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lmw_'s review against another edition
4.0
This book is packed with amazing information; concepts, theories, ideas I haven't read about in the (some five) other neuroscience books I'd read.
Ramachandaran ventures upon interesting subjects but, yes there's a but, his style of writing isn't my favorite, to say the least. He uses the same phrases over and over again. He is also somewhat contradictory in some parts of the book which left me quite lost and confused. His tone and style of writing isn't the best out there and that really affected my reading experience negatively. It took me ages to finish this book and when I was reading it I just wanted to put it down and do something else, it also led me to writing this review (this is my first review and isn't really a negative).
On a much happier note though, the information in this book is priceless. I learned so much from this book and it really opened my eyes about some things; for example, the "brain science" of art. An amazing aspect of his writing is how he points out what is a hypothesis and not an actual fact, a necessity many science writers fail to mention. Also, while I found some of Ramachandaran's comments unnecessary, many of them made me giggle.
So yeah I guess (way to be formal, Lana!)
Ramachandaran ventures upon interesting subjects but, yes there's a but, his style of writing isn't my favorite, to say the least. He uses the same phrases over and over again. He is also somewhat contradictory in some parts of the book which left me quite lost and confused. His tone and style of writing isn't the best out there and that really affected my reading experience negatively. It took me ages to finish this book and when I was reading it I just wanted to put it down and do something else, it also led me to writing this review (this is my first review and isn't really a negative).
On a much happier note though, the information in this book is priceless. I learned so much from this book and it really opened my eyes about some things; for example, the "brain science" of art. An amazing aspect of his writing is how he points out what is a hypothesis and not an actual fact, a necessity many science writers fail to mention. Also, while I found some of Ramachandaran's comments unnecessary, many of them made me giggle.
So yeah I guess (way to be formal, Lana!)
adriatrees's review against another edition
I had the privilege of taking Dr. Ramachandran’s psych course (Brain Damage and Mental Functions) at UCSD. This is an incredible and fascinating book to gain a better understanding of neurological phenomena!
I especially loved Chapter 1 (Phantom Limbs and Plastic Brains), Chapter 3 (Loud Colors and Hot Babes: Synesthesia), and Chapter 6 (The Power of Babble: The Evolution of Language).
I especially loved Chapter 1 (Phantom Limbs and Plastic Brains), Chapter 3 (Loud Colors and Hot Babes: Synesthesia), and Chapter 6 (The Power of Babble: The Evolution of Language).
citizenkahn's review against another edition
4.0
From Phantom limbs and neurological disorders the author unwraps what little we know of consciousness and what makes us human. Far from a unified one, our consciousness appears to emerge from the interplay of many simple systems evolved over time and retasked.
The author makes several statements with little evidence (e.g. Apes cannot have a specific disorder relating to loss of self - if we can't communicate then we can't know if apes do have this problem). I think his evidence based insights are useful enough to tolerate a few statements which lack evidence or which cannot be proved.
A really interesting read.
The author makes several statements with little evidence (e.g. Apes cannot have a specific disorder relating to loss of self - if we can't communicate then we can't know if apes do have this problem). I think his evidence based insights are useful enough to tolerate a few statements which lack evidence or which cannot be proved.
A really interesting read.
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