Oops! Looks like we're having trouble connecting to our server.
Refresh your browser window to try again.
About this product
Product Identifiers
PublisherScribner
ISBN-100743246721
ISBN-139780743246729
eBay Product ID (ePID)30248056
Product Key Features
Number of Pages320 Pages
Publication NameAlchemy of Mind : the Marvel and Mystery of the Brain
LanguageEnglish
Publication Year2004
SubjectNeuroscience, General, Life Sciences / Human Anatomy & Physiology, Neuropsychology
TypeTextbook
AuthorDiane Ackerman
Subject AreaScience, Psychology, Medical
FormatHardcover
Dimensions
Item Height1.1 in
Item Weight16.3 Oz
Item Length9.1 in
Item Width6.2 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceTrade
LCCN2004-041621
TitleLeadingAn
ReviewsDr. Michael S. GazzanigaDirector of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Dartmouth College and editor of Cognitive NeuroscienceA beautiful book. Diane Ackerman has done it again. She has taken the largely inaccessible and confusing scientific literature on the brain and made sense out of it. With clarity, spunk, and feeling, what is known about the brain becomes up-front and personal.
Dewey Edition22
IllustratedYes
Dewey Decimal612.8/2
Table Of ContentContents Miracle Waters(Evolution)Chapter 1. The Enchanted LoomImagining the brain.Chapter 2. This Island EarthEvolution; the world's tiniest reptile; our brain and other animals'.Chapter 3. Why We Ask "Why?"What happens in the right brain vs. the left brain; why we're driven to tell stories.Chapter 4. The Fibs of BeingConsciousness; some definitions and theories.Chapter 5. Light Breaks Where No Sun ShinesThe unconscious; how it collaborates with the conscious mind.Sweet Dreams of Reason(The Physical Brain)Chapter 6. The Shape of ThoughtNeurons, dendrites, axons; how all the parts speak to each other.Chapter 7. Inner SpaceSynapses, the plasticity of the brain; how we influence brain development; medication and the brain.Chapter 8. Attention PleaseHow we unconsciously choose what to pay attention to; multitasking; absentmindedness.Chapter 9. A Passion for PatternsHow our brain quests for meaning in what it senses.Chapter 10. In the Church of the PinesThe spiritual brain.Chapter 11. Einstein's BrainWhat happened to it? Was it different?Chapter 12. The Mind's EyeThe brain's ability to imagine/see things that aren't in view at the time.Pavilions of Desire(Memory)Chapter 13. What Is a Memory?The importance of memory to who we are; how memories are formed; how they're influenced.Chapter 14. Reflections in a Gazing BallHow memories are recalled; association of pain and memory; unconscious memory.Chapter 15. Remember What?What happens when we learn; words on the tip of the tongue; Alzheimer's and the aging brain; IQ; short-term vs. long-term memory; how memories affect the present.Chapter 16. Remember, I DreamThe role of dreams in memory.Chapter 17. "Hello," He LiedTrue and false memories; subliminally influencing thought and memory.Chapter 18. Traumatic MemoriesHow they're stored and recalled; connections between emotions and memory.Chapter 19. Smell, Memory, and the EroticProust; perfume; love.Never a Dull Torment(The Self, and Other Fictions)Chapter 20. Introducing the SelfHow we think of ourself; the multiple facets of a self.Chapter 21. The Other SelfBody and mind; immune system and brain; brain damage and loss of self.Chapter 22. PersonalityNature vs. nurture; genetics and experience; development as babies.Chapter 23. "Shall It Be Male or Female? Say the Cells"Male and female brains; if they work differently; how they're shaped; how traits get passed on.Chapter 24. Creating MindsArtistic minds, mathematical minds -- inherited, cultivated; how they differ; synesthesia.The World Is Breaking Someone Else's Heart(Emotions)Chapter 25. The Emotional ClimateAnger, stress, adrenaline, how they affect and are relieved by the brain; our brain isn't made for the modern world; fear, painful thoughts.Chapter 26. The Pursuit of HappinessHappiness as hereditary and achieved; the difference in the brain between natural and forced laughter; optimistic and pessimistic brains.The Color of Saying(Language)Chapter 27. Memory's AccompliceLanguage acquisition, use, and nonverbal thinking.Chapter 28. Metaphors Be with YouHow words organize experience.Chapter 29. The Color of SayingThe origin of words; how we reveal ourselves through words; the brain finding relations among things.Chapter 30. Shakespeare on the BrainHow Shakespeare's brain was different.The Wilderness Within(The World We Share)Chapter 31. OasisEvolution of life; how our brain came to be.Chapter 32. Conscience and ConsciousnessAre we the only conscious an
SynopsisThe most ambitious and enlightening work to date from the bestselling author ofA Natural History of the Senses, An Alchemy of Mindcombines an artist's eye with a scientist's erudition to illuminate, as never before, the magic and mysteries of the human mind.Long treasured by literary readers for her uncommon ability to bridge the gap between art and science, celebrated scholar-artist Diane Ackerman returns with the book she was born to write. Her dazzling new work,An Alchemy of Mind,offers an unprecedented exploration and celebration of the mental fantasia in which we spend our days -- and does for the human mind what the bestsellingA Natural History of the Sensesdid for the physical senses.Bringing a valuable female perspective to the topic, Diane Ackerman discusses the science of the brain as only she can: with gorgeous, immediate language and imagery that paint an unusually lucid and vibrant picture for the reader. And in addition to explaining memory, thought, emotion, dreams, and language acquisition, she reports on the latest discoveries in neuroscience and addresses controversial subjects like the effects of trauma and male versus female brains. In prose that is not simply accessible but also beautiful and electric, Ackerman distills the hard, objective truths of science in order to yield vivid, heavily anecdotal explanations about a range of existential questions regarding consciousness, human thought, memory, and the nature of identity.
One of the best intriguing captivating educational book.
I would never ever ever use awesome sauce. FYI! Other than that everything was great. Thank you for having this book available. It is a beautiful book.