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branch_c's review against another edition
3.0
I’ve enjoyed Zimmer’s books before, and he remains the best science writer I know of who isn’t actually a scientist himself.
In this book, he attempts to describe the transition in thinking that happened in the mid to late 1600s, during which alchemy became chemistry and a mystical view of life gave way to scientific thinking about biology and anatomy. As a broad history, it often reads like a summary of notes abridged from a longer textbook. It succeeds in clearly conveying the material, but for me, the author’s usually engaging style fails to shine through as much as it should. While much of the historical information was new to me, including the significant contributions of Harvey, Willis and others, the content was a bit dry and occasionally tedious.
I found that I enjoyed the final section the most, where Zimmer brings us up to the present and comments on the work being done more recently in the area of neuroscience, while referring back to the ideas and discoveries that laid the groundwork for our modern understanding.
In this book, he attempts to describe the transition in thinking that happened in the mid to late 1600s, during which alchemy became chemistry and a mystical view of life gave way to scientific thinking about biology and anatomy. As a broad history, it often reads like a summary of notes abridged from a longer textbook. It succeeds in clearly conveying the material, but for me, the author’s usually engaging style fails to shine through as much as it should. While much of the historical information was new to me, including the significant contributions of Harvey, Willis and others, the content was a bit dry and occasionally tedious.
I found that I enjoyed the final section the most, where Zimmer brings us up to the present and comments on the work being done more recently in the area of neuroscience, while referring back to the ideas and discoveries that laid the groundwork for our modern understanding.
dkaps's review against another edition
2.0
I have very much enjoyed all of Zimmer's other work, but this was a slog to get through. This book reads much more like a dense biography with some neuroscience thrown in than a science book.
crowyhead's review against another edition
4.0
A fascinating history of the Western world's discovery of anatomy and the true seat of the "soul" in the human body. The only flaw is that it's not really billed as being specific to Western civilization, but in truth it is, as there is no mention of Asia and Middle Eastern studies of anatomy and physiology.
kellyelizabeth27's review against another edition
4.0
Engaging story of early alchemist-physicians who basically discovered the function of the brain and nervous system, thereby radically challenging prevailing views about the soul. In laying out how this all intersected with England's religious and political upheavals in the 1600's, Zimmer shows how powerful an idea can be.
cisko's review
3.0
A solid introduction to the history of the realization of the role of the brain. The book centers on Thomas Willis, the alchemist, physician, and anatomist. His studies, conducted among the early fellows of the Royal Society in seventeenth-century England, cast off a great deal of ancient and Medieval teaching about the body in general and the brain in particular. The book is strongest at the somewhat grisly work of describing the experiments and dissections conducted by Willis and others who founded the Society, and at placing their education and research in context with their predecessors and peers. (This is at times a difficult book to read over a meal.) I would have liked to read more about research beyond Willis’ immediate circle, in both geographic and temporal proximity; in particular, Willis and his cohort walked us to the edge of further revelatory discoveries, and the book would have been more complete if it had followed along. Likewise, the connections to modern understanding were a bit thin, contained in a single, final chapter. (The 2003 publication date probably doesn’t help, as there’s been much brain and AI research in the last 15 years.) I think too that there are still fundamental philosophical issues that remain relevant that would have been interesting to discuss. Ultimately, it’s a good read, and while a bit slight, is a good overview of the start of a revolution in how medicine and science are conducted.
cspiwak's review
4.0
enjoyed it. I've read a lot of books on modern neurology, but this one went into the whole history and the ingenious discoveries people made before we even had the technology
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