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larieber_reads's review against another edition
4.0
I listened to this book when I drove to DC. I loved it. The stories of weird brain diseases and symptoms they caused and how crazy and primitive neurosurgery was even in this past century is insane. So good.
jabarkas's review against another edition
4.0
Class A science writing, informative for beginners and engaging for experts.
A concise and engaging overview of the past and present of neurosurgery. Kean clearly understands the appeal of his subject matter, the unsettling yet fascinating reality of our brains as mechanical objects. I particularly enjoyed the pacing of his analysis, starting with the early medical resistance to accepting that the brain was even an organ and slowly reaching the frightening reality that perception and personality are nothing more than chemical processes. I found the book uniquely effective at enabling the reader to understand and FEEL the brain as a fallible and discrete system.
Kean's anecdotal writing style lends itself particularly well to this as well, giving the reader a personal connection the profound information he is dolling out. Though I was familiar with a lot of the case studies he mentions, Kean brings a unique depth of research to them and considers contrary arguments to his own in a considered and reasonable way. This means that his conclusions never feel forced or rushed, while at the same time lending each individual case analysis a living depth that few other science writers manage. I found the book uniquely effective at enabling the reader to understand and FEEL the brain as a fallible and discrete system.
Class A science writing, informative for beginners and engaging for experts.
A concise and engaging overview of the past and present of neurosurgery. Kean clearly understands the appeal of his subject matter, the unsettling yet fascinating reality of our brains as mechanical objects. I particularly enjoyed the pacing of his analysis, starting with the early medical resistance to accepting that the brain was even an organ and slowly reaching the frightening reality that perception and personality are nothing more than chemical processes. I found the book uniquely effective at enabling the reader to understand and FEEL the brain as a fallible and discrete system.
Kean's anecdotal writing style lends itself particularly well to this as well, giving the reader a personal connection the profound information he is dolling out. Though I was familiar with a lot of the case studies he mentions, Kean brings a unique depth of research to them and considers contrary arguments to his own in a considered and reasonable way. This means that his conclusions never feel forced or rushed, while at the same time lending each individual case analysis a living depth that few other science writers manage. I found the book uniquely effective at enabling the reader to understand and FEEL the brain as a fallible and discrete system.
Class A science writing, informative for beginners and engaging for experts.
leosaumure's review against another edition
5.0
This book was absolutely amazeballs! Sam Kean is really becoming a favourite author of mine. He takes topics that could be delivered as dry and boring, but instead, he coats them all in buttery goodness, and sprinkles them in interesting and sugary flavours. This may be the worst metaphor ever written.
Rather than reading this book, I listened to it in audio form, and unlike another book I listened to recently which will remain nameless...It was The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets by Simon Singh! Ok, it didn't remain nameless for long. Anyway, unlike that book, which had great content but a lousy reader, this one was both jam packed with great content, and the reader was quite engaged in the narrative.
If you want a really good story, and this does follow a story arch throughout the whole thing, then get this book! I also loved his book: The Disappearing Spoon.
Rather than reading this book, I listened to it in audio form, and unlike another book I listened to recently which will remain nameless...It was The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets by Simon Singh! Ok, it didn't remain nameless for long. Anyway, unlike that book, which had great content but a lousy reader, this one was both jam packed with great content, and the reader was quite engaged in the narrative.
If you want a really good story, and this does follow a story arch throughout the whole thing, then get this book! I also loved his book: The Disappearing Spoon.
taytots24's review against another edition
3.0
As a student pursuing a career in medicine, this book was fairly enjoyable and illuminated a lot of neurological studies I had never before heard of. That being said -- I very much recommend avoiding the audiobook. I almost quit the book halfway through, so annoyed was I with the reader's mispronunciation of words and odd intonation of sentences.
susanbrooks's review against another edition
4.0
What a delight. There are few things that get me more jazzed than a good story about an odd neurological condition.
mwgerard's review against another edition
5.0
It is amazing that we still don’t know very much about the human brain. With all our technology and brilliant doctors, it remains a shadowy fairly elusive. This is partially due to the fact that the brain also houses the mind. The brain is the organ but the mind is consciousness. If the brain is the roller coaster track, your mind is the experience of the ride.
Sam Kean explores what we do know (or at least think we know right now) about the brain’s inner workings and how it affects memory, personality and daily life. He does this through various stories about patients and their doctors. These scientific anecdotes illustrate both the similarities that might overlap and how individual brain trauma can be.
Please support independent reviewers and read my full post here: http://mwgerard.com/review-the-tale-of-the-dueling-neurosurgeons-by-sam-kean/
Sam Kean explores what we do know (or at least think we know right now) about the brain’s inner workings and how it affects memory, personality and daily life. He does this through various stories about patients and their doctors. These scientific anecdotes illustrate both the similarities that might overlap and how individual brain trauma can be.
Please support independent reviewers and read my full post here: http://mwgerard.com/review-the-tale-of-the-dueling-neurosurgeons-by-sam-kean/
ellasolveig's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating- makes me want to become a neurosurgeon.
delsim's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyable anecdotes about neurology. Not as strong as Oliver Sacks, but along the same lines.
Pair this book with The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara - a novel loosely based on the scientist D. Carleton Gajdusek who Kean discusses in Dueling Neurosurgeons.
Pair this book with The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara - a novel loosely based on the scientist D. Carleton Gajdusek who Kean discusses in Dueling Neurosurgeons.
balletbookworm's review against another edition
4.0
Not quite as fun as [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://d.gr-assets.com/books/1438018063s/7247854.jpg|8246153] but still very interesting and readable. The library audiobook download, unfortunately, didn't have any way of getting me the rebus PDFs that were noted.
todayimreading's review against another edition
5.0
This book was brilliantly written and I loved it cover to cover. I learned and actually retained so much of the information given because the text was engaging all of the way through. Highly recommended for those interested in the brain, but shy away from textbook learning/language. This is a wonderful alternative (there are even pictures!!)