Phineas Gage) - there were many more cases that were not covered in intro psych (my level of exposure to models of memory, brain scans, psych studies, etc) and intro neurophysiology/biology/human anatomy (my level of exposure to brain things), so not only was this read somewhat familiar and easy to get into, it also offered something more.
I listened to this audiobook as bedtime material, and it’s excellent.